So. Cali Getaway ~ Disneyland

Right now I'm missing my Charming pretty badly...even though it has only been 5 days since I saw him...and I talk to him every day.  The reason behind the longing for my Hubby..other than the fact that I love him?  The girls and I headed back to Southern California for a little visit with my parents (a.k.a. Papa & Nana) for the first couple weeks of the Summer Break...first really fun stop: DISNEYLAND

Surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as I had anticipated it being on a Friday...but we did hit it right before most of the Orange County area is let loose for the summer.  Most likely we were also the blessed recipients of all of those families waiting to come until the new  CARS attractions are unveiled.  The weather - Perfect.  Not too hot, not too chilly, just enough sun and just enough cloud cover.  There wasn't a care in the world regarding sunburns this time...plus I had my Banana Boat SPF 50 sprayed from head to toe on my little kiddles.

First thing I noticed is how different the entrance to Disneyland's California Adventure Park now is...no more gigantic letters spelling CALIFORNIA out front.  Miss those mosaics!  Bring them back Disney!!!

I managed to not hand-hold for the first attraction stop at the Wilderness Explorer portion of the California Adventure Park...and OH was it HARD.  It must have seemed like I was a crazy lady running below the rope bridges trying to follow my girls while giving them a bit of freedom.  Grace (now 7) managed to take a wrong turn on a bridge and ended up in a mini-panic because I was tracking Rose (still 5).  Tears and a bit of fear of being "lost" would bring out some caution in most kids, don't you think?  Not Grace.  Nope she pulled the same thing a few more times throughout the day and was more worried about how mad I would be rather than how lost she could be.

We spent time with my mom & my Aunt Laila, and for the first time we also got to enjoy the park with my sis-in-law Rachael and my nieces & nephews.  (and of course Rach is missing from my photos because I was focused on the kiddles...go figure)  It's still shocking that we hadn't done the trip with all of us together before my little family made our move out of state.

There was a whole lotta estrogen there...which means a whole lotta "What do you wanna do?" "I don't care, whatever everyone wants to do." "Well we can do whatever you think is best."  Our focus for the day was simply getting on as many rides as we could...with the shortest wait times.  The winning ride for the most enjoyment with the least wait...Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  We rode it 5 times with only a 5 minute wait each time!

On a side note: We were laughing about one incident that was happened upon...someone had a smoothie that didn't agree with them and it ended up all over the walkway right in front of the Jungle Cruise.  Somehow it took a long time to get someone there to clean it up and keep people from walking through the mess ("Ewww, it's puke mom!") yet there was no sign of  bird droppings anywhere.  What's up with that?!?  How does Disneyland keep the birds from making deposits all over the walkways and eateries?  The parking areas have plenty of "mess" but the park is basically "dropping free".

Well, with that said, the kids were all bursting at the seams and walking hand in hand from the time we started to the moment it ended...so many plans for our day. My only controllable regret was that I forgot my camera and had to rely on my phone...which was turned off to conserve power for photos and yet still died long before our adventure was over. All in all it was a day filled with smiles, Capri Sun drinks, kettle corn, squeals & giggles!  A fund day to be had by ALL.

I wonder what other adventures lay before us?  Hmmm...