shred it: California Adventure- Day 30

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Wow. I'm not even sure how to begin writing about yesterday's adventure. To say it was a truly magical day doesn't even come close to capturing the half of it. It was a day filled of wonder and amazement and excitement and pure joy. And not just for the boys. I think Jon and I were more full of wonder and joy just watching the boys as they experienced their first magical Disney moments.

We scooped the boys out of bed at 6:30 in the morning and made it to the park by about 7:30. We got in right as it opened. Before we left for California, I had done extensive research on how to survive Disney with toddlers. So our morning was pretty well mapped out. We got a bit distracted by the Astro Orbiter on our way in because there was no line and the boys were so excited about flying a rocket ship, so we made an unplanned stop there. It was the boys first ever ride and they were just amazed!!! Then it was straight back to Dumbo, which we had to get to before the lines got bad. Both boys were desperate to ride in a purple Dumbo but we had to spend the morning explaining to them that we'd get which ever Dumbo they gave us... but sure enough we got in a purple! They were ecstatic! They loved flying in the elephants so much that we got off and got right back in line. I don't think we waited more than 5 minutes for each ride, it was awesome!

The next stop in our plan was to head straight back into Toontown to see Mickey and Minnie before the lines got too long. We got there just at the right time, because we were literally able to walk right up to them! In all of the research I did, everything said that Disney is quite stingy with their character appearances nowadays, and when you do see one out, you can wait in line forever... so hitting Toontown the moment it opened was a special treat. The boys got to spend some quality time with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto! It was magical to see the excitement in their faces and to watch them just run up to the characters with their arms wide open and collapse into them for a hug. After we hit all the characters, Jon talked the boys into riding the little roller coaster in Toontown. I was a bit nervous because it was quite fast, but they both wanted to do it so off we went! So much for mommy being nervous... they laughed and squealed the whole time and insisted we ride it again the second it was over! So we went back for round two! But for the record... that thing WAS fast!!!

Next we hit It's A Small World. Twice! For the first ride they sat on my lap and for the second they sat on Jon's... that way we each got to spend the entire 11 minutes just watching the joy on their faces. We still hadn't waited in line for anything all morning and it was nearing 11:00am so we decided to quit while we were ahead and get the boys their milk and a short nap. We walked them out of the park and away from all the stimulation. A little stroll through downtown Disney and toward the Disneyland Hotel was enough to get them to sleep. So Jon and I sat in the tea cup chairs in the hotel while they napped :) We had wanted to do the character lunch there, but by the time the boys woke up lunch was over. Big bummer. The boys both cried for a minute but we were able to regroup pretty quickly and find something else to eat.

Back in the park, it was SO much busier!!! We knew we had a glorious morning with the back of the park practically all to ourselves, so we were ready for it to get more crowded but I've got to say we enjoyed the morning a bit more! The boys had two things they wanted to do- Peter Pan and the Tiki Room- so we hit those first. Caleb was extremely nervous about both of those, to the point that as of early morning he was refusing to do them. But somehow he picked up some courage along the way because my mid-afternoon he was asking to do both!! Peter Pan was the first line we waited in- almost 40 minutes- but the boys were amazing. And Caleb wasn't even afraid!!! We were so proud of him! He was much more nervous in the Tiki Room and even asked to leave a few times before the show started but we tried to coax him into staying until it started with the promise that we could leave if he really did get too nervous. He was definitely scared, being that he was practically strangling me most of the time, but he also had this small little smile on his face the entire time. Afterwards he was so proud of himself, and that was a such beautiful thing. We then managed to squeeze in the jungle riverboat ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride, the former with a bit of a line but totally worth it, and the latter with absolutely no line so of course that was worth it!

And then came the sweetest moment of our entire day. We walked up front to Main Street to to the Abraham Lincoln show... and you all know how much the boys love Abe Lincoln! They sat beautifully through the movie part of the show, which I have to say was quite boring. But then the curtains slowly opened and the animatronic Abraham Lincoln appeared. We were in a giant theater full of people and it was dead silent. We were sitting in the very back row and the boys were standing up in their chairs to get a better view. When the spotlight focused on Lincoln, Caleb- in the sweetest, most innocent two year old voice you could ever imagine- yelled out, "Hi Abe!!!" just like they were old friends. His voice was full of wonder and amazement, as if his most beloved historical hero had just come to life and was right there to talk to him. He didn't know, nor care, about theater etiquette... he was just saying hi to a friend :) The whole audience laughed out loud, and Jon and I chuckled at one of our proudest moments as parents.

After Abe we went back to the spot on Main Street where we had left our strollers for the parade. We had to wait about a half hour, so we got the boys a special treat to help keep them busy... Mickie cookies! They were in heaven. And then the parade started, and heaven got 10 times better. I can't even describe their faces. Luckily Jon captured some amazing pictures! It was 20 minutes of pure magic and it made the whole entire day worth its weight in gold!!

Don't think we're done yet George! After the parade the line for Autopia wasn't as bad as it had been all day so we decided to wait it out. The boys were desperately excited to drive the cars- especially Caleb who has taken a recent interest in cars and driving! They were both quite bad at it, but luckily the cars had to stay on a track! Caleb kept getting tossed around when he'd steer the wrong way and the car would bounce back on the track, but each time he'd just right himself and grab the wheel again! After that it was getting dark, so we gave the boys their choice of one last ride. They wanted to do the rocket ships again. It was a half hour wait, but we had started our day there and we thought it was the perfect way to end our day... so we waited and once again the boys were fantastic in line. Their faces lit up one last time as they flew their rocket ships in the dark, racing around the planets in outer space. Our last stop was for a few minutes of shopping to let the boys pick out something special to help them remember their day, and then it was time to go home. We got in the car at 10:00pm with two totally exhausted but unbelievably happy little boys. They were asleep before we even left the parking garage, and Jon and I spent the entire hour drive home recalling each and every moment of pure magic that we watched the boys experience. It was truly the best way we could have possibly ended the Great Paddock Family California Adventure.

A grand entrance into Toontown- High Fours from dozens of Mickey hands!!!