A garden full of flowers: Disneyland #1

Jason had family visit from out of town, and they wanted to go to Disneyland. I couldn't justify paying all that money for one ticket, when for about three times more we could get a pass. I just wanted the basic pass (it is not good on weekends or the Summer - but who wants to go when it is crazy busy anyway?!). Jason works a lot, and wouldn't be able to come with us, so we ended up getting a pass for Wesley and myself. I figured this year is the perfect year. This will be the last year before Wesley is in school, and Chase's last year to get in for free. We have lots of time to go whenever we want (when the passes are not blocked). I am trying to go once a week when the passes are not blocked. We will see how long that lasts for! We can stay for just a few hours if we want, but I either try to leave before 3 or after 6 because the traffic can be brutal in between those hours. I remember having a pass when Jason and I were engaged, and to be honest - sometimes having a pass and going all the time takes out the magic. However, with kids - the excitement and the magic is just exploding after each visit. Going alone with two kids is A LOT of work. I definitely underestimated how hard that was going to be. However, we are having a blast, and this year is going to be filled with so many fun memories!! I want to try to jot down a few experiences after each trip. This will probably be boring for everyone reading, but I don't want everything to feel like a big blur after the year, so this will help me out a bit. Plus, I think the kids will have fun reading about all their fun Disneyland adventures. We are going to try to take a picture with a character each visit, so they will have a fun collection of pictures with the characters. Poor little Chase is going to ask me why he is not in many of the pictures when he gets older. He is scared of the characters, and won't go up to them. If I hold him, he turns his head away most of the time anyways. Also, when I try to get other pictures (like with the castle, and so on), he just fusses, and doesn't want to leave me side because there are so many people around. I hope to get a few good ones of him by the time our passes expire, but if 95% of my pictures are of Wesley, you'll know why!!

#1 - April 4th

- This was our first visit, and we went with Grandma Burnell, aunt Patty, aunt Jennifer, Alex, Brittney, Owen, Mary, Leah, and Lily. It was spring break, and it was really busy. I was super worried when we got there, and was kind of panicked looking at the crowds. However, we had a disability pass so we got on the rides quicker, and the fun company made the time go pretty fast. We were able to go on a lot of rides, and we had a lot of fun. For lunch, I brought my own food, but no one else did so they ate at the Mexican restaurant, and the boys and I ate good 'ol PB&J. Jennifer and I stayed at the restaurant with Wesley, Leah and the babies for a while while the older kids and grandma and aunt patty went on a few "big" rides. Later, Wesley went on Splash Mountain with the group, and I stayed with Owen and the babies. He said the ride was "sooooo scary!!" I wasn't planning on staying late, but we were having so much fun we stayed until about 8:30 or 9. We had dinner at the Pizza port, and I had a salad. It was really good! The last ride was the Nemo subs. Everyone in the group wanted to stay until closing (I think midnight), but I was cold. I forgot to bring a jacket, and my kids were tired. I left while everyone else stayed. I figured I could just come back another day! It was a really fun experience, and I loved going with all of Jason's family! I had so much fun with everyone, I was worried how I was going to do coming back alone! :-)