we went to california: day 4

Maybe I should apologize for now for the picture overload on this post, but our second day at Disneyland was one of my favorite days of my whole life! Even Bart said it was his favorite day at Disney ever. I want to remember so many details of that perfect day, so here are a ton of my favorite pictures.  

It was so awesome having my parents at the parks again. Not only is it super helpful to have some extra adults since not all kids can ride all the rides.  But, the real reasons I love having my parents with us at Disneyland are:
1-It reminds me of all the family vacations to Disneyland that they took me and my brothers on when we were young (which are some of my favorite childhood memories, of course)
2-My parents don't get to see my children very often, so anytime they get to spend time with them is great, but it's even better when they can watch them experience the magical moments that are always had at Disneyland
3-I love that when my kids think back on their favorite family vacations, they will remember grandma and grandpa being there
4-My dad doesn't love having his picture taken, and he doesn't love meeting characters, but he will totally get in a picture with Darth Vader because he knows it will make my kids (and me) happy!

Darth Vader singled Krew out because he was wearing his Darth Vader shirt (which he designed and helped make).  Vader was asking Krew all sorts of questions and trying to intimidate him, but Krew just said nothing. Nothing.  He's funny like that.

One of my favorite parts of the day was taking Krew on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Last year before we went to Disney World, this was one of the rides he was most excited about.  But then he decided he was scared of everything and would not go on it.  By the last day, I had convinced Krew to give it a chance.  We stood in line for 15 minutes before they shut down the ride and we never got the chance.  We were both so bummed.  This year he said he didn't want to try it. But, being the mean mom that I am, I told him that I was going to make him ride it once.  If he didn't like it I wouldn't make him ride it again, but I really thought he was going to love it.  We got fast passes for right after lunch, and I loved watching him and listening to him think and talk about it the whole time we were eating.  I could tell he was nervous, but he was trying to convince himself that it was going to be okay.  He didn't really resist going, but it was clear that he was overthinking it and super nervous.

As soon as we got off the ride, he said, "Can I go again?"  I was so happy that he liked it.  In fact he loved it, and asked dozens of times after that if he could ride it again.  He has since drawn lots of pictures of the ride, asked for a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad puzzle, and watched a video of the ride on YouTube over and over.  I think part of his enthusiasm comes from the fact that is an amazing ride, and partly because he was proud of himself for overcoming his fear.

Waiting for the train was exhausting.  Just kidding.  The whole trip was, but that's the kind of vacations I love!

Dole Whip!!

 I loved watching Everly meet some princesses.  She is super sweet, and only a tiny bit shy.  She smiled the whole time.

My favorite part was when she had to ask Cinderella if she lost her shoe when she was running away, and if she got her shoe back.  

Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect place, perfect day!