Disneyland, and July 4th

Waaaaay back in July -- July 3rd to be exact -- we decided that the time had come to introduce our kids to the concept of Disneyland. They had a deal going on where you could get three visits for $99 per person during the busy summer season, which was pretty good considering that one visit is usually $89. Yeah. I don't know who would pay that, either. So, we got our passes at a local grocery store and headed down to Anaheim that Friday (Ryan had the day off, along with pretty much everyone else.)

So, here is the record of our first visit. We met up with some friends from the ward and contained ourselves to California Adventure this time, rather than Disneyland proper. It was great! It would have been better if I'd been able to go on more rides, but my pukiness and general condition kept me off alot of things. I love the progression of Elise's face as this ferris wheel does it's gut-dropping swing (the cages are on rollers, so you go sliding down a ramp from time to time). She thought she liked it until then. Here's Elise watching the Pixar Play Parade with Mama while the boys went on Grizzly Rapids. Connor just barely made the height cutoff, and supposedly didn't get scared once. He cannot be related to me!We'd been warned to bring the kids' swimsuits, so during the hot part of the day they were able to play in this water area, which they loved. We finished the day by finding a spot on the pavement and watching the Disney Electrical Parade, which I think is still awesome.

The next day was Independence Day, but we were too wiped out to do anything until the evening. And, no, I'm not a fan of this picture, but I posted it in the cause of journalistic integrity.We walked to the local fireworks "spectacular" and hung out until things got dark enough. The kids went nuts with their glow-bracelets. Bizarrely, in these pictures they're conducting the sousa march that was playing over the loudspeaker. Elise did great with the fireworks. She kept telling me she was "caiowed fiewuks", but didn't cry. On the walk home, we started what we hope will be a tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence out loud to the kids. Okay, to ourselves. We had a hard enough time following what was being said, they just tuned out. It was a cool reminder of why we were celebrating, though. What an amazing and blessed country we get to live in!