The "Lands"

Disneyland's new name should be "The Busiest Place on Earth." It's happy too. But I think it would be a lot happier in small increments, with fewer lines and lots of naps and peace in between attractions. They go all out. Don't get me wrong- we all thoroughly enjoyed the day and it is something you must experience at some point. It was just that watching parents intensely pushing strollers of crying, tired, and over-sugared kids made my head hurt and I wondered if our homes shouldn't be the happiest places on earth instead? I guess what I'm saying is that Disneyland is fun, but it's still just Disneyland. It doesn't make our kids feel nourished, confident, secure, and loved- all the main things I'm going for here.

Given all that, there were some pretty neat highlights. The first being the new interactive Jedi Adventure:Both Emma and Ryan were chosen to be Jedi Apprentices. The day could have ended here and they would have been happy!The great thing about watching Ryan up there was he kept helping the boy next to him whose light saber refused to release. They were trained by Masters, and then Darth Vader and his troopers rose up out of the floor in a cloud of smoke (Da, da, da, dun, da, na- dun, da, na). Pretty fantastic. And then, each child was able to duel Darth Vader. How cool is that?In the end, the Dark Side was defeated and Darth Vader and his troopers retreated. This is the triumph picture.

We also enjoyed a really fun Princess Party and learned how to dance with twirling ribbon.

It's a Small World is still one of the best attreactions at Disneyland- nice and long and cool after waiting in the hot sun.

Madeline's Disneyland goal was to find Ariel. We waited in the Princess line for an hour, but no luck-we encountered Belle, Tiana, and a very voluptuous and scantily-clad Jasmine instead. (Seriously?!) But on our way out, we noticed the princesses were switching shifts and I caught a glimpse of familiar red hair. You know we waited in that same line for another hour!

I really think it was the happiest moment in Madeline's life thus far. So cute.

This is the time in the afternoon where everyone is too tired. We decided to have ice cream sundaes and french fries at an indoor restaurant and that did the trick.

Favorite Rides: Ryan- Indiana Jones; Emma- Space Mountain; Madeline- Winnie the Pooh

The following Saturday, we hit Legoland and it was really neat.

Mini Town was totally amazing!

Face painting was a definite highlight for Madeline. She finally felt like a fairy (SilverMist to be exact).

This is Shan in the giant hurling Claw and it honestly made me sick to watch. I rode it too, but not on the highest "scare" level.

We loved the Pirate Water Adventure the most, but I have no pictures since I didn't want the camera to get wet. And boy, did we get wet!