Its true... it really is the Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland always bring back lots of memories.  I remember going as a little girl with my family and being so scared of the characters.  My younger sister would walk up to Mickey and Goofy give them a hug while little Miss Scaredy Cat me would run away and scream and cry when I saw those big scary costumed characters (this is not even a joke).  I also remember going in college for Spring Break with a bunch of my sorority sisters in our matching homemade t-shirts with the names of our favorite Disney princesses.

Old school Disney (me on the left with my dorky glasses with my sister)

Now here's a new memory to add to my Disneyland memories: going with my hubby for the first time and our nieces, my brother and sister-in-law and my in-laws.  Going to Disneyland is fun in itself, but going to Disneyland with little kids (aka my nieces Hannah and Lindsay) is even more fun!  For Christmas Santa gave Hannah and Lindsay a trip to Disneyland with their parents and we were lucky enough to be able to join the Draper family for some Disneyland fun.  The Drapers are intense when it comes to Disneyland.  They have this computer program called "RideMax" which allows you to program the rides you want to ride and the times you'll be at the park and from that info it generates a schedule of when to get fast passes and what time to stand in line for which rides.  This allows you to get the max out of your time at the park.  I am a planner and let me tell you that I LOVE this program! I wish they had one for life in general.

Could my nieces be any cuter?  And P.S.  Being "Aunt Sasha" is probably the greatest thing ever!

Josh's parents, his brother and his girlfriend Anna, and the Draper family were all together for the day enjoying the wonders and magic of Disneyland.  The moment we stepped out of the car into the parking lot Josh said "I think I smell cotton candy!"  and I said "No Josh, that's just the smell of Disneyland!" Josh and I started our day out early with the Drapers before the park even opened.  We waited anxiously with a crowd of people until 9am when the park opened and then we dashed (and by dash I mean speed walked) to get in line for Space Mountain.   We hit ride after ride after ride.  It was SOO much fun and it kind of made me want to work at Disneyland just so I could be around all the excitement.  

So great!

I really don't know what my favorite ride is at Disneyland; there are just too many great ones!  Josh and I did discover a "ride" we never knew existed: Canoes!  Yup that's right, you get to really row in a real life canoe around Tom Sawyer Island.  I am really scared of all boats... ALL boats, and I'm just scared of big bodies of water in general.  I have had too many bad experiences with boats: boats tipping over, boats sinking (yes, its true), boats running out of gas, boats crashing into rocks.  So many bad stories about boats that it deserves a blog post about them all.  Anyway, I was a wee bit scared to get on these canoes.  They aren't on a track or anything and you are in a big canoe with a bunch of people and a "tour guide".  Well, I'm happy to report that nothing bad happened and I walked away with only slightly wet pants due to the girl behind me splashing me with her oar every time she paddled.

At California Adventure my favorite ride is a toss up between Soaring over California and The Toy Story ride.  I love the competition in the Toy Story ride.  Of course, Josh was the top winner in our group.  I guess his athleticism translates over into video game type rides. 

Lindsay and I in line for TOY STORY!

We all had a magical time at Disneyland and Josh and I are hoping to go back again this year with my parents.  I'll leave you with a little video clip we took while on the swinging gondolas... these were a bit scary I promise.  I swear I thought our gondola was gonna fly off the ride.  Oh, and for the record Josh did not want to go on this ride, he was too afraid.  We kind of forced him so he was a little bitter.