The Happiest Place on Earth–Day 1

I love Disneyland. We went on a Monday and Tuesday to avoid big crowds, at William’s pace, and loved watching his reactions to each new thing. It was nice to spread it out over two days, doing whatever we made it to the first day, and then going to the things we missed and getting to re-do the things he loved. He might not remember the trip in years to come, but Danny and I sure will!

Most of the rides that William would go on were rides that I could do as well (namely Fantasy Land). We started on Peter Pan, which he really liked, but was confused when we got on the ships and they started flying. He’d look at us and say “airplane?!”

He also loved the horsies that went up and down…

He loved all the boat rides and “choo choo trains”, but was pretty nervous on Storybook Land when we went into the whale’s big mouth.

Just like at the zoo, William did NOT want to ride in the stroller, which was fine, because he was really good at “helping us push” the stroller, and stayed really close to us. When he was getting really tired, we’d have him sit in the stroller and he’d zonk out and take great naps while Danny and I strolled around, checking out shops. We enjoyed a nice quiet lunch, Mary Poppins style, drinking Practically Perfect Punch. We had Mickey Mouse suckers all ready for when William woke up.

After lunch and a nap we went to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which was a little too wild for William. He preferred the car out front that didn’t actually move. Maybe next time!

It’s a Small World always surprises me, being longer than I remember it. William loved it though, so we did it a couple of times over the two days. Disneyland was still decked out for Christmas and New Years, so the It’s a Small World song was more of a Christmas medley. William loved the snowmen that were thrown in different parts of the ride!

Autotopia was also one we (Danny and William) did multiple times. William would let the wheel jerk out of his hands, making the car bang back and forth, and would laugh and laugh. Danny said it was hilarious. Wish I could have seen it! He also loved Toon Town, especially the fire truck. He sat down in and said “Seat Mom!” patting the seat next to him. It’s not everyday he’ll share such excitement…

They had cars like the fire truck everywhere, and he made sure we didn’t miss a single one! He also liked Donald’s ship and Chip and Dale’s tree house. Overall I would say that Toon Town is not my favorite part of Disneyland, but it was fun to see William love it so much!

And of course, a trip to Disneyland would not be complete without a picture in front of the castle! It was decked out for Christmas, covered in white “snow.” I think William normally would have been more impressed, but his little legs had had enough!

Newport!

On Sunday of our trip we left San Diego and headed up to visit Danny’s family in Newport.They have a beautiful beach house, one house away from this:

We were excited to see his aunt and uncle, and we were lucky to visit at a time when his cousin and her family were there as well. It was a good chance for William and me to get to know them better because we don’t get to see them very often. They were so great to let us stay with them. William and 3 year old Lucy had a great time together.

Monday morning after breakfast before heading off to Disneyland we walked down to the beach with Danny’s cousin Annie, her husband Steve, and their cute Lucy. It was such a clear, beautiful morning!

I think the pictures say it all! It was a little cool, but not to cold to run around on the beach, and it warmed up pretty quickly! William was a little hesitant to get near the water after our last beach experience, as funny as he thought it was, but as soon as he saw Annie and Lucy chasing the water then running away from it giggling he jumped right in to join the fun.

It was hard to tear William away from such a fun place! He followed Lucy everywhere.  We wish we could have stayed longer! Thank you to Aunt Eve and Uncle Jeff for sharing their home with us!

San Diego

This kind of post/picture overload, but it’s more for me than anything else. We had a great time in San Diego, and really wish we could have spent more time there. My sister’s in-laws were so nice to let us stay at their condo. It was incredible with perfect location and an awesome view. We were up on the 34th floor and could see so much. We were right on the harbor and close to the airport, so William loved watching the ships and the airplanes would fly by to land right at eye level. We could also see Balboa Park, which we were sad we didn’t get to visit this trip. Here’s a view of the harbor (and a corner of the airport) and the view of Balboa Park. The ship in the first picture is called something like “Star of India” and is the ship they used in Pirates of the Caribbean. They let you go down and tour it, which is another thing on our list for next time!

We were also just a few blocks down from Little Italy, so we walked there for lunch before going to Sea World. Staying at the condo gave us such a different experience than if we’d stayed at a hotel. The condo was in such a cool part of town, and my sister Char and her in-laws were able to give us some great recommendations of things to do and watch out for. We ate lunch at Mimmo’s.

William caught on quickly at Sea World that it wasn’t too different from the Zoo. He ran up to every fence he saw looking for animals!

One of the biggest highlights for him was the tank with the turtles. He was amazed watching them swim by, so close to him. We could have stayed there all day and he would have been content!

William was also enthralled by the shows. He loved watching the whales and dolphins jump and splash. One of his new favorite words is “splash!”

He wasn’t so excited about the shark tunnel though. It was kind of creepy going through a big tank with sharks all around you!

The dolphin tank where you can go up and feed the dolphins was closed, but we had fun feeding the seals. William will still bark like them if you ask him. You had to be fast though, because the darn birds would swoop in and steal the fish right before they got to the seals. The poor seals always looked so mad after.

Disneyland and Sea World are so different. It was fun to go to Sea World and see so many of the ocean animals that he’s heard about. He was fascinated!

We ended our stay in San Diego by going to the Mormon Battalion Site in Old Town. It was pretty cool! A little cheesy, but it was pretty neat to see. Especially having ancestors who participated in it (William’s middle name is James after my Great-Great-Great-Grandpa who served in the Mormon Battalion). It wasn’t necessarily the highlight of the trip for William, but it was cool. We were sad we didn’t have more time to spend in Old Town.

Next was off to visit Danny’s family in Newport!