Disneyland Christmas Adventure 2009

So many things to love about this picture.  Yes, we are all squinting because it is so bright.  And this is the better of two pics taken.  I also really like the clear view of the lady in purple's bad bleach job and bottom.  I also dig the lady in green directly behind us and the fact that the gentleman we asked to take the picture didn't turn the camera to capture all of Sleeping Beauty's castle, so the whole top is chopped off.  Oh well, what can you do.

Here we are at the Reindeer Roundup in Frontier Land.  When I positioned the boys, the deer were sideways.  I guess they moved while I was focusing the camera.  Just as the picture was taken the one on the right let go and made room for more food (if you know what I mean).  Can you seriously imagine being able to poo and eat at the same time?  

OK, side-note, throughout these pictures I would like to you notice the smiles that my boys purposely practiced and perfected for the photos.  These were crafted to make them look adorable.

All right then, moving on. 

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Day #2 was spent in California Adventure.  First things first, we had to pay homage to our favorite Pixar movie to date.  Oh we've loved them all, but Cars has earned a special place in our hearts.  Tow-mater is Z's idea of a cool car.  As you can see, M is more of the fast, red, shiny type.

Right after this picture we got in the line for Soarin' Over California.  M pitched a fit.  The ride was stupid.  He was too big for such a stupid ride.  He wanted to go ride something cool. On and on and on.  Seriously to the point I was getting quite angry and ready to take him back to the hotel.  Did I mention Nana and Pops came along for the first two days?  Thank GOD for Nana and Pops because 1) they managed to keep him only very obnoxious instead of exteremely obnoxious and 2) they kept me from totally freaking out and telling him what an annoying little *&#% he was being.  Just about the time we hit the front of the line, he actually remembered the ride and remembered that, oh yeah, he actually really liked this particular attraction and that he had thought we were doing something different.  Never you mind the 1001 times I told him he liked this ride.  What do I know right?

 

M really wanted to ride the BIG BOY rides.  So R took him on this one.  I hate this ride soooo much.  I'm glad R has someone to to do it with that isn't me.  M actually looks excited.  R looks like he might pass out.  Not sure what the hand thing he has going on there is. Right after this, WHOOSH!  

  
That night we went to Goofy's Kitchen Buffet.  I didn't realize you had to call early to get a decent reservation, so we ended up going at 8:00 pm.  By then we were all fried.  We'd been at the Lego store forever, and we were sore, tired and hungry.  Luckily the food was OK, not $75 a pop OK, but we were all really hungry so just about anything would have been OK.  The boys did really enjoy the characters. Especially Chip & Dale. And while we are at this point of the story I would like to take a moment for a bit of a rant.

I realize that it was getting to a point where the characters were being mobbed and they wanted to make it so people could have a chance to actually get near the character and have a picture taken, etc. etc.  But to make it so you have to buy a really pricey meal to see 75% of them is rather ridiculous.  It's a racket I tell you!

Rant over.  Next.                                            Day #3.  Back at Disneyland.  This is a Monday mind you.  Disneyland actually reached capacity and had to close the gates.  So you can imagine how freakin' many people were there.  The rides were a joke and even walking around was an exercise in frustration.  So we hit some of the less popular attractions.  Like to riverboat.  And the island formerly known as Huck Finn's island, now known as something like Pirates of the Caribbean island.  They did actually put in a few cool pirate-y things, but the best thing was that is was unpopulated and the kids could run and climb and let R and I sit by ourselves for a minute.  for those who don't know my kids, they talk a lot.  And they don't really care if the other one is talking.  And they talk loud and fast.  And if no one is talking they will talk just to fill the silence.  So by day 3, my ears needed a break.  So the island was AWESOME!!!  

Day #4 we decided to make use of our early morning.  We rode more rides that morning than we did all day the rest of the days.  R was over it but I thought the last day was our best day.  Again, not sure what R is doing, but M is right on target.  We love the Buzz ride.  We rode all the good rides one more time in both Disneyland and California Adventure.  I was planning to finish the day and trip off with Fantasmic but it was voted and on and everyone was tired and ready to call it a day.  From this picture, I think we made the right call.  


One last story.  On the 1st night of our trip we watched Elf in the hotel room.  My boys laughed their butts off at the part where Elf pushes all the buttons in the elevator.  They kept joking about doing that and we kept telling them not to.  On the 2nd night of our trip, as we reached our floor, R looked around, told us to RUN and hit the buttons.  We ran to our room and laughed and laughed.  It totally shocked the boys and was fun.  Well, I'm sure you can figure out what happened next.  The last night, R and I stopped in the lobby to confirm our flight plans.  The boys asked if they could go up to the room so we gave them a key.  5 minutes later we open the door to our room and both of them come running, bawling their eyes out, babbling something about SECURITY!!!  After we calmed them down enough to talk we found out that they had decided to pull the ELF stunt themselves.  However, being young and inexperienced pranksters, they didn't look to see if anyone was getting on the elevator first.  A young couple with a baby got on and the man freaked out.  He gave them the riot act, asked their names and told them he was calling security.  I guess he was being kind of over the top because his wife eventually told him to let it go and leave them alone.  Not sure if he was doing it just to scare them or if they came across and individual needing some anger management, but nothing came of it.  R taught them one last prankster tip: NEVER GIVE THEM YOUR REAL NAME!  Ah, the lessons passed from one generation to the next.  


So we had fun and now the boys can quit bugging me about Disneyland and R can go to El Salvador to surf for his 40th birthday without feeling guilty and I got my Disney fix for a year or two.  Mission Accomplished.