Cars Land! Woot woot!

Day 2, California Adventure.  We hit the park EARLY and grabbed FastPasses for the Radiator Springs Racers ride...the (literally) only way to ride it that first week it was open.  Here are the kids with Walt himself while they waited for the park to open for the day.

 FROZONE!  Eric was riding Tower of Terror and we happened to be parked right where the characters come on and off the streets.  The kids were thrilled that they were the first ones to see the characters for the day.  Notice Maggie's fingers....just like Frozone's....

 Sully.  From Monsters Inc., for you non-Pixar folk.

 Mom did a great job indulging the kids and riding whatever rides they wanted.  So, when my almost 7 year old daughter asked to ride the Sea-Carousel, Grandma said yes with a smile on her face.  Sam was riding California Screamin' (the crazy BIG and FAST coaster) at the time with Grandpa.  Sam called the ride California Quiet, because he didn't scream once on it.  Ha!

 I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Miles.  What a cutie.

 We saw Woody and Jessie from Toy Story.  The kids were rather star-struck.  It was very fun.  Miles even gave Woody a high five and a fist bump.  Good work, Woody.

 Cars Land!  We eventually braved the crowds in Cars Land and celebrated getting to see Mater up close and personal at the Cozy Cone....

 ...then suddenly Lightening McQueen came driving in!  What luck!

 ...the kids soon realized that this meant that Mater was off the clock and would be leaving.  But since he drove (and chatted with everyone along the way) right by us, it turned out just fine.

 View down the street in Radiator Springs.  We knew we shouldn't be shocked, but we continually were by how much Cars Land looked like the movie.  It was incredible.  Every little detail was taken care of.   Living up to your reputation for overdoing everything, thanks Disney!

 We eventually made it up to see McQueen.  He rumbles, revs his engine, moves his eyes/eyebrows, and talks to you.  It's so very cool.  Sam was so excited he couldn't even talk.  No joke.  He just stood there and grinned.  It was totally worth the time in line and then the RUN that the kids and I had to do to make it into the theater (where Eric, Miles, Mom and Dad were waiting) on time.  We were running through Cars Land at record speeds I imagine.  But we made it and the Aladdin show was amazing.

 I asked Sam to smile.  This is what I got.

 ....more parade watching....possibly Miles' favorite part of the day.

 Best pic of Maggie.  Ever.

 Happy Grandma.

 Happy hubby.

 Very happy family....looking into the sun.

 See?  Every detail was covered.  So cool.  (and yes, they lit up at night)

 Waiting to ride Luigi's Flying Tires.  Although thanks to Miles and his disability pass, we didn't have to wait too long....just 20 minutes.  This was one of the few times we used his pass.  The line was over 90 minutes long.  Insanity.

 Stanley!

 Dad's forehead....and the entrance to the Racers.  It was breaking down ALL THE TIME and frustrating a lot of people....BUT, we did all get to ride it once while we were there and look forward to all the kinks being worked out next time we're there.  Such a cool ride.

 Maggie and I had a date with the princesses....here's Ariel...meeting Ariel.

 Fishy faces.

 Princess deep in thought.

 Cinderella!

 SO.EXCITED.

 AURORA!

 ahH!!!!!!!  SHOW WHITE!!

 BELLE!?  Mom, look it's BELLE!!!

 She wanted me to take a picture of the dessert.

 And then a picture for Sam:  Maggie pretending to eat the entire white chocolate conch shell.  Silly princess.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We made it!  We drove from my parent's house down to Anaheim and met Eric's parents for three days in Disneyland.  Mark and Shari were an amazing blessing to us.  They took Miles away from the crowds, gave him space to enjoy the park in his own way, fed him, changed his diapers, bathed him, brought an entire bag of "tricks" to help distract him during rides that he became overwhelmed in, plotted out and saved curbs for multiple parades....the list, seriously, goes on and on.  Eric and I were able to enjoy Disneyland with Miles when he could handle the ride and still were able to take the twins on everything else without leaving one of us behind all the time.  Here are some pictures from our first day there.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  Seriously couldn't have done it without you.

Checkin' out those fishes at Rainforest Cafe.

 Waiting at the gates to get in.  Do we look tired yet??

 Kiddos with Grandma & Grandpa....Miles hated being put in a stroller again.  We ditched the shoulder straps shortly after this photo.

 Sam and Maggie were SO EXCITED...and this was even before they opened up the ropes at the end of Main St.   You can see our first ride behind Maggie, The Matterhorn.  Sam loved it, Maggie not so much- but endured none-the-less.

 Eric was obviously very excited too!

This is my new favorite picture of Maggie and Grandpa Moffat.  SO.CUTE!

 Miles and Grandma waiting in line for Snow White (I think).  We had a disability pass for us to use for rides Miles was going to ride.  Many of the lines were so short in Disneyland (thanks Cars Land!) that we were able to walk him through most the lines very quickly and didn't have to use it much.

 tee-eye-double-guh-errr!

 Pooh Bear.

 Eric's dream job.  No really.  It is.

 Riding that boat into It's a Small World.  Hang on tight, Son, it's a wild ride!

 Grandma and Magpie (who wore those ears ALL DAY...we're still not sure how she did it)

 Miles and Grandpa.  Miles wouldn't look at me.  He was so excited to ride the ride he just stared at the tunnel entrance.  He grabbed onto whoever he was riding with rather tight on every other ride, but on this one he pushed our hands off him.  It was really cute.  He rode it twice while we were there and I do believe it was the highlight for him.  Next time you hear this song and wish they would tear the thing down, think of Miles.  Maybe that's why they leave it there...for all the Miles' in the world.

Other things that happened on Day 1?

- We took Miles on Space Mountain.  BAD MOVE. (and yes, we realize that should have been a no brainier....)
- We took Miles on Splash Mountain.  He was okay with it until the drop.  Oh well...at least we all got to ride together and get a fun picture out of it, right?  Wrong.  Disneyland didn't load it right and can't retrieve it.  No joke.  Totally lame.
- Sam rode Star Tours for the first time...his life will never be the same.  He was in heaven.  He bought a double sided light saber on the way out and I think if that's all he did at Disneyland, he would have been content.
- Maggie got a set of trading pins (think expensive metal that hangs on a lanyard) and interacted with 75% of the cast members we ran into as she traded pins throughout the day.   It was very fun to watch her approach the workers and figure out how to ask them for the pins she wanted to trade for.  It was a social girl's dream.
- Grandpa went on Space Mountain and then felt sick for several hours afterwards.  Oopies.
- Grandma "took one for the team" and sat front row on Splash Mountain.  Yep, she got soaked.  Thanks Mom!
- Eric bought me a pineapple spear dipped in dark chocolate and drizzled with white.  It was AMAZING.

Miles' Birthday....via a photo blitz.

We celebrated Miles' 4th Birthday while we were in Chico visiting my family this year.  It was really fun to get to have a "little kid" birthday down there.  Here are some pics from the day.  Miles was super overwhelmed by the number of people and their excitement when he opened a gift and spend most of the time trying to escape the room and find some space.  Such is life for the child with sensory processing issues.

 Miles had to be encouraged to brave the crowd and hand out hugs after he opened his gifts.  Poor Great Grandma, he usually gives her lots of love.....not that day.

 Me, Miles, my Aunt Stella, and my cousin Ben's leg..... ;-)

 Uncle Steve trying to grab his attention.

 Say Cheese!