Disneyland!

I can't believe this is only my second post for December! Gotta do better :)
Last week we took Raya to Disneyland for the first time. It was the best day ever. Seriously! Going to Dland with a toddler is a whole different story. The whole "seeing it through a child's eye," yah that. It was amazing.

When we got there the "Big 5"-you know, Mickey, Mini, Donald, Pluto and Goofy- were all out and Raya got to meet them and take pictures. She LOVED seeing them. She's really into The Mickey Mouse club and knows all the characters. The day before Dland I asked if she wanted to go to "Mickey's House," which of course she did, so it was fun to have her wake up the next morning and tell me she was ready to go to Mickey's House.

The weather was perfect. It was sunny! A little chilly, but not bad at all. We got there about 10 and went to Fantasyland, which is where most of the kiddy rides are and all of the princess attractions. I was so excited to go on the Dumbo ride with her! But when we got to it she didn't want to go on it. At all. I begged her ;) So we made our way to A Small World. My all time favorite ride. It was pretty cool to have one of those "this is mama's favorite ride and now I can share it with my daughter" moments. She wasn't as moved as I was. But thankfully she wanted to go on it! Haha. So the first part she was fine. She was looking around and enjoying the boat ride. But about 2 minutes into she started crying a little. It was too loud for her. She really doesn't like loud things and it kinda freaked her out. Soooo, we only rode it once. Ahhhh, I couldn't help but laugh. Here I am so excited to take my daughter on this ride. This momentous moment at the Happiest Place on Earth and it all just freaked her out and made her cry. LOL! However, Kallen LOVED the ride.

Ok, but get this. So we go over to Toon Town and play around. There's a roller coaster there and as soon as Raya saw it she immediately wanted to go on it. WHAT?! Yes. I was sure she was too short to ride, but oh no, she was tall enough. I asked her if she wanted to go on it with Daddy and she said "YESSSS!" So we let her go. As my Mom and I waited for them we thought she's either going to be forever scarred or, because she's such a dare-devil, she's going to love it. Welllll, wouldn't you know, this daredevil LOVED it. So Small World makes her cry but a roller coaster is a-ok. Ah, my girl <3. After that ride we walked by the Matterhorn and she kept pointing at it and asking if we could go on that next. If you don't know Dland, the Matterhorn is one of the "scariest" and fastest rides, so she won't be going on that until she's at least 3 ;) I remember my cousin Alyson would go on some of the scariest rides when we were so little-and she always loved them. I'm guessing Raya's going to be just like her.

After a few rides we went to lunch and then got ready for the big Christmas Parade! Gentry and Kallen camped out and got us a good spot while Nana took Raya to the Disney store. Oh man, you definitely want to be with a grandparent when you visit Dland for the first time! Raya got all kinds of goodies :)

So we sit on the curb for an hour and as soon as the parade starts guess who has to go to the bathroom? Yep. Raya. Uhhhhh! So Gentry takes her and, well, it would be when she has to take the longest dump ever. LOL!!! She's going to be so mad at me some day for this. But seriously! I was freaking out because she was missing the best parade ever and Gentry's texting me that she's "kinda busy." HAHA. Luckily she finished in time to get back outside and see the whole parade. It was a really good parade too!!!

After the parade we waited around for Pluto. He was the only one we didn't get to meet in the morning, and of course the only one Raya kept asking to meet. He never came, so we went across to California Adventure land. Both kids fell asleep so my Mom stayed with them and Gentry and I got to go on a ride. After, we did dinner and headed home. I really wanted to go back to the park because it "snowed" when it was dark, but it was just too cold. I didn't bring their super warm jackets because when we parked it wasn't' that cold at all, so I left them in the car. We'll do it next time :)

This was Tower of Terror. You basically get in an elevator and it drops. Repeatedly. And then drops again and shoots you back up just to drop you again. Lord! 

It was such a fun day!!! Man, I"m so glad we went. And at Christmas time too! Disneyland is amazing during the holidays. And it wasn't even packed. It was just perfect! If you have little ones and you have the opportunity to take them to Disneyland, do it. But I'd probably wait until they're at least 2. Kallen wasn't nearly as impressed as Raya was.