Disneyland Part One

After a short flight and a bumpy bus ride, we arrived at the happiest place on earth and checked into our hotel before heading to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the evening. I was still recovering from being sick in Sacramento and Zachary was fighting a very nasty virus that left him feeling very sad, so it was hard to get many pictures of him smiling. He became Daddy's boy for 3 days and always wanted to be carried around. (I've uploaded only the best pictures to this blog, but there are still so many that I had to break this into part 1 and 2.)

One of the rare pictures we have of Zachary smiling during this trip...but of course, he is with his Daddy!

The first ride we went on: Finding Nemo Submarines

At the parade, Mikie waved at every character dancing in the street. It was so cute when he said, "Let's get out the scrapbook (autograph book) that we made and maybe they'll come running." He really wanted them to come over and talk with him.

On the Jungle Cruise, the boys were "taking it all in" and searching for the amazon aimals.

One of the highlights for Mikie, was being able to run through, and climb up, into Tarzan's Tree House.

Ahhh...aaaa....Ahhhh...aaaaa! (Tarzan yell)

On the Mark Twain Paddle Boat:

The boys used this little stage to perform some dance moves for our enjoyment.

You can tell from the video that "White boys can't dance!"

Of course, Daddy had to take them on HIS favorite ride MANY, MANY times! The boys really liked it too and we were glad there was hardly any line.

On the way out that evening, we found Mickey Mouse. Mikie had just fallen asleep in the stroller about 5 minutes before so I was leary about waking him up; however, as soon as he saw Mickey he was awake and happy.

The next morning we started our day in Toon Town and remembered to bring our autograph book this time! Mikie is a big fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel so I knew he would love seeing his favorite characters in real life. I was right....he wasn't scared at all and gave them all big hugs and high fives.

As soon as we walked in, we met Pluto:

Then we saw Goofy:

Mikie is standing on Goofy's porch.

Next up, Minnie Mouse:

Inside Minnie's houseIt's so hard to wait your turn:

In this video, Mikie reads the note Mickey left for Minnie:

Mikie rides his first disney roller coaster in toon town while Zachary screams because he's too little to ride. The only cute picture of Zachary's shirt:

Inside Mickey's House on Pluto's Bed:

And this time everyone is awake to see Mickey Mouse but you can tell how miserable Zach feels:

Outside of Chip and Dale's house:

Riding the Casey Jr. Train from Dumbo:

Appropriate choice of cages!

Both boys fell asleep in the stroller, so we took the opportunity to walk over to Disney's California Adventure and ride a few rides while Boagie kept an eye on the boys.

When they woke up, we took them on the rocking ferris wheel. Zachary looks happy in this picture, but as soon as the car started rocking and rolling he was a little terrified and held his breath each time it moved.

Playing a few games:

Winning a few prizes:

King Triton's Carousel

Zachary chooses a pink dolphin.

Mikie chooses a pink humback whale.

Photo Op!

Playing hide n' seek underground while waiting to see the Bug's Life 3D Movie

My little bug a boo:

Rolly Polly Pill Bug Bumper Car ride with Daddy

As the sun set, we decided to make it a (not so) early night and go back to the hotel. With hot chocolates in hand (the weather was mostly cloudy & 68 degrees *PERFECT* during the day and just a tad chilly at night), we walked back to our hotel and watched the fireworks from our balcony window.

Fuzzy Kisses

The boys and I left one of our "homes away from home" (aka: Amber's house) and flew to Sacramento, CA for my cousin's high school graduation. The plane ride was quick and quiet because Mikie had a fever and slept, while Zach was recovering from his 2 day fever and also napped. We spent the first night with my Grandmother's niece and her husband, who made us feel right at home. We enjoyed sitting outside eating a special meal cooked especially for my boys while admiring their beautiful view of the valley. Boagie worked off a few calories running up and down the hill after the boys continuously launched their monster trucks over the sides of their spacious deck. In the morning, there were a few other members of their family to meet: the alpacas!Zachary recieves his first fuzzy kiss, while Mikie takes a liking to a friendly white female named Cassidy. He started showing her his monster truck and then started talking to her like a friend, as if she understood every word. Then, he would say "Can you say: Monster Truck?" or "Can you say: Alpaca?" and then he'd listen as Cassidy whispered in his ear. He got so excited every time she did that! He would say: "She said Monster Truck!" or "She said Alpaca!" It was so cute to watch, and I'm so disappointed that I didn't get any video of the "secret whispering."

Cassidy sees her first Monster Truck in this video:

Thank you, Suzie & Brad, for opening your home to us. We had so much fun on your ranch.

Don't be fooled by the picture below...we're not at Disneyland yet! But, we are someplace my boys would consider equally as fun: MINI-GOLF.

The picture above is a typical sight on every hole....Mikie has just finished putting and is now running ahead to check out the next hole while Zachary takes another 20 swings to sink his shot.

They sure did make this hole tricky!

I didn't get any good pictures of my cousin on his graduation day (Aunt Joy, if you'd like to send me some I can upload them here). It was great to see our family again and wish you luck, Caleb!!!