Disneyland!

I think I better preface this post by saying that my family is obsessed with Disneyland. The first time we went, I was in 8th grade and we have been back 3 times since. Swansons, I know this is nothing compared to the 2 of you, but at least you understand the obsession! ;)

A trip to the happiest place on earth is not a liesurly vacation for my family. We get up at 7 to be at the park by 8 when it opens, and we stay until midnight when it closes. We make sure that we hit every ride at least once, most of them much more than that.

Immediately after Tim crossed the finish line at Ironman and I congratulated him, I headed back home to pack. Then it was up to my parents' house to stay the night and the next morning, we headed to the airport to catch our 7:00 plane. We landed in LA at about 9:45 and were at our hotel right across the street from the park by 11:00. We dropped of our bags and headed to Disneyland to get in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, the first ride we always go on.

Here is Eric and I with my sister and her boyfriend just moments after entering the park. As you can see, I'm looking a bit disheveled. What can I say? I had a pretty busy weekend and I woke up with the puffiest dark circles under my eyes ever! My rule was no pictures for the first day, but my dad just had to snap one!
This year marked the first year that my sister's boyfriend, Matt, came on a vacation with us. They have been dating for the past 3 years, so it was about time! My sister was adamant about watching the fireworks that night. I found this to be odd because I don't think we have ever actually stopped to watch them. Everybody knows that the fireworks show is prime ride time! It happens at the same time as a water show called Fantasmic (which is amazing), so the lines to get on rides are pretty much non-existent. I asked her why she wanted to watch them and she said Matt was just really excited about them. Everything came to light later when...

Matt proposed!!!

I love this last shot because you can see the fireworks in the background. If that's not a fairytale proposal, I don't know what is!

The rest of the trip was fantastic. Like I said, we spent every minute possible in Disneyland or The California Adventure and Eric was sure to check off every attraction as we visited it to keep us on track!

The best ride by far was Toy Story Midway Mania. It sounds like the dumbest thing ever when I try to explain it so if you're really bored, you can watch the YouTube video of it below (sorry it's there twice. I couldn't delete the second one). Basically, you wear 3D glasses and get to shoot at a ton of targets with a little cannon that is in front of you. You compete with everyone and it is seriously the coolest thing ever!




Apparently it had just opened a couple of weeks ago so we waited in line for an hour to ride it. Two days later, we waited in line outside the gates of The California Adventure to get to Toy Story. Eric said, "We're not going to run when the open the gates are we? Aren't we a little old for that?" I said, "You bet your ass we're running!!!" And I did. I got told to stop by one lady, but what was she going to do if I didn't stop? She had to catch me first!! We were in the top 20 people to get on the ride that morning! Boo yah! I told you we're nuts about this place! Here are Eric and I in line.

Other highlights included the new Finding Nemo Submarine ride which is also new. There he is!

Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin

Hanging out on Paradise Pier at The California Adventure


The Grizzly River Run (got really wet on this one!)

My Superman in Toon Town

Riding the Mark Twain Steamboat

As per tradition, we always have lunch at The Blue Bayou on our last day at Disneyland. It is a restaurant located inside Pirates of the Caribbean. The coolest part about this place is that you feel like you are sitting outside on a cool evening when it's really the middle of the day and blistering hot outside!

It's awesome! It's a bit spendy but the food is amazing and you can't beat the atmosphere!

I have to give a huge thank you to my parents who pretty much financed this entire trip! Thanks so much for planning all of it! It was a blast to spend some time with the fam!

You didn't think I left without taking an A+ picture, did you? ;)