Disneyland!

Last week we got to go to Disneyland. David had to drive out there for work to pick up another car, so we had to drive. It was a long 2 day drive. We will never do that again. The kids had no idea what Disneyland is because they've never been to any kind of theme park. We stopped for lunch and they looked in the window of a near by office building and asked if Disneyland was in there. Judging from their low expectations, we thought their minds would totally be blown away when we actually did arrive at Disneyland. 

We were right about them being blown away. They didn't seem to be too impressed and had no desire to walk for miles all day. David waited in line for one ride for over an hour with the older kids. Ruby was too short, so she and I explored while we waited for them. It was beautiful weather, but it was a little bit humid, so the sweatiness began early. 

It was weird and awesome to be alone in a fun place with my Ruby. We rode the carousal

 and another kiddie ride in the Bug's Life area.

We discovered that our kids do not like roller coasters on the first day. They're more into carousals, so we rode that many times. Luckily there was never any line for it. The second day we scouted out all the shows throughout the park and made sure we were there with good seats. We still walked a ton, but it was great to have a break to sit down and watch a great show. They were all very impressive. 

When we first walked into the park, we came across a girl wearing the exact dress that Claire was wearing. She later told us that that was her favorite part of Disneyland. Apparently making dreams come true is more simple than we thought. 

The line to meet Frozen princesses was hours long, so we didn't even tell the girls that Elsa was there. They were very happy to meet the others. I loved how all the princesses were in character and gave my girls hugs and talked to them for a minute. They were all so sweet. Ruby reminded me for several days after this about the time they met Mulan. 

The last stop of the day was Toon Town. It probably should have been the first. 

They seemed to have the most fun there. 

I think we were lucky. There were no mental breakdowns, no one got lost, and we all lived through it. A successful trip! I had 2 awful blisters on my foot by the end of the 2 days and Gabriel was pretty much begging us to not take him back to Disneyland tomorrow, but I think it was a great trip. 

Before we went home, we stopped by the Los Angeles Temple. This is where David and I were married 10 years ago. We hadn't been there for about 6 years. I cried as we pulled in to the parking lot, just remembering that special day and feeling such gratitude for all who made the sacrifice to be there. Then seeing my children there was sweet. I'm grateful for my eternal family.