All The Disney Details- The End

Thank y'all so much for indulging me in my little endeavor to preserve the memories of my nephew's first trip to Disneyland and in turn share way too many pictures of said event.  This is to be the last installment of my series on this subject.  Truly, thanks for the patience.

By the last day at the Disneyland resort, Nathan had really gotten comfortable with the place and pretty much knew where everything was.  He was feelin' quite at home that last morning when we noticed he was wearing the remainders of his ice cream all over his face- yes, ice cream that we had let him eat with his breakfast as we were cleaning out the hotel room fridge.

I have some really good excuses for allowing this.  1)  First and foremost, we were on vacation and that totally allows for eating ice cream for breakfast.  2)  He saw the ice cream before I had the chance to throw it out.  3)  I had been awakened by the alarm clock next door at 6am, that proceeded to go off for over 15 minutes before I could get anybody in that room to shut that sucker down.  I guess there must have been one heck of a party going on over there the night before because these people seemed a little more than hung over.  So I was in a weakened state, what can I say?

It turned out to be quite a stellar day for eating all around when we had lunch at the 'Big Thunder Ranch Barbeque' all you can eat place inside the park right before we used our fast passes to take another ride on 'California Screamin'- the roller coaster with the big loop and the 55 miles per hour.  Yeah, this was Nathan's idea.

Amazingly, we made it through without any encore performances from our lunch.

As the trip wound down, there was a definite sense of how grateful we all were for how well things had gone.  After such a long build up to this trip (with all the complications that my sister had thrown our way, it had been a couple of years since I had promised this to Nathan) we were all making sure to take in everything we could to save the memories in our hearts and know that this was just the beginning of a positive new future to come.

Nathan's Dad and my husband took the opportunity to buy a few more souvenirs that Nathan had been eyeballing, including a flashing light saber and a light up spinning R2-D2.

He used his cool new toys to help him enjoy the 'Fantasmic' show at the rivers of America in Disneyland.  This show was even more impressive than 'World Of Color' had been.  It has the light show on the fountains along with live Disney characters and boats added to it.

Here is a good sampling of the show. (You may want to pause the music player.)




Yes indeed, this kid was happy and satisfied.

On the way back home we realized just how lucky we had been.  The weather for us had cooperated with our plans quite magically, after all.  When we were on the road, the weather was miserable.  Both ways.  But while we were actually at our destination we were treated to blue skies and warmth.  So when we had to take a 3 hour detour to avoid a snowy mountain pass on the way back, I took it as a reminder of just how fortunate we had been.  Plus it allowed us to show Nathan the Redwoods.

One extra stop for some fresh air and a break from the windy roads and Nathan was able to give me the 'No Hurl' guarantee.  To think that car sickness almost got to him after all those crazy rides! 

We all made it back to the comfort of home, safe and sound, that night.  What a trip it had been!

All The Disney Details- Nathan's First Day At Disneyland

Yes, I realize this has been delayed for a bit more than a reasonable amount of time.  Let's just say that the last week has been a deep well of fodder for future blog posts.  More on that later...  Without further ado, here is the post and some photos about my nephew's first day in Disneyland.

On the way down to California, Nathan had rattled on and on all about Lego Land.  And he had wondered why we were only spending one day there and three days in Disneyland.  I kept trying to explain and it helped that my friend had sent books with cool info. and pictures about the resort, but in the end Nathan found out why we would be there for a whole three days for himself.  He did really enjoy Lego Land, especially after waiting a year and half to get there.  However, on the car ride back all we heard about was Disney Land and California Adventure.  I had suspected this might be the case.  He has a heart for Disney just like me.

Nathan would declare different rides as his favorite every day and the list became a great source of humor as he got down to his sixth and seventh favorites and then forgot one and had to start over, reordering the entire list!

Once we finally got to the park, we had to take care of one special request that his grandmother had made.  She said he simply must get a set of Mickey Ears.  So we headed straight to the Mad Hatter and did just that.

 Yup, he chose a pair of R2-D2 style ears!

And he looked so dang cute in them!

We had started in Fantasyland and Nathan's first ride was Peter Pan's Flight.  It was so neat to watch his face as he took in the magic.  It didn't take long though for him to realize that there were some more 'thrilling' type rides in this park as well.  We ended up in Tomorrowland where he discovered what I think is one of his true favorites:

 

And my husband's favorite- anything with the Little Green Men on it:

Nathan was most into the 'big kid' rides, such as the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Space Mountain.  He also loved the theme rides like the Jungle Boat Cruise and Pirates Of The Caribbean.  Nathan was basically game for anything, even 'little kid' type activities and the only thing he decided that he didn't like were the lines!  That first day, Disneyland was a very busy place.  Thankfully the next two days were a lot less crowded.

We ended that first night with a yummy wood-fire cooked pizza at Naples in Downtown Disney.  It was fun to watch them make the pizzas right there in front of us.

This kid definitely had an awesome time!

'Disney'd Out!

Yes, I have been away enjoying the 'happiest place on earth' with my dear nephew and have had little time and poor Internet connections so have been unable to share any of the details.
I will post fun stuff just as soon as I get back home.  I promise!  Things have been wonderful for this trip so far and I appreciate that many of you have had me in your thoughts.
However, we are currently staying over in a small town in a rural area of California hoping that tomorrow will bring good enough weather to let us pass through the Mt. Shasta area.  If not, we will head out toward the coast and then through Grants Pass, where it is supposed to be merely rainy, not snowy like Shasta.
Wish us luck, and I will enjoy a bit of your blogging that I have missed before calling it a day.
It looks like there's some irresistible stuff out there just waiting for me.

Now That You Got Through That Test, What's Next?

You know that question that always comes at the end of the Super Bowl...  Well, around here we have our own version of that little scenario. 
Now that my husband has passed his latest nasty actuarial exam, what are we going to do?
We're going to Disneyland, of course!

 Goofy is there waiting for us!

Actually passing the test had nothing to do with these plans, but the timing is nice.
The real reason we're headed back to see Mickey and friends is because my wonderful nephew has never been to Disneyland and we have been promising him a trip there for over a year and a half now.  Last year it didn't happen due to some pretty sad circumstances.  Basically his mother was using him as a pawn.  I was so mad I could have spit.  And that's pretty mad for me, 'cuz I think spitting is just nasty.
But finally, after plenty of time and heartbreak, the plans are really rolling and we are all getting super excited to make this truly happen.  My nephew is counting down the days and now I am too, with my new little ticker at the top right of my page here, thanks to seeing the one over on Loretta's blog.  I am so happy to be sharing the excitement of heading to the happiest place on earth with my nephew, with all of you!