Day 4: Disneyland... not necessarily always "The Happiest Place on Earth"...

Okay, so remember how I took all 5 boys, alone, on a trip to San Diego with me w.a.y. back in August???  Yeah.  You probably don't remember, but I did.  We went there to visit my parents and the rest of my family and stayed for just over two weeks.  We did LOTS of fun things- which I started to post about back then, click here, here, and here to read all about our first 3 days there--- anyhow, I thought I'd wrap up the vacation and post all the rest of our pictures, day by day.  So here's Day 4.  Enjoy!

  

Friday, August 18TH...

It was only a minute or two after we exited the tram near the entrance of Disneyland that Linda (my mother in law) started to complain about not feeling well... she said she felt whoozy and when she walked into the park, she was kind of staggering all over the place.  Her knee was hurting her from all the walking she did the day before, so she took a Lortab to dull the pain but took it on nearly an empty stomach... NOT wise. Megan rented her a wheelchair (the manual kind because the motorized kind were EXPENSIVE!) and poor grandma held her head in her hands nearly all.day.long. holding a barf bag on her lap. It was a sad sight. Poor grandma. She was SO. EXCITED to do Disneyland with the boys--- we never expected for her to feel so miserable there.

Question... why is that whomever designs the lines we wait in at Disneyland chose to use chains to guide us along?!  Don't they know they're kid magnets and they're just calling for kids to climb up on it?!!!  So many meltdowns that day at Disneyland were over me telling one or two of my boys to get down off the handrails and quit hanging on the chains.  Waiting in line just SUCKS.  There's no other better way to describe it.  Fortunately we didn't have to wait for long in most of the lines... grandma was in the wheelchair so we got to join her in her own little, SHORT line at the front of each of the rides.  I was reluctant at first to go through the wheelchair line--- I've been taught all my life to wait, patiently in the LONG lines, just like every one else, but after waiting forever in the Finding Nemo submarine voyage ride, I knew it was going to be one long.long.day. so I gave in and decided to go with it.  You'd think that we would have been able to go on LOTS of rides after being allowed to go directly to the front of each line, but between pushing/dragging the 3 boys around a very CROWDED Disneyland and Megan running Grandma C. to the bathroom because she felt like she was going to barf, or dealing with tantrums and meltdowns (Ian threw a lot)... we didn't get to see much.  I'd mark this in my book as probably one of my least favorite visits to Disneyland... It was certainly memorable though--- and my boys didn't know any differently... they had a WONDERFUL time and really, that's all that matters.  I wanted them to enjoy their time there and have fun with grandma.  They'll always remember that she came along with them to Disneyland; they didn't even know she was sick--- they were distracted by everything else surrounding them.

Since our little jaunt to Disneyland, I've determined two things... 1: It sucks when it's crowded! It had been so long since I'd been to Disneyland during the summer, I'd forgotten how busy it gets!!!  2: I don't think I'll EVER try to bring all the boys again at once... not for a while at least.  Did I mention they were 3, 4 and 5 years old?  Yeah, those are just difficult ages to begin with.  Next time I come with even just two of the boys, I'm bringing help. A.K.A. my husband, Spencer, other wise known as "DAD". I think the best thing to do for now is take just one or two of the boys at a time to the park--- I'll probably wait until they're all at least 7, 8 or 9 years old before I attempt to take them all together again.

Upon entering the park, I overheard one guy walking behind me say to another, "Disneyland should make daycare for kids".  I whole heartedly agree and think the idea is FABULOUS!  I understand it probably undermines Disney's idea of creating a place for families to enjoy together--- but really. When your kid is throwing a fit because they're tired and they've been overstimulated by all of the sights, sounds and smells in the park, they deserve a break (and a nap) and their parents do to!  It would be a much "Happier Place" with daycare... just saying...

No honestly, despite all of the whining and fits, it was FUN watching the boys experience Disneyland.  I even learned a few new things about my boys: Ian LOVES, I repeat LOVES fast roller coasters and he LOVES scary things.  When Noah refused to go on Pirates (which I dragged him onto anyways) and The Haunted Mansion, Ian skipped willingly right onto the rides.  He's an adrenaline junkie.  Noah on the other hand, has developed a fear of heights, (sadly I can't empathize with him because I just.don't.understand people with a fear of heights) and he doesn't like the dark or super fast rides.  In other words, he's sort of a bore at amusement parks if you're going to bring him along as your side kick.  It's okay though- he's young.  We can work on overcoming these fears.  And when it comes to Cohen--- he's just your typical 3 year old--- bursting with energy and willing and ready to do just about anything.  He was actually pretty good--- if you don't count all the times I had to pry him off of the chains and poles that formed the lines.  The kid is a monkey and LOVES to climb!

