Magical Moments at Disneyland- 2013

The week after school got out, we headed over to the Happiest Place on Earth for our last big hurrah with our annual passes.  We drove to Cali on Monday and I took the kids into the park for a half day while Brad settled us in at the hotel and then went to the airport to pick up my parents.  What was I thinking taking four kids over to Disneyland by myself- on Memorial Day none the less.  It was pretty crowded, but we are maneuvered our way through the crowds and found ourselves on all the rides with short lines and no height limits so all of us could ride together.  We had quite the productive afternoon.  As we were riding Small World, Brad called to say that he had picked up my parents and pizza for dinner.  I told him we would head back to the hotel and meet them there.  As we got off the ride, I realized the parade had just started which means crazy congestion in Disneyland.  I made the kids each hold on to the stroller and we plowed our way through the crowds.  I kept having a hard time with the stroller and thought maybe one of the wheels was broken.  When we finally made it back to our hotel, I realized the brake on the wheel had been flipped up. No wonder I was having such a difficult time.  It made for a good workout though.  We had a fun time eating pizza, swimming, and hanging out with Nana and Grandpa.  The next two days we spent at Disneyland and California adventure.  Brad treated us all to dinner Tuesday night at Goofy's Kitchen.  It was great food and so fun to have the characters come right to your table.  We rode all the rides on the kids lists, showed Nana and Grandpa all the fun secrets we have found during our year of having passes, and shopped until we dropped.  Thursday morning Brad took my parents back to the airport and I headed over once again on my own with all of the kids.  I got some pretty funny looks and even one lady commented on how crazy I was for being by myself with all of those kids.  Brad was back in no time though and went off with Drew to do some of the roller coasters while I took the other 3 to do some of their favorites.  Thursday night Sadie and Drew and I stayed in the park to watch the World of Color show and Brad took the younger two back to the hotel.  We scoped out a pretty sweet spot on a bridge to watch the show.  We had about an hour wait once we staked out our seats.  It was so fun to sit with Sadie and Drew and talk about how much fun they had and how happy they were to be there.  We shared some yummy treats and before we knew it, it was dark enough for the show to start.  The show was amazing and I am sad that we didn't see it more this past year. After it was over, we walked back to our hotel and the kids couldn't stop talking about the awesome night we just had.  It made all the exhaustion of the vacation worth it to hear them so happy.  We headed home Friday morning, waving goodbye to Disneyland.  It was such a fun year for our family.  We don't have plans to get passes again anytime soon, but I hope someday in the future we will be able to have another magical year!