California Adventure Day 3

California Adventure Day 3
November 19

This was the least crowded day, and we enjoyed a little more room to move!

On our way into California Adventure the second time we spotted Doc McStuffins.  Emi wanted to say hi and give her a hug!

Mike and I took the big kids on Tower of Terror.  Emilyn was so brave for her first time, and Matisyn loved it again.  The dads took the kids back for a second ride on it.

While they were riding Tower of Terror, we hung out in Bug's Land.  Lucas and I rode the bumper cars.  He thought it was hilarious to bump into people, and could not stop laughing.  Alison hung out with Kaylee and Cora so that I could ride with him.  Then when I fed Kaylee, Alison took Lucas and Cora on the Ladybug Tea Cups.  When all the kids got back they went with Matt on the Ladybug Tea Cups again.  Then the dads took all the kids on the "Chew Chew" train. 

Pretty cute to see the dads shoved in the back seat together on the train.

We squeezed the Monster's Inc ride in, and then went to see the Disney Jr Live on stage show.   It was pretty cute, and a big hit with all of the kids.  Lucas was up dancing during the songs, along with Cora.  He was especially interested in the "gold dubloons" that fell from the ceiling during Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Our little collector, Matisyn, was leading by example, picking up as many papers and streamers as she could.  She was disappointed when we made her leave them behind.  Both Lucas and Matisyn's pockets were full of "gold" when I went to wash their pants when we got home!

After the show, I stayed outside with Kaylee, and the rest of the crew went into the Sorcerer's Workshop.  The kids loved getting to draw their own action strips.  Emi enjoyed Belle's library with the talking books.

We ate a Chinese/Mexican lunch at the Pacific Wharf before heading under the big rock formations and back into Car's Land.  We took turns with Mike and Alison, taking the kids on the Racer's again.  In between racer rides we enjoyed a show from DJ Dance party.  Emilyn, Sylvie, and Cora were all dancing along with the group.  Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of them, but was shy about joining in.

While we were waiting for our turn on the Racer's, we spotted Lightning McQueen driving through town.  We had missed him last time, so we didn't waste anytime going to see him.  Lucas was SO excited to meet him, but was shy again when we got to the front of the line.  It was adorable when he walked up and pat him to say hello though!

After Car's Land we ran over to Aladdin.  They were just loading everyone into the theater.  It was amazing, as I remember.  The kids all loved it even more than I expected.  They were all glued for the whole show.  Except for Lucas who fell asleep in Matt's arms!

After Aladdin Matt and I took the big kids to Grizzly Rapids.  Nobody else wanted to get wet, but I thought it would be worth it.  To say they loved it would be an understatement.  We all laughed so hard the whole time.  It was really special time with the girls, because we were able to relax and enjoy time with them without the two little ones to draw our attention.  Plus we were able to be fun and crazy instead of responsible and quiet!  Vacations are nice for that.  Then we joined Alison where she was sitting with a still sleeping Lucas and a content Kaylee.  We enjoyed some downtime sitting at Clarabelle's in the front of the park.  We ate bread and treats and watched some more of the Five N Dime street show.

We headed back to the Paradise Pier area to save a spot for the parade.  It was really nice back there, and there weren't very many people.  I sat with Lucas, while Matt took the big kids on the swings, two times.  I'm glad Matt is good for the spinning rides!  The kids ran around while we waited for the parade to start.  I chased Lucas around the Pier area more times than I could count!  Everyone loved the parade, especially Lucas.  So many of his favorite characters, like the guys from Toy Story, made appearances, and there were a lot of pretty lights, music and dancing.  The parades were all impressive this year.  After that we were surprised to be in the perfect place to see Vive Navidad.  I don't think we would have known how fun it would be, had we not been in the right place at the right time.  It was a Spanish Christmas celebration with great music and wonderful dancing.  Donald was a star in it, which made Emilyn happy because she had hoped to see him the whole time.  I'm so glad we got to see it.  The moms and big kids went on Goofy's Sky School after the celebration was over.  The little girls were dying to go on the Jumping Jellyfish ride, so we ran over and caught it before they closed.

We met the dads and other kids in the restaurant across the way.  Somehow while we were talking we lost Lucas, Sylvie, and Cora.  After some panic and running around we found all of them.  Lucas had walked himself all the way out of the restaurant area and up to the rides.  He was running circles happy as can be while we were panicking!   We left the restaurant and walked past The World of Color and appreciated the much better view from up higher.  The viewing area we were in earlier in the week made it pretty hard to see anything.    We head over to The Little Mermaid ride to get one more time in, since it's so nice to walk straight onto a ride, and everyone enjoys it.

On our way out of the park I talked with Alison about surprising the kids by being super fun moms and going on Grizzly Rapids again.  I figured we would get wet, but we were on our way back to the hotel anyway.  They were beyond excited about our surprise.  The ride was hilarious with all of the screaming and splashing and laughing.  We were soaked and freezing, but when the kids wanted to go AGAIN, it was so much fun to say YES.  I love being able to say yes to things that don't make sense every once in a while!  We went a second time, and they loved every minute.  They were especially happy when they saw the moms get splashed!  We were cold and very wet, but realized we still needed to eat dinner.  Most of the park is closing, and everyone is starving.  We finally settle on Denny's by our hotel, wet clothes and all!  We really loved California Adventure this time, and it was fun to have two full days to explore it.

Favorites:
Matisyn- Grizzly Rapids, Tower of Terror, Aladdin
Emilyn- Grizzly Rapids, Tower of Terror, Donald in Vive Navidad
Lucas- Meeting Lightning McQueen, Parade, Bumper Cars