The Happiest Place on Earth!

Well, it was indeed a pretty happy place for us yesterday!  We've been anticipating going to Disneyland for months and months to celebrate Noelle's 4th birthday and to enjoy the adventure before moving to TX.  It was a pretty perfect day.  The weather was about 70 and overcast, it was not crowded, we were all healthy, rested and happy!  

Such fun to first see the castle -

In front of the Matterhorn, which Luke and Isaiah rode later in the day as the girls took a spin on the Carousel and a second round on the Teacups - 

Noelle got sprinkled with pixie dust on the way into the castle -

The first event of the day was meeting Snow White.  I'll admit, I got teary-eyed as I watched the kids meet a "real princess" -

In Fantasyland, we did almost everything - Dumbo, Mr. Toad, Storybook, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and the Teacups!  It was an awesome day to be there as there were very short (or no!) lines on everything.  We never waited more than 15 minutes, which really seems like an appropriate wait time for a 2 minute ride.  I know it would not have been quite as happy of a day if we were waiting 30-60 minutes for rides!  The indoor rides were a little scary for the kids, but they all came out smiling. Lucy would start out sitting on my lap, but would end up with her chest against me, patting my back.  She was okay if she was as close as she could be.  I can only imagine how weird the rides were for her!  

After we'd done Fantasyland, we headed back to Mickey's Toon Town.  Noelle had been given a birthday button w/ her name on it, so "Cast Members" could say, "Happy Birthday, Princess Noelle" whenever they saw here.  By the time she'd received about 20 birthday wishes, I think she was a little done with the attention (or maybe just done w/ the obligation to smile and say 'thank you'), and she decided to take it off after Fantasyland.  On the way to the Toon Town, we saw Captain Hook and Belle, but they were both on the go and we didn't get to meet them.  Once we got to Toon Town, we did get to meet Goofy!

Our longest wait of the day was at Minnie's house.  The kids enjoyed going through her house on the way to meet her, and Lucy pointed and squealed as we got closer -

Noelle's favorite ride of the day was the roller coaster in Toon Town.  It is little, but it's pretty fast and has some good drops!  It was her first roller coaster and she loved it!  Here are the kids exploring some more of Toon Town -

In Toon Town, we also rode the Rodger Rabbit ride, which was again, dark and weird.  By this time Lucy was ready for a nap and just sat completely still with wide eyes between Luke and I as we went through.  Again, what a crazy experience for her.  My biggest concern for the day was her napping, but she did amazingly well!  Right after Rodger Rabbit, I put her in the carrier and she pretty much fell asleep immediately and had a good snooze as we walked to Adventureland, where we explored Tarzan's Tree House, and the big kids rode Pirates of the Caribbean w/ Luke.

Our next stop was Critter Country, where we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, met the characters, and had a mid-afternoon lunch at the Hungry Bear Cafe, which overlooked the water.  It was quiet and peaceful and a good time to sit after 4 hours of being on the go.

The kids loved meeting Eeyore!  He was like a big soft animal, and I think Noelle was hoping to cheer him up with a good hug -

Lucy was super excited to see Winnie the Pooh!  She doesn't know any characters, but she was just so thrilled to see large, moving stuffed animals!  She kept pointing and doing her smile/squeal/scream of delight thing toward Pooh and really toward countless other things that made her happy -

On our way back through Adventureland toward Tomorrowland, we did the Jungle Cruise.  Afterwards, Luke and Isaiah headed off for StarTours while the girls went to the "Baby Center" which was a pretty amazing place to change a diaper and for Noelle to use the cutest little potty you've ever seen.  In Tomorrowland, we rode a rocket ride, Isaiah rode Space Mountain w/me and then w/ Luke, and the girls did Finding Nemo w/ Luke.  We finished up all that in time for everyone to choose their souvaneir and get a good spot for the parade!

No, I didn't get this hat, but I had the 1990 model!

This was one of Noelle's special things of the day.  Both girls were totally delighted by this balloon!  Unfortunately, it got away at the very end of the day as we were getting to the car.  What a sad ending to the day!!  We've recovered this morning, but I'm still feeling really bad about it, and Noelle is still a little sad.

Dad and the kiddos ready for the parade!  Lucy had just taken another nap in the carrier - again, easy w/ no fussing - and Luke had just taken the big kids on one more carousel ride.  Noelle chose a Tinkerbelle Minnie as her souvenir.  Lucy got a little soft Pooh Bear, which she LOVES hugging, and Isaiah chose a cool Star Wars Mickey shirt.

Mickey's Soundsational Parade was an awesome finale.  The kids were delighted by the floats and all of the characters.  We got to see all of the princesses (Noelle's favorite part) plus everyone from Peter Pan, Mickey, Minnie & Crew, and many others.

What a truly delightful day for all 5 of us!!