Getting up early? US?

OK, so our family vacations never involve getting up early. Ever. I would probably do it, but Adam - there's just no convincing him. Until we realized that we could get through all of the little bean rides in one hour that would usually take all day. That was enough to get even Adam up. We made it to Disneyland by 7:15 and headed straight to Dumbo, of course! Jacob made up the cutest Dumbo dance while waiting in line. He bounced from tippy-toe to tippy-toe, meanwhile moving his arms up and down one at a time. Is this kid cute or what? We then went to the little train ride nearby and Jacob went inside the little monkey bar cage. For some reason, this was my favorite little kid ride. There was a little cute song that played during the ride and Jacob and I sang at the top of our lungs while going "CHOO, CHOO!!" with our arms. During the first hour, we were able to get on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which was the lamest ever to me by the way. Seriously. If someone paid me to go on this ride, I'd really have to think about it) Pinocchio, and the Tea Cups. Jacob didn't like any rides that went in the dark and didn't want to go on anymore after this :). These "storybook" rides are a little scary. I mean, come on people, these are little kids... and this is Disneyland, right?! Can we get some cheerful rides please? Gavin went on all of these rides also though with no expression.

We went to California Adventure after the Disneyland morning fun. We headed for the sun ferris wheel and I walked toward the non-swinging side, while Adam pulled us to the swinging side. I really couldn't believe Gavin could go on all of these rides! I thought maybe It's a Small World and Monsters Inc., but he could go on almost everything Jacob could! I then convinced Jacob to go on Soarin' Over California (my favorite ride in both parks!) by telling him it was a big movie, kinda like Curious George. For those of you who have been on this ride, it was definitely a stretch. But fortunately, he seemed to accept that we were merely going to the movies. This, along with the electrical parade, was the highlight of my Disneyland vacation. I held his hand and talked to him while we watched the kayakers paddling through the water, planes taking off, horses riding through the desert, fireworks going off... it was the best. After staying up late and getting up early, we were all super exhausted and went home after this to sleep! :)

By the time we got up, swam in our pool, and ate dinner, it was late when we got back to California Adventure for the electrical parade. This time though, Gavin was up and watched the entire thing with a flashing necklace (which he wouldn't give up for anything:) around his neck! This parade is just pure happiness to me. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. The crazy crowds all departed for bed after the parade, but we had just gotten up! So we went to Bugland and got right on every ride with no wait at all. It was the best and super fun to be there at night, spinning in ladybugs, going up in the air in a chinese food container, and bumping around in bumper cars. That was the end of our last night in Disneyland!