DISNEYLAND!

We did it and we never thought we would get there. Our finances have always been tight but this year we decided we were going no matter what, especially since I promised Samantha we would go when KayDee was 4 yrs old. We set out to make some money. The kids worked in the neighbor's garden all summer to contribute. We sold pecans from our tree, did seed packets for our other neighbor and even sold some fruit from our trees. We earned almost half the amount we needed which was impressive considering the price of tickets! We told my parents we were planning to go and we invited them to go with us. They planned on taking us on a vacation and so we were able to go and have a great time with them. They went to Disneyland with us for the first day and then had some meetings for my Dad's business the next 2 days.We enjoyed the Adventures side of Disneyland first and Sam and Derrick loved Soaring Over California. All three loved the Bug's Life rides and then we went on The Tower of Terror. Samantha still claims it is her favorite ride. I don't think Derrick knew what he got himself into. We made our way around and we got to the big Mickey Farris Wheel and we got on a moving seat. It was the longest, scariest, devastatingly, helpless ride the kids thought they had gone on. There were almost tears of terror as we rolled backwards in an oval shape. Luckily my mom was there to hug and hold the kids with me until the ride finally let us off! Who knew a ferris wheel could be so terrifying?!We continued on and decided to skip the roller coasters since the wheel had taken all their courage. The kids enjoyed the Toy Story soldier program going on the street. They were bossed around by the green men telling them to freeze like a toy. Very entertaining.We went to the Resort side of Disneyland at the end of the day and did we get a reaction from KayDee as we came to the castle. She was prancing and galloping to each of us to make sure we knew the castle was right there. "There it is! We found it!" It was really a magical moment for her. As we continued walking around observing the long lines, we decided to head back to the hotel for dinner and go back early the next day.We went the second day by ourselves and were able to do everything we wanted to do before it started pouring rain. It's a Small World, driving cars, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribean and of course we visited the Princesses and Fairies. KayDee saw Belle first and she asked if KayDee was a princess and she said yes. Then Belle asked if Sam and Derrick were her servants and she said yes. It was so cute. She told them to take care of their Beast when they left. Samantha loved that Arial asked if they swam there and to look out for sharks. We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride which everyone enjoyed except for KayDee. Once she saw Zurg she was hiding, crunched up, shaking next to our feet for the rest of the ride. Derrick and Kevin scored pretty high! It rained on and off throughout the day and we decided to shop for our souvenirs at the end of the day and the rain forced us into a store at about 4:30pm. We had window shopped throughout the day and were able to find the items the kids had seen and wanted. Derrick ended up with action figures from Toy Story, and the girls each got a large Minnie Mouse doll. Samantha's was a pink baby Minnie with a blanket and KayDee found a red Minnie.
We decided to head back to the hotel and my parents watched a movie with the kids while Kevin and I sat in the hot tub. We left for home on day 3 and stopped at Calico Ghost Town. It was a fun stop even with their not so classy Halloween decorations on the old carriages and buildings.
It was a great vacation and we are grateful my parents could join us and help us get there!