The Happiest Place on Earth

Last Friday Mimi, Brett, Max and I packed up the diaper bag and headed to Disneyland. The reason for this trip was that extended family (Julie, Emily, Pam, Kelly and family) were going to be there. (Jared was unable to join us as he had a seminar in Palm Springs.) Mimi, Brett and I all got season passes. And until Max turns 3 or 4 he's free. We went on a myriad of rides including Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie-the-Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad's Wild ride, The Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion was fabulous as it was all done up in The Nightmare Before Christmas regalia. Max did surprisingly well on all the rides. He didn't cry at all. He preferred to sit facing me and we got yelled at by some lady on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, "Sit the child facing forward Mam." I don't see what the big deal was, he's still small. It was no different than him being in a baby carrier (ie. Snugglie, Bjorn, Ergo) and I saw plenty of mom's with babies in those get on and off numerous rides without getting harassed. I think I will put him in the carrier next time.

We ended up meeting up with family for lunch and Brett and I got to ride a few big rides while Mimi watched Max nap. Max enjoyed seeing Pooh and Tigger, but the highlight of his trip was Mickey's House in Toon Town. I let him walk around and he thought he was the coolest kid in the park. Everything was his size and he could touch and slobber on everything without me picking him up or pulling it out of his mouth. It was funny how he would try to squeeze himself into small places. At one point he got stuck behind a door, here's a funny picture of him squirming his way out.

I ended up getting Max mouse ears for his souvenir. Jared thinks he looks real special in this pic.

Max had a really fun time as did the rest of us. It was nice to get to spend time with Mimi and Brett and get to see our extended family also. Oh...I really wanted a clam chowder bread bowl (they are the best!). But after waiting in line for 15 minutes and not taking one step forward I got tired of waiting and ended up getting a crappy $10.00 burrito. That was the low point of the trip. Mimi and Brett stayed until Sat afternoon...we were sad to see them go :(

So all in all it was a wonderful weekend. In 2009 Disneyland is going to be giving people free admission to the park on their birthday. In order to take advantage of this you need to register prior. Here is the link http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/disneyland/index?name=CelebrationsDLRFreeOnYourBirthdayPage