Disneyland: Day 2

Finally ... Day 2 of our Disneyland adventure. And for those of you who read the first post, you know that on day 1, we spent most of the day in the wrong amusement park and I left you with a cliffhanger ... will Lauren be too sick to go back? Well, the wait is over. Lauren slept in late but was still kind of feverish. So we hung out in the hotel most of the morning. Then we went to a pizza place for lunch. Nick said it was the best pizza he EVER ate! While the pizza was cooking, I walked over to the grocery store and bought Lauren some children's Tylenol. She wasn't burning up but she did have a little fever. Reluctantly, she took the medicine and her fever came down pretty quickly. The food made her feel better, too. So we headed to Disneyland.

We started our day at the Indiana Jones Adventure (Temple of the Forbidden Eye). These pictures are a little freaky to me because of the way the sun is making the kids glow. They look kind of angelic in the picture with all 4 kids (well, except Austin, go figure!).

Then we went to Tarzan's Treehouse. It was pretty cool. And good exercise ... "like a million steps" (according to the kids)!

As always, Daddy wanted to figure out a plan! So we took a little break on a bench and figured out where we wanted to go. If not for Marty, I would have the kids wandering around aimlessly!

And check it out ... the first place we came to after we figured out the gameplan ... THE MAGIC KINGDOM! We finally made it!

And as cool as the Magic Kingdom is to look at, there really is nothing to do there so we walked through the arch and were off to Toontown.

Not much for older kids to do in Toontown so we didn't stay very long but we did spend a little time in Minnie's House.

And then we went over to where some of the big rides were. But we got side-tracked by the short line at the Buzz Lightyear ride. Look at the second picture. Lauren is starting to go downhill. She says she is cold.

After the Buzz Lightyear ride, we found some characters while Daddy was getting us fast passes to Space Mountain. But, to everyone but my and Austin's dismay, Space Mountain was closed. I mean, who wouldn't want to go on a giant rollercoaster that is totally in the dark?! (OK - maybe it would be a little fun...) Side story: I remember going on Space Mountain in Disneyworld when I was in about 3rd grade. Somehow we got Mom to ride it and she was sitting behind me and squeezing me so hard and screaming, "I'm gonna die!" Well, at least that's how I remember it!

Then we went on a Star Wars ride. Lauren was really starting to look bad at this point. Marty and I had to carry her through the line.

Nick wanted me to take pictures of C3PO and R2D2. While I was cropping them to post, I hit the wrong thing in Photoshop and got a cool effect so I messed around with these pictures a little. Here you have the before and afters.

We talked about staying for the light parade and fireworks but there was no way Lauren would make it so we headed to the front gate.

And you know you can't leave without saying goodbye to Mickey Mouse! The kids got his autograph and then we posed for a family shot. It was a great day in Disneyland.

But why would we go home now? Just because Lauren is sick? Nah ... she always gets a second wind! And ya gotta eat! So we went over to one of the Disney Hotels and found a restaurant. The kids were excited because they got to make their own pizza. (Well, except Mackie. He wanted macaroni and cheese. But our waiter, Ruffo, gave him a chef's hat anyway.)

And then Ruffo led them over to the oven to give their pizzas to the cook.

And here we have the finished products!

Dinner was good. Everyone posed with Goofy before leaving and then we were off to our hotel to get a little girl in bed.

I still have several more days of our California trip to post. Mostly miscellaneous stuff plus our trip to Legoland. (Apparently I have a thing for kissing lego people.) But for now, here's some music. Five For Fighting: Disneyland