luc LOVES lightening mcqueen and mater. he can sing the rascal flats song from the movie word for word, and he plays race cars all day long. so we have been dreaming about taking him to disneyland + california adventure for several months, and had talked about going next spring. then we got pregnant with twins, and neither of us much liked the idea of going with two teeny babies. but we didn't want to miss this fun age where he is obsessed with cars either... so we spontaneously decided to just go, this month, before it gets too hot and i get too big/uncomfortable to walk around all day. it was a pretty last minute decision, but we are so so glad we decided to go for it! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!
we spent our first day at disneyland and our second at california adventure. we started with a ride on 'it's a small world' {because it was the shortest line, and the kiddos were impatient after waiting in line for the tickets} and both of them loved it. i was a little worried lia would be terrified, but as long as she had her papa and my necklace, she was cheerful as could be.... until i foolishly tried to make her meet goofy while the boys were on a different ride, then she had a complete meltdown haha. she was NOT a fan! but she calmed down quickly and ran around the toon town playground, happy as could be five minutes later, so i don't think she has any lasting phycological damage :).
luc and orlando rode the star tours ride, which luc LOVED, and we all rode buzz lightyear, which was a blast. we met a storm trooper, played lightsaber battles, and showed sammy the sea turtle around. [sammy is luc's preschool class 'pet' and each child gets to take him home for one weekend. this just happened to be luc's weekend, and he was pretty excited to take him to disneyland!}
after lunch, we rode more rides, including pirates of the caribbean, which luc rode with his face buried in my lap, he was not a fan. surprisingly again, lia was fine, she had her papa to hold her of course.
we told luc he could chose a toy, and he was completely fixated on this cheap light-up spinning buzz lightyear toy. we told him he could have anything... and he picked that haha! it was adorable how happy he was with it, and how much fun he had with it during the night parade, which was the best part of our day. it was INCREDIBLE! seriously such a fun parade, with each character completely decked out in lights. i'll never forget luc's big, gleefully happy eyes during the night parade as lightening mcqueen and mack and buzz lightyear rode by, and his blushing grin when ariel blew him a kiss. he was enthralled! and lia was mesmerized by all the lights and music, her big eyes taking it all in. the parade was the highlight of our first day, it was so magical! i even got a little choked up, watching them revel in it all, i couldn't help myself. i love being a part of their childhoods. i'm so glad we stayed, we had considered going home earlier as it had been a long day already, but it was well worth staying for! the kids were beat, and both of them fell asleep in the car on the way home.
day two was california adventure {we saved the best for last} and it was our favorite! we spent 90% of the day in cars land, which completely blew us away with how real and detailed they made it- it's seriously radiator springs, straight from the movie. luc was in HEAVEN. he wanted to do and see everything at once! he and orlando rode the tractors and the dancing cars with luigi, while lia and i explored. then we got to MEET LIGHTENING MCQUEEN! i found him while luc was on a ride and i waited in the eternally long line, because no way were we missing this! when luc came running up to me to tell me all about his ride, he saw lightening and his eyes got as big as silver dollars. he walked right up to him and started telling him stories and asking him questions, and he did NOT want to leave so the next kid could have a turn haha. he was the happiest kid in the world! and then right after that lightening had to go, and red came and took his place so of course we had to stay and meet him too! it was awesome, this kid was so excited. later we found mater too, and luc was disappointed that he wouldn't drive backwards for him haha! he was tall enough to ride the radiator springs racers so we fast passed it a bunch so he and orlando could ride it more than once, and he says it was his favorite ride of all. we ate a ton of churros {sooooo good!} and had so much fun taking in all the cool scenery. lia, who didn't really nap the day before, took a loooong stroller nap {fist bump!} so she and i did a lot of sightseeing while the boys rode ride after ride. it was perfect.
that night we drove down to san diego to visit our family and celebrate cousin max's 4th birthday the next day. it was a great way to end our trip! i'm so so glad we went, it was so much fun, and we made memories i will forever treasure. it wasn't too hot, and although i couldn't ride very many rides, i felt great the whole time {the churros helped}. i know he's pretty young, but i hope luc remembers a little bit from our trip. he loved it, and i loved watching him love it. {it made me soooooooo excited for lia to get a little older and get really into princesses, so i can watch the same magic in her eyes in a few years!}
