Eight Years Later

Today was our last day in Disneyland. This morning the Nielson siblings and their spouses headed to the park. Blake, Debbie, Skylee, Kent, and Aleene all headed out to Carlsbad to play on the beach. It was a really fun day. We got to do everything we wanted to do. 

Our first stop was California Adventure. We wanted to ride Radiator Springs Racers again so we grabbed fast passes and then rode our other favorite rides and walked around California Adventure while we waited. We got to ride everything we wanted to this morning, except the Tower of Terror because it was down all day.

Jake was thrilled about our jazz hands

Jake caught the Disneyland spirit - He has ears!

Jake traded a pin

Once we could use our fast passes we headed over to cars land. This is such a fun part of the park. Alison and I found what might be our new favorite Disneyland treat - bacon mac and cheese from the cozy cone motel. It was yummy. Riding Radiator Springs was way fun. Since we had a party of 7 we split into two cars. Alison and I went with Bret and Jake and Meg went with Kristin and Dan. It ended up being really fun because we got to race them.

After Carsland we headed back to Disneyland. We grabbed some lunch. I got a BBQ chicken baked potato and it was so good. Disneyland has the best food. We ran to Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain. It ended up being our last ride on Space Mountain on the trip. That is my favorite ride in Disneyland and I am so glad we got our last ride. 

During the middle of the day, Disneyland got really busy. It was crazy and the lines were all really long. We decided to leave for a little bit to rest and regroup. The house we are staying in has a pool so we decided to go swimming. It was a lot of fun. Jake was calling pull for Dan and Alison to throw the beach balls and he would shoot them out of the air with water guns. This evolved into a game where Dan and Alison would set up empty buckets and cans and Jake and Meg would try to shoot them with the water guns. It was a lot of fun. 

After swimming, we headed back over to California Adventure. Alison, Bret, and I rode Radiator Springs and the Screamin' Roller Coaster. It was so much fun. Those rides are great. Then we met up with Kristin and Dan and Skylee for a Frozen dance party. Skylee loves to dance so she is in heaven during the dance party. At this point, we were ready to say farewell to California Adventure. 

We headed to Disneyland. It has been really fun being in Disneyland with Skylee. These were our final moments.

Skylee loved the carousel so we had to go once more. She loved it. She just kept saying ride, ride. Her joy was contagious. We also took her on Storybook.

We came off Storybook and the fireworks started. We all stopped to watch. Skylee seemed a little bit dazed and we weren't sure if she liked them. Alison and I took Skylee on the teacups. We thought she would love it because they are like the ladybug ride, but she was tired and a little unsure after the fireworks and we could only get one smile out of her.

We headed to It's a Small World next. This was another one of Skylee's favorites. She loves the music and was dancing throughout the ride. Next, we did the Nemo submarine ride. It was such a long ride, but I think Skylee liked it. Right in the middle of the ride she just yelled out, "NEMO." Our last stop was the Haunted Mansion. By now Skylee was fast asleep. On our way out Alison and I stopped and bought Skylee a stuffed Mickey Mouse to match the stuffed Minnie we got her last year.

This Disneyland trip has been so great. Disneyland is one of the best places there is to spend time with family. Eight years ago this week, I went to Disneyland with my family. It was a lot of fun. Shortly before I left for that trip I asked Alison on a date. During our trip, I texted and called her a lot. I really liked her. We were just getting to know each other. I texted her so much I had to increase the texting limit on my phone. I walked through all of the shops at Disneyland looking for the perfect gift. I ended up getting a heart-shaped glass box with Mickey Mouse on top, a necklace, and a seashell from Huntington Beach. I arrived home from Disneyland and that night I took Alison on our first date. The rest is history. We fell in love and eight years later we are here together in Disneyland spending time with our family.