  Below Cohen's standing in the wheelchair line with grandma for Small World...

I LOVE this expression on my face below (not really, it's HORRIBLE!)... 

it's that 

"YOU BETTER STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING

RIGHT THIS MINUTE" 

 look!

We had just boarded the train and Ian was pouting about something...

The boys were SO DARN EXCITED to visit Donald Ducks house (boat house)...

Look closely at the picture above... 

Yes, that's a head peeking out over the steering wheel of Mickey's car...

It's scary but true--- in another 10 or 12 years, all of these boys will be driving 

(or at least have their permits)... 

I hope they learn to share a car better than they did here... 

cuz one thing's for sure... 

we won't be buying them all their own cars!

I bought Cohen his very first pair of Mickey Mouse ears!

The two older boys, Noah and Ian, 

have both been to Disneyland at least dozen times.

This was Cohen's 1ST real trip to Disneyland  

(he'd been once as a baby but that doesn't really count in my book)...

If you look close enough, in the picture above, you can see Mickey Mouse... 

It was just as I was taking this picture above that Ian went out the Exit door behind grandma (she's in the yellow shirt in the picture) without our knowing it.  After searching for him for about 5 panic stricken minutes- we finally found him, hanging out in Mickey Mouse's living room.  I'd never LOST a child before--- Disneyland certainly wasn't the 1ST place I wanted to loose one!  Remind me next time I go to bring a permanent black marker.  I'm going to write their names and MY phone number across their bellies--- you know, should I ever loose one of them again. Disclaimer: It actually WASN'T my fault that Ian was lost.  The 3 of us adults decided to each be responsible for a child while we were in Mickey's House.  I was keeping watch of Cohen, Megan had Noah and Grandma was supposed to be watching Ian, BUT as you can see from the picture above- this is evidence people- grandma had her sight on Cohen instead, which allowed Ian to slip away!  So,....  sorry to throw you under the bus grandma, but it was you, NOT I, who failed to do your job.  No hard feelings though- we DID find him!

We met Mickey!

I know, I look like a cRaZy in this picture above.  So sorry, but we waited in the long line to meet Mickey f.o.r.e.v.e.r. and by the time it was actually OUR turn, my boys all decided to have a meltdown!!!  Ian's not in either of these pictures with Mickey because he was too busy throwing a tantrum in the corner by the exit door! I betch'ya, if Mickey could do any other sort of facial expressions, I'm sure he would have been frowning for sure!!!

I'm not much of a foodie... you could feed me salad and rice every day for the rest of my life and I probably wouldn't complain... much... however I may ask you for some ranch dressing or soy sauce... a.n.y.how... there are 3 things though that I feel are MUST BUY food items from Disneyland:

1. Turkey legs. YUM! One alone fed me and my boys!!!

2. Dole Whips 

and 

3.  Tigger Tails. (Click here to see what they're supposed to look like).

We didn't make it over to Pooh's Corner of the park until late in the evening, just before leaving the park.  I hurried in to the gift shop and purchased 4 Tigger Tails- each one costing an arm and a leg.  It wasn't until AFTER I got outside and gave the boys theirs that I realized something didn't look quite right about the Tigger Tails.  Instead of being covered in orange flavored chocolate, they were now dipped in LOTS and LOTS of orange sugar crystals!  Yuck!  When I returned to Disneyland the following week with just Noah and my niece Paresa, I marched back into the store where I bought the Tigger Tails and asked the lady behind the candy counter what happened to the old version of Tigger Tails!  She told me due to a new California State Law or regulation, items with trans fats couldn't be sold in the park, so they had to rethink the way they made Tigger Tails.  BOOO!  Curse you Schwarzenegger or whoever it was that passed the dumb bill!  It's not like we eat Tigger Tails every.day!

I purchased this adorable stuffed Pooh Bear for Bentley's 2ND birthday...

poor Cohen didn't want to give him up!

When I returned home that evening to my parents house (around 2a.m.), I found Bentley like this in his port-a-crib.  I decided to surprise him in the morning, by putting Pooh Bear in the crib with him.  The next morning, the little soft voice of Bentley, saying "tickle, tickle, tickle" to Pooh Bear, followed by laughter, woke me up.