Disneyland Days: 3 & 4

By the third day, we slept a little more, and felt like seasoned Disneylanders! We also realized that tomorrow was our last day, so we had to get moving! We met up with Papa and Grandma in California Adventure, and headed to see Princess Ana and Queen Elsa....we may have gotten a bit distracted on the way; that happens in the magic kingdom!

 We made it to the Frozen Sing-a-long and we loved it. 

Archie was all charm.

 We found this while wandering around, and I thought it was cool.

 It was priceless just to see these two working together and laughing hysterically. Actually, one of the reasons there aren't very many pictures of this day, is because we were really having a lot of fun. One of my favorite moments was when we stopped to eat dinner at the Pinocchio restaurant and we spend most of the time singing the Veggie Tales Cheeseburger song with Archie; he loves it so much. The kids would start to crash around 5:00pm, so stopping for dinner and resetting was just what we always needed. The Teacups were always great because there was no line, and it gave the kids a chance to just sit and relax. I think we made it to closing time on this day too. 

 This emerging pre-teen bought her first pair of sunglasses at Disneyland, and she couldn't be cuter. 

Day 4 we slept in even a little more (walking 13 miles a day makes you pretty tired!), and had our farewell breakfast with Papa and Gramma and IHOP. I swear we got a picture of all of us outside the restaurant before they left, but I can't find it!! What I DID find though, was evidence that Papa is the best; he showed Elliott how to do a sneaky panorama trick. 

 One of the funny memories from this last day will be the giant light-saber dilemma. On the first day, Archie used his Disney gift-card to buy a GIANT 3-pronged light-saber. We spent the whole day dodging oncoming traffic as it stuck out at all angles from his stroller. When we got it back to the hotel, we quickly realized that it wouldn't fit in our luggage, so we would probably have to mail it home! On this last day though, we decided that it would be much more fun to give it to a Star Wars-loving boy and just buy Archie a collapsible one. We talked to Archie about it, and he agreed; it ended up being very sweet, and he was able to build his own custom light-saber which he liked very much. 

After breakfast, Elliott and I hurried into California Adventure to await the opening bell so we could rush to the Radiator Racers fast-pass. He is always up for an adventure, even with his crazy-mama. Just look at that SMILE!!!!

 It was our last day, so I really wanted to get in all the little nooks and crannies that we hadn't seen yet. We ate lunch in Tomorrowland, and caught the Jedi Training show. This is a picture of Archie using the force to raise the temple; he did a great job. 

 Then we rushed over to New Orleans to explore the steamship. We were racing around the stairs, and I hear Archie say, " Oh Mom! There's a princess over here!" He sure loves the ladies.

 From there, Lucy and I decided to head to the haunted house, where I ran into a friend, Mindy Johnson, from Mesa High who I didn't know was there with her family!! Crazy Disney. I left my phone on the Haunted House ride, and had to wait 45 minutes at City Hall while security brought it over. For compensation, they gave me 2 passes for the whole family to go walk right on ANY ride!! I'm so glad they did, because that is the only way we were able to go on Peter Pan (always a long line), and Alice in Wonderland (the same long lines!)! We also discovered on this last day, that Archie likes the Winnie The Pooh ride too! AUGHHH!! Now we have to go back, because we only had time to do it once! 

Mike took the big kids to do some fun scarier rides in Tomorrowland, and Archie and I waited for a 7 minute window that, thanks to the awesome app, we knew Jasmine would be greeting guests. Archie was first in line. While we waited, the helper you see on the right was so great! It is hard for a 4 year old to wait in line in an exciting place like this, but she kept him occupied talking about Minecraft and the time just flew by. 

 He had just smashed two pennies in a nearby shop, and he handed them to Jasmine and told her they were for Raja; it was so sweet, and she was so happy about it. It made Archie's day!

 Noooooo!!! Night came to quickly on the last day!!! We never wanted it to end! We would clean toilets all day every day if it meant we could stay in this magical place forever. Don't they need pharmacists in Disneyland!?!?!  Archie finally got his Wilderness Explorer Badge from his favorite attraction, we grabbed some last-minute dinner, and headed to our last ride: Monsters Inc. 

Then we bought a Mickey kitchen sink full of ice-cream, my must-buy caramel apple, and sadly walked back to our hotel room. 

 Sad to say goodbye Disneyland, we LOVED LOVED LOVED you!!

Lucy's favorite ride: California Screamin'

Lucy's Favorite memory: hanging out with the family

Elliott's favorite ride: Raft ride

Elliott's favorite memory: Riding his first loop-de-loop

Archie's favorite ride: Peter Pan

Archie's favorite memory: meeting the princesses