DISNEYLAND!!!

Monday morning finally rolled around after the longest week of our lives. We looked out the window, there were a few clouds but we thought it looked like a nice day and there wouldn't possibly be the rain that they had predicted. What do weathermen know anyway, huh? So after eating some giant muffins we started the short walk to Disneyland. Were there in time for the morning countdown and anticipation of everyone going in. We pulled the "you ride the train to the back of the park and ride the rides in the back before everyone else makes it back there" trick.

 So that means "It's a Small World" was the first off the bat. Rachel hates that ride, by the way. It was cute, Will was definitely entertained but was a little confused at what was happening. When our little boat pulled outside it was starting to lightly rain. Oh man. Luckily the kids had jackets but Trav and I knew better than the weatherman.....so we didn't.

We headed over to the teacups, they let us on and then closed the ride down right behind Trav. We rode the teacups as it started to rain even harder. That's a fun experience if you've never tried it. They started shutting all of the rides down because it was really starting to come down. I could envision the poncho calling my name back at the hotel in the bag....along with our umbrellas we didn't want to haul around. I did steal Josh's hat which helped.....he had a jacket with a hood. He didn't need both. Here's the only picture we got in the rain.

We kept walking trying to find anything that was open and found the jungle cruise. Man that was wet! Then we decided that pirates would be the best bet to go on in the rain so there we headed. Of course this was not an original idea. I think everyone in the park headed that direction but the line went pretty fast. When we made it back outside the clouds parted, the sun was shining and it was a glorious day! I'm glad we didn't spend a fortune on Disney ponchos even though the thought did cross my mind.

After pirates I had a little surprise up my sleeve..... We headed over to the haunted mansion and waiting just outside was Rachel's BFF Monique who moved back to California last April!! I knew their family had yearly passes so they pulled their kids out of school so we could get these 2 cute girls together. They hugged and spent the next few hours stuck together like glue.

It really stinks that they moved because these girls are so cute together. It really was so fun to spend the day with them. I know Rach was surprised and loved seeing her friend. Saying goodbye totally stunk but at least Monique's mom is as picture crazy as I am and we got some cute ones of them. We miss you Monique! Move back soon!!

We hit Disneyland hard! We rode most of the rides. The ones we didn't was purely by choice because we rode the ones we loved many, many times. This is a great time of year to go. We also got the stroller pass thing down so the kids got to go on all the rides A LOT. Kate could ride most everything but Will didn't mind hanging back. What a trooper!

 It's not like he was just sitting around doing nothing...

 Here's my kids with Monique's and her brothers.

 Sometimes you just need a nice rock to rest on when everyone goes on Indiana Jone's for the 5th time.

 My sister Aimee was also there so we met up with them too! We were quite the crowd walking around.

  

I can't remember what pose Kate was trying to pull in this one.....

 We spent some time in Toon Town.

 Eventually this little boy just passed out. Right during the loudest part of the day....the parade down Main Street. We finally wore him out!!

  It didn't take long to bounce back after a little cat nap though.

 We had dinner in Pinnocio's place. I can't remember what it's called but we were starving!!

But we did get all cozy back at the hotel.