Our big 10 year anniversary trip was ... a trip to Disneyland with the boys!! Maybe not a sunny, relaxing cruise or a luxurious trip to New York City that I may have initially envisioned, but honestly perfect for this time of life! This is the stage of life we're in -- with busy, happy boys, and what better place to spend the celebration of the founding of our family?! Grant and I honeymooned in Disneyland/southern California, so it was a little nostalgic reliving those magical memories, but even more magical seeing Disney through the eyes of our children. Zach was maybe too little for much of it to soak in, but Eliot was the perfect age. So caught up in all the excitement of the characters, old enough to do a lot of the rides, and so excited about EVERYTHING!
Beautifully sunny on our first day there! (Maybe a little too sunny for our sensitive blue-eyed boys!) 80 degrees sure felt nice after leaving snowy Utah!
We were there the day after they turned on the Christmas lights! So pretty!
We went with Grant's sister Brenda, her husband Eric, and their two boys, who are almost the same ages as our boys. It worked out perfectly! Eliot and Cole held hands all through the airport and kept each other entertained in the lines.
With the boys on the teacups. Wasn't sure what Zach would think, but ...
... he loved it! Giggled the whole time (I didn't let Eliot spin us too fast!).
I love this picture, too. :) Those were the mouse ears Eliot insisted upon. They turned out fun!
With Winnie the Pooh and friends (Mommy's favorite!)
Brer Fox was super fun with Eliot! (Eliot didn't do Splash Mountain ... he got too freaked out when Mom dragged him on Space Mountain and decided to pass on all 'scary' rides after that!)
With Mickey! Poor Zach was too close for comfort and started bawling.
Santa was there, too! Eliot talked his poor ears off! He explained to him exactly what he wanted and told him he could find the Jake and the Neverland Pirates set in the Fisher Price Catalog!
Cars Land ... all I can say is A.MA.ZING. It is fantastic. Completely recreates Radiator Springs and is darling, creative, fun, and beautiful all at once! The new ride was SPECTACULAR!! I can see why people wait hours to ride it! (We did fast passes, but still had to wait all day to use them -- so worth it!)
On the giant Mickey ferris wheel. What you may not see behind my smile is the awful queasiness I was experiencing from being in a rocking car ... whoa nelly, having kids has changed my ability to handle stuff like that! I couldn't get off the ride soon enough!
Zachy on Daddy's shoulders. The World of Color show was beautiful (think Disney version of the fountain show at the Bellagio in Vegas).
Cole and Eliot with Goofy. This one's for their Grandpa Dickinson, who loves Goofy!
Z sportin' his 3D shades before the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure.
Each of the boys got to pick a special toy. Eliot chose a Star Wars set (go figure ...) and Z chose a baby Goofy ... he was just a little happy about his new snuggle friend!
Last day. Poor Z had been the entire night before with a stomach bug. He slept through most of the last day, but did so great, especially on the flight home. Poor sweet buddy.
You'd almost never know he was sick with how happy he was on Small World. His favorites were Nemo and Small World.
Can you spot Grant (with Eliot beside him)? Eliot loved Thunder Mountain!! (Guess it's not one of the "scary" ones.)
Right before we left, I happened to hear a lady talking about how they had just seen Jessie and Woody, so I found out where they were, and Eliot got to see some of his favorite characters. So fun!
This was one of the most magical experiences we've ever had with our boys. It was well worth cashing in our AMEX points (from all those big purchases for the house and hospital bills ... see, everything has a silver lining!). Such wonderful memories! I think we planted the Disney bug in Eliot because he talks all the time about our next trip.
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