M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!

Well, we did it. We went to Disneyland. Ok, now I don't want to offend any of you "Mouse lovers", but Jeff and I aren't part of your group. I would never go to Disneyland without kids. The only reason we went is because we have kids. I've only been twice, once when I was 8. I recently found out my mom took me on this trip because we had just moved to Northern California and I was miserable. So, she tried to buy my love with The Mouse. And Knott's Berry Farm. And Universal Studios. Can I just say how amazed I am that my mom did this? (Hi, Mom!) You see, my mom is not the type to drop everything and take her kid to 3 different amusement parks because said kid moped around for 2 months. When I broke my leg when I was about a year old, my dad called my mom to tell her and she said something along the lines of, "Handle it. I'm in the middle of my bowling game."

Another time, when I was 8, the Tigers were playing in the World Series. I sprained my ankle pretty bad...it really hurt a lot...my mom said she'd take me to the Dr. after the game. This is not to say my mom's not great. She is, but looking back, I'm rather shocked she took me on that trip.

I digress. So, I went when I was 8 and I went for grad night when I was 18. Hardly remember that night at all. We drove 8 hours on a bus, changed our clothes on the bus, went into Disneyland for several hours and returned home. I know we went to Toon Town because I have a picture of it and I vaguely remember Space Mountain. That's it. Jeff hadn't been in 22 years for his grad night. However, we wanted to go because the twins are so little right now and it's easier to this now while there immobile. Also, Jeff had a hook up through Karl Strauss (beer co.) and we were able to get in free. We went with our friends Joe and Julie and their kids, Luke (age 4) and Riley (age2.5).

All in all, it was a fantastic trip! Zach was fairly well behaved. For the first time, he skipped his nap. He's the type of kid who really needs his nap. We weren't sure how it would go, but he did great until about 6pm, where he had a mini meltdown and then promptly zonked out in the stroller. Speaking of stroller, ours looked ridiculous. I wish we'd gotten a picture of it. We had the double stroller, which is a behemoth anyway. We had the bottom filled to the brim with snacks, clothes, diaper bag, baby bjorns x2, sling, camera, video camera and the kitchen sink. We also had an umbrella stroller bungee-d to the side of the double stroller. OMG. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies, kids style!

The difficult parts of the trip revolved around the twins. Feedings took 30 minutes so that took time. Diaper changes, etc. Also, I had to pump, so I'd have to get my pump out of the locker, go to the Baby Care station and pump, return the pump back to the locker and meet up with the group at the back of the park. I will say the Baby Care area was awesome! It's decorated like something out of Little House on the Prairie and the women there look like old time midwives. The have changing tables, pumping areas, nursing areas, high chairs, a microwave and a sink with soap to clean equipment. It's cool and quiet. Really great, I only wish they had more of these centers.

The other hard part was we couldn't take the twins in the Bjorns on some of the rides. Luckily, Joe and Julie took all the kids on the Nemo Submarine ride, but I wish I could've seen his face on it.

Other than that, the trip was great! We only managed to see probably half the park. I'd like to go again in the near future and just take Zach. That way we could really see a lot more and just concentrate on him.

Okay, now for the pictures!

Upon arrival, it's imperative to get the picture by Mickey.

The castle. The crowds weren't too bad, thank goodness. This is Main Street.

Me, Julie, Riley and Zach. Yes, my back and I regretted carrying Zach like this.

Zach trying his hardest to get the swine flu

This is classic "Family with 3 kids under 2.5" picture. Notice the only two people smiling at the camera appropriately are me and Jeff. Jeff has Dylan in the Bjorn with him blinded in the direct sun. I have Trevor, who is so far tipped forward, his hat is over his eyes and I'm surprised he didn't lose his lunch. Then there's Zach, who can't get over the size of Goofy's feet.

Trevor and I in Toon Town

Zach trying to call a cab to take him through the park faster

A better family picture

Julie and Riley on Autotopia. This is the only ride I remember from the trip in 1984.

Joe and Luke

Joe and Julie

We happened to be right in the area where the dance parade travels through so we stayed and watched. It was time for a feeding anyway, so I welcomed the chance to sit, even if it was on the ground. Zach loves to dance and so does Luke, so they had a great time watching. Here they are getting warmed up for the festivities. How odd that my kid loves being in front of an audience

Zach nonchalantly looking up the dancers' dress. 'Atta boy.

We're doing the conga line. All we had to do was hold the rope and walk. It was all going so well until...

He would periodically decide to play gymnast and hang off the rope. He thought it would be more fun if we all carried him

In the New Orleans Square area

Zach in the car ready for the ride home. This is the response we got when we asked him if he had a fun time

"Awww, Mom...no more pictures, please!"

Zach's favorite ride was BY FAR the Buzz Lightyear ride. You'd sit in a car and it had a gun, where you would shoot at targets and get points. Zach loves Buzz, so when we were in line and we came to a life size Buzz Lightyear, oh my gosh, his mouth hit the ground! He couldn't believe Buzz was there telling him to fight the Evil Emperor Zurg! It was great to see his face! We took him on the Pirates of the Caribbean and he liked it, but he was just scared enough to want to sit as close as possible to Jeff and hold both his hands. I'm glad he didn't get too upset. There were also a couple of drops the boat went down and none of us were expecting that!

Forgot to mention Zach woke up for the fireworks show, which was great because he really enjoys them. The show was pretty amazing and we were there with about 1.5 million people. Not really, but there were A LOT of folks there. Walking out with the herd was pretty organized, too. I will say, Disneyland is kept so nicely and the employees are so nice and helpful. Not sure if those things justifies a $72 ticket...PER PERSON, but I thought I should mention it.