Disneyland--Day 2

Tuesday, March 23rd--Today we went to California Adventure. The first thing on our agenda was to find a mail drop box to send my SIL, Marissa, a birthday postcard from Disneyland. Today is her birthday and we wanted to make sure she knew we didn't forget her. From there we made a mad dash to get on the Toy Story Mania ride. This ride is fairly new and we haven't been on it before. If you don't get to it first thing in the morning you might as well forget about it. The rest of the day you're dealing with horrifically long lines. (this ride is also at Disneyworld and we weren't able to ride it because of the long lines). We got there and there was still quite a bit of a wait but it seemed to go by fairly fast. While in the line, Brady stayed close to his grandpa and copied what grandpa did. These two became close pals on our trip! Brady wanted to go on all the rides

with grandpa and hold his hand. It was so sweet! Nate and I

sat together and competed while Elise sat with grandma. I think Nate won this round. We really enjoyed our first time on this ride and quickly ran over to go on it again. After our ride we caught up with Jessie from Toy Story then off to ride King Tritans Carousel. The kids wanted to go on this ride over and over again and happily did since there weren't any lines (everyone was in the Toy Story line!). While the kids were on the carousel, Nate and Dan rode on California Screamin'. The kids noticed some penny press machines and got a few then off to our favorite, Soarin' Over California. The kids enjoyed hanging from bars while we waited to get on the ride. After we "soared" it was time to test Brady. He did really well this trip, his levels seemed to be just fine, for the most part---a true blessing. With his glucose level just fine and dandy, we headed over to Hollywood Tower of Terror. There's no way in hell I'll go on this ride and Brady didn't want to go on it either so we said "farewell" to our crazy group and hit the shops while they were terrorized. We went over to a souvenir stand full of Muppet merchandise. I was in heaven! I got a few things and also found an adorable Stitch plush for Elise's birthday, which is tomorrow. When the cashier asked why I was buying it, I told him and he handed me a "Happy Birthday" pin for her. Perfect, since I was going to have to get one for her anyway. He handed me a marker to write her name on it. Then the rest of the day I had to keep this all a secret so she'd be surprised. Shortly after, we met back up with our crazy group and Elise looked very upset. She ran to me and just hugged me tight.
She did not like Hollywood Tower of Terror---AT ALL.

For some bizarre reason that just made Brady want to ride it so he, Nate and Dan went back on while the rest of us hit more shops. Elise found another pin to add to her lanyard.

On our way to Grizzly River Rapids we noticed several characters out signing autographs with very short lines. We got to see Goofy, Lilo, Pluto, Chip and Dale.

Then off to Grizzly River Rapids. Nope, I didn't go on this one either but I did enjoy walking around taking pictures of the landscape and just enjoying some quiet time. Everyone had a great time. I had to laugh, Dan & Rosemary wore plastic ponchos so they wouldn't get wet but it didn't seem to help Rosemary so much as most of her toosh got soaked!

Next to Hollywood Studios (I think that's what it's called). I LOVE this place. I love sitting in the huge "lobby" area and just watching the various screens change to different movies and hearing the amazing music. I stayed in here while the rest went into "Turtle Talk With Crush". I kick myself now, I should have gone in because Crush talked with Elise. He asked how old she is and she said, "Seven, but my birthday is tomorrow." He wished her a "Happy Hatch Day", then sang the same thing to her. Everyone says it was really cute. Dangit, so mad at myself for missing that! As you're exiting the Studios there is a large quote on the wall that says "and they lived happily ever after". With Nate and I just recently celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss I wanted a pic in front. We also got one of Dan & Rosemary in front. They both turned out so cute!

Off to eat lunch on the pier. We packed lunches again but I wanted a taste of some teriyaki chicken that was smelling so good. I got the kids meal, which was plenty and tasty too!

From there, we went to Bugs Land. We hit most of the rides and then caught the 3D show "It Tough to Be a Bug". I really enjoy watching people react to this show when they haven't seen it before, it is tooo hilarious!

There wasn't much else to do in California Adventure so we headed back to Disneyland. Much of California Adventure is walled off as Disney makes major renovations. To say they are making some changes is an understatement. The changes are HUGE and all over the park! This park is only 8 or 9 years old but apparently it's not getting the "draw" that was expected so big changes are coming, like it or not.

Before we made it to the Disneyland front gates we located Rosemary's cobblestone. In the center plaza the ground is all cobblestone and people can buy a stone and have their names, dates, whatever placed on them. Back in 2006, all of Rosemary's kids and their families chipped in and we bought her a stone for her birthday. Rosemary absolutely adores Disneyland and we knew she would be touched to receive such a gift--she was and even teared up some. Now, everytime any of us go, we locate her stone. She noticed it was a little dirty so she started wiping it off.......with her spit! After a chuckle or two, I pulled out some wipes and she gave it a good scrub down.

Disneyland was packed so we ended up not doing too much. Nate took the kids up to Tarzans treehouse, we rode Alice In Wonderland ride and a few other things then it was time to head back to the hotel. On our way out we just happened to come across Mickey and Minnie before a long line formed. It was the perfect way to end our night!