The Happiest Place on Earth

Before I start writing about our trip to Disneyland, I have to record something Katie said when we were walking in the gate the second day. She turned to Jeremy and said, "Why do they call Disneyland the happiest place on earth?" He said, "Why not? Isn't it?" Then she said something that made my day (maybe even my year). Katie said, "No. HOME is."

Okay... now to our Disneyland adventures.... We arrived home from Disneyland at 11 pm last night after 12 hours in the car. Amazingly, we were all still happy, loving each other, and glad we'd made the trip. Seriously, it was not painful at all. We stopped for potty breaks every two hours, finished the Chronicles of Narnia (the kids were sad about that and wondered what we would read next... we started Fablehaven), played travelling games and really enjoyed the 24 hours (round-trip) that we spent in the car.

We took about 150 pictures. It was hard to choose what to include. I might add more later, but for now here are a few....


My dad and/or Steve bought Ashton and Will a treat almost everytime they were too little or scared (in Ashton's case) to ride a ride. We were surprised at how easily frightened they were. There favorite rides were the "SLOW one" (according to Ashton). Will loved Dumbo the flying Elephant, and hated every dark ride (especially Pirates and the Haunted Mansion).

Ashton and Will were DELIGHTED to meet Lighting McQueen and Mater. Unfortunately for them, there was a huge line and they couldn't fully explore the cars as much as they would have liked. They were also thrilled to meet Goofy because they LOVE "The Goofy Movie."

Jeremy, Levi and my dad are MIA in this picture. But here is the rest of us on our first day. You can't see it very well, but the boys were all dressed in matching Jedi costumes (for Jedi training camp) our neighbor made. They looked so cute!!

Katie fought Darth Vader during Jedi Training Camp.

Matthew fighting Darth Maul. He was VERY into this.

All of the characters hugged and kissed Grandpa and Grandma Heslop. I think they thought it was cute to see 88 and 87 year old people visiting Disneyland.

My dad and Steve bought the kids their first (and probably only) cotton candy.

Favorite Rides:

• Jer- Tower of Terror
• Jill- Pirates of the Caribbean
• Matthew- Screamin'
• Katie-Splash Mountain and Space Mountain
• Ash-Astro Blasters (Buzz Lightyear) and Autotopia
• Will-Dumbo (and sitting in the fire engine in Toon Town)

Oh and my mom is a Disney pin trading queen. She got me and Matthew into and both she and I collected an entire 7 pin series while we were there. Exciting!!