We Live in a World of Color

Monday morning we were able to sleep in a little bit after our late wet night.  That morning I was blow drying shoes that were still a little damp.  We decided to do the California Adventure side that day and we had a blast! 

 There is this ride called "Soarin' over California" that is incredibly cool.  You are lifted up and watch this huge screen and feel like you are flying.  You fly past pine trees and orange groves and you can totally smell the different types of trees.  It's just an unbelievable sensation.  This year all of my kids were tall enough to ride it and of course all loved it.  We had to get a picture of our Soren in front of Soarin'.

 We were able to do several rides we had never done before.  This is Lauren and Shelby on the jumping Jellyfish.  We all did the Zephyr rockets and the Silly Symphony swings, a few times that day actually.  I made the sad realization that I'm the heaviest I've ever been going to Disneyland and a few rides were very uncomfortable, like the swings.  I'm determined to lose some weight before we go again.

 Toy Story Mania ride is one of my family's favorites.  We went on it twice that day.

 We decided to be brave and go on the Grizzly Rapids Ride this year.  This is actually the second time around for these boys and you can't see her very well but it was Shelby's first trip down.  I didn't get as wet as everyone else and they all got a lot wetter the second time around.

 Still having a good time though.

 Soren showing how brave and wet he was after 2 trips down the rapids.

 We met up with Katie and Mason and headed to the Bug's Life area.  Here's our group taking an entire Heimlich caterpillar. 

 Here's Soren's awesome face getting ready to do the Tuck and Roll bumper cars.  He was so excited to drive and Stryder was super excited to go by himself this year but it was kind of hard for him and he got frustrated and only moved a few feet.

 We met Mr. Incredible on our way to the Monster's Inc ride and the boys had to compare muscles and see who was strongest.  This was after we all survived the Tower of Terror.  They were all semi unsure of the ride but we got them all on it.  Of course no one liked it, not even Soren, who had not been afraid of anything.  But at least they can say they all survived.

 This is us taking a break before heading to Turtle Talk with Crush.  It was our first time meeting Crush and I was blown away with how COOL it was.  The kids loved it and thought Crush was super funny.  That button on Ben's shirt was an anniversary one.  Monday December 6th was the 7 year anniversary of our sealing.  I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than being together with my forever family in the Happiest Place on Earth.

 That night we got a good spot and watched the Pixar Play Parade.  Probably the coolest parade ever.  The kids love all the characters and bright colors and loud music.  I got a little teary eyed watching my kids take in the scene and wave to characters passing by.  It was a great moment.

 We had a little bit of time to kill before getting in our spots for the World of Color show so we hit up a few more rides.  They have a carousel there that is all sea animals.  This expression pretty much sums up how we all felt that day.

We finished up the day with the new World of Color water show.  Words cannot begin to adequately describe it.  There is water and lasers and fire Oh My!  All of it was just amazing.  They play Disney movie clips on big screens of water and have water shoot up high in the air.  We were all just blown away.  Once again I got very teary eyed as I experienced this incredible show.  The magic and wonder was overwhelming.  Thanks go to my mom and dad for getting us preferred seating.  I'm so grateful I got to see it and share it with my kids.  As we slowly walked back to our car, I was overcome with emotion and extremely grateful for our experiences shared and memories made.