Big Thunder Mountain

Calissa was again afraid of this ride. (I think this is my favorite ride at Disneyland). She got on with less crying though ... I think she was maybe starting to believe us when we told her that she would like it. Calissa and Dad getting ready to go. She ended up loving it!

Parker sitting in front driving the train. He liked sitting by himself because he would get thrown around as the train went around the corners. I told him to hold on and he said, "Why? I'm having fun." Later he wondered why he had bruises. Hmm ....

Calissa going on for the 5th or 6th time!

We conquered the mountain!

Watch out for the rattlesnakes!

Toy Story Mania!

One of the favorite rides at California Adventure was Toy Story Mania. We remember this ride from Disney World. At Disney World they have fast passes for it, at California Adventure they don't. That means that this was the first ride that we went on each day as the park opened at 10:00. We didn't go on it the last day since within 10 minutes of the park opening the line was 1 1/2 hours long. Totally not worth it! (Although it's fun!)Calissa listening to Mr. Potato Head. He was telling jokes as we waited in line.

Toy Story Mania is in 4-D. You wear the 3-D glasses and play carnival games to get points. If you hit certain ones, air or water fly back at you.

Conner and Parker ready to go!

Waiting in line on Saturday morning.

Crazy coincidence of the week. As we were waiting in line this morning the lady behind us started to chat with us and ended up asking us where we were from. We said the Bay Area, by San Fransisco and Oakland. She asked where and I told her Concord. She said that she and her family had lived in Concord in the early 70's. We chatted about some streets, where they were married, etc. She asked about the Elementary School Monte Gardens. I said, "That's where my kids go!" She said her son went there and they walked to school. I asked what street she lived on and she said Noemi Drive. That's the same street my grandparents lived on and my brother lives on now. What a small world!

One more time!

He looks excited, huh?

Another fun Toy Story Ride is in Disneyland and is called Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. You shoot at Zerg (I don't know how that is spelled?) and you get points. After, you can email your picture home. Don't I look excited?

Parker and Conner and busy shooting.

Travis looks a little too into it, huh?

The Very Scary Ferris Wheel

Travis doesn't do spinning rides like the teacups and can't even watch the merry-go-round while we ride it. He takes Dramamine so he can go on the other rides. (He said it's because he has incredible balance and that's why he gets feeling sick). So, I was very surprised when we decided to go on the Ferris wheel and Travis agreed to go along. I asked him if he was sure and he said, "I should be fine." We got on and Calissa was saying that she was a little afraid and Travis said, "It's not scary Calissa and it's really safe." Then I looked down and saw his hand holding on!

We're just getting going and everyone is happy!

We decided to get one of the swinging baskets instead of the stationary ones that go super, super high.

Once it started swinging this is what Parker and I saw. Open mouths and screaming as we swung around. Parker and I were laughing so hard that we were crying by the end of the ride.

Who knew that the Ferris wheel was the scariest ride that we would go on?

Tower of Terror

When we were at Disney World a couple of years ago, the kids refused to go on the Tower of Terror. We told them that the next time we were at Disneyland that they had to go. Here it is in the background. I love the look on Parker's face!Calissa actually didn't put up much of a stink on this ride.She actually kind of liked it and went on it twice in a row.

See ... it's not so scary after all!

Calissa Screamin' (I mean California Screamin')

This is the ride that is the scariest at either park. I wasn't sure Calissa would agree to go on it, but figured that she would like it if she did. The first day this is what Conner and Calissa did while we were going on it. They waited for us ... happily!

Here is Parker after he went on the awesome ride!

Notice the people going upside down? He wasn't so sure about it, but loved it once he went on.

Conner went on the next day and loved it and after much arm twisting, Calissa finally decided to go on. (Conner and Parker were trying to tell her that the Ferris wheel was much scarier!) All it ended up costing us was a new coloring book and some Disney crayons! This is her as we were first getting on ... she looks a little scared, huh?

She wanted me to hold on to her during the ride.

Once it was over she thought it was best ride ever and became her favorite ride.

She got off with a huge smile on her face and said, "I don't want to say it, but that was AWESOME!" Told you so Calissa!

The crazy boys!

Calissa and Conner conquered California Screamin'!

This ended up being everyone's favorite ride and the ride we went on the most.

We went on it three times the last day we were there.

Don't you love their faces?

I guess maybe these children belong to me.

I'll claim them now that they love roller coasters!

Randomness

Here are some pictures from the trip that didn't fit anywhere else (but I still wanted to include them).Yes, we did go on Small World, but we didn't have to wait. The boys (including Travis) said they didn't want to go on it, but we forced them to since there wasn't a wait. You have to go on Small World when you go to Disneyland! Isn't that moose cute!

Travis was willing to take a picture of us in the teacups before they started spinning!

We were all sitting on this bench eating ice cream when a random man walked by and said, "I have to take a picture of your family ... do you have a camera?"

Nice guy! It's our only picture of the whole family on our trip!

Riding Sea Creatures

In a Bugs Life - my kids look like bugs, huh?

Parker just happened to stand in the right spot so he had the Mickey Mouse ears.

Funny, huh?

We were loving the rain on Saturday because it kept the people away.

The family with Mater.

(Guess I had a couple of other pictures with the whole family.)

The fam with Lightning McQueen.

Don't you love the name of that ice cream shop?

Burr?

More ice cream.

That was the favorite treat of the trip even though it was a little chilly outside.

Calissa with Woody at the Lego store in Downtown Disney.

The kids on the rope maze at the Wilderness section of California Adventure.

Don't know where they found the energy. Travis and I stood in one spot while they ran up and down and around those ropes!

Parker at the ESPN Zone.

Working his magic.

The boys busy at work ... I mean play!

Football challenge.

This place has a store and a restaurant on the bottom floor with sports on TVs everywhere! They even have them in each stall of the bathroom so you don't miss a thing!

Then, upstairs is a full arcade of sports games.

The boys (including Travis) spent several hours two different days there having fun.

Calissa and I did a little window shopping instead!

Wonderful World of Color

We had heard lots of great things about World of Color at California Adventure. It's a music and lights show that lasts about 30 minutes. We had pre-purchased meals to be able to get a fast pass to see it without having to wait in line. We could see it from our hotel room too and watched it the first two nights from our room. One of the channels on the TV had the music so it was almost as good as being there.You can see the water and lights fountains coming up from the black at the bottom. It takes place in the lake area at California Adventure. This is a must see if you go to Disneyland. Only downside is there is no seating. You have to stand to watch it, but we ended up with a pretty good place to stand.



Hopefully the video works. If not, be sure to check out a clip of it on YouTube.