After we all got refreshed from a nap, back to Disneyland we went. After waiting for 15 minutes at the gate to get our tickets sorted out (the ticket taker that morning messed up), off we went toward Adventure Land.

Adventure Land is my favorite Land. It’s so intimate and exotic and I’m sure it’s just like the real northern and central Africa 😉 Rob was also blown away in this area. This was the area of the park he remembered the least from when he was here before. It was so much fun to be in that area in the evening and around nightfall. We had meat on a stick and chocolate milk for dinner. Make that a LOT of chocolate milk. I ordered one for each of us, thinking they were the little size. Instead they were the pint size. I’m not complaining, chocolate milk is good! And it also filled us up for a while.

Pirates of the Caribbean: This was fun. The kids thought the water shoots were fun. They were in awe of all the animatronic scenery. They kept asking, “Are those real pirates? Are those cannonballs real? Is that real fire?” Rob and I assured them and they thought the whole thing was pretty cool. Before this ride Nate had no desire to see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean and experiencing this ride has changed his mind. He thought it was so much fun.

Haunted Mansion: Nate and Madeleine decided they were brave to go in the Haunted Mansion. There was literally no wait so we went straight into the elevator. They didn’t know what to expect and they got a little scared, especially Madeleine. It was not their favorite ride (mine either), but they were fine.

Splash Mountain: Nate REALLY wanted to go on this ride. He’d seen video of it and knew what to expect. Rob took him and it lived up to expectations. Nate and Rob had a great time goofing off while waiting in line. They didn’t have fast passes for this ride but it was still only about 20 minutes or so. Rob pretended that he had no idea that the big splash was coming at the end. This created a lot of laughs for Nate. They had so much fun on this ride! Rob really loves the last photo of this set (despite bad focus guy) while waiting for Splash Mountain. It was a really good hug.

The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The little girls and I went on this ride. No wait again! Madeleine thought it was “sweet” that we were riding in honey pots (actually beehives full of honey). Caroline really enjoyed this ride, too. By this time she was an old pro with the whole sit down, bar-over-lap thing and hung on just like a big kid. Her eyes were big as she was looking around. She really liked this one.

Jungle Cruise: The boys were still at Splash Mountain so the girls and I went on Jungle Cruise. This notoriously has a long wait, but we only waited about 15 minutes. Madeleine really liked this ride and still talks about it. She loved the animals and the spraying of water and everything else.

By this time the sky was dark and all the lights had turned on. I LOVE Disneyland at night. The ambiance is so, so fun and festive.

Tarzan’s Treehouse: We all met here and the kids had fun running around and being up high. This was also a lot of fun at night as the dark seems to add to the feeling of being far away from known places.

Indiana Jones: Rob really wanted to take Nate on Indiana Jones so he got some fast passes fort his ride earlier in the day. The lady near the entrance measured Nate and gave him the green light to enter. It is a good thing we only waited about 10 minutes because the lady in the boarding area checked Nate’s height again and refused to allow them on the ride. She gave them an immediate entrance pass good on any ride and set us on our way (this turned out to be very useful the next day). To be honest, this may have been an answer to Nate’s prayer. As they made their way to the boarding area Nate became more and more nervous about the ride. Ha!

Fantasmic: I left with Caroline for the evening and Rob stayed with Nate and Madeleine for Fantasmic, fireworks, and a couple more rides. They were standing next to some nice women that gave some really good advice about getting out of the area once the show was over (they had seen the show many times). As the show got closer Rob and the kids started to get crowded by a bunch of other people. The nice women grabbed one of the Disneyland employees and explained that Rob and the kids were really nice and were getting crowded by a bunch of other people. The Disneyland employee brought Rob and the kids down to a reserved area and where they could see the show in ease. What an amazing experience. Madi became scared a few times during the show but they both really enjoyed the show! So fun.

Fireworks: After Fantasmic they started to make their way toward fantasyland to ride the King Arthur’s Carousel (Madi’s special request) and had no idea that a great firework display was about to start. Once the fireworks got underway they found a good place to stop and watch. Madi started to get a little bored but Nate and Rob loved seeing the display and how it coordinated with rides and themes from the park. The Star Wars and Toy Story (the fireworks were shaped as gift boxes) themed portions were Rob’s favorite.

King Arthur’s Carousel: After the fireworks ended they made their way over to fantasyland. Madi was wearing my new jacket and I heard that Rob had to really watch Madi from chewing the cuffs (go figure). Madi and Nate were giddy as they chose their horse and had a blast spinning around and around. Rob told me that as they walked back to the shuttle stop he was just so happy about the amazing day and experiences we all had together that day. Total success!!!!