AND for the FINALE....FINALLY!

DISNEYLAND!!

For those of you that have been, I am sure that you will agree when I say, I am pretty sure they pump drugs through the speakers with the music. Like happy-gas or something, cause I am tellin you there is nothing like halfway down the sidewalk, just when you start to hear the music, there is a giggle that works it's way up from your gut and you start SKIPPING! YEP! SKIPPING! What else could possibly do that to grown ups?!

Jake and I on CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN Roller Coaster. I love that ride! So does Jake....obviously! Do you like our posed High Five for the camera?! Hahaha! Look at his face! I LOVE that face! We saw it A LOT! YAY!

We rode all the rides....a LOT of times! Mal absolutely loved it! She was such a trooper! She was tall enough for almost everything. In fact, she was tall enough for Space Mountain, however, we decided not to take her on it. She is not such a fan of the dark. So, we tried Thunder Mountain (the Train Roller Coaster), which she said was too fast and Splash Mountain, which she enjoyed, but said the last drop was "too big for me cause I am just little). YOKAY! No need to torture! We did what she wanted and she was as happy as could possibly be! We all were! (You can click on these pictures by the way, if you want to see the details better)

One of our favorite rides was Toy Story. This was CERTAINLY a good time of year to go! The longest we waited in line was 20 min. Usually the wait for this one is 2-3 hours! YIKES! With such a short wait, we hit it over and over and over! Mal was TERRIFIED while we were in line. Do you see her clinging to Ryan's head?! We comforted her and begged her to trust us. She did. She immediately wanted to get right back on when we were done. We did!

Her other favorite ride was Soarin over California. (The simulated hang glider ride) I was suprised she liked it so much. It makes me feel like I am going to fall forward out of my seat and plunge to my death somewhere among the pine trees in Cali, or the Orange Tree Grove. She begged for that one over and over too!

There is something quite magical to a kid....and let's be honest, the adults, when you see a character wondering the streets! Mal LOVED this part! She had so much fun meeting everyone.

The best....she tends to get a little nervous sometimes. When she gets nervous, she becomes a dog. Barking and all. So, we wait in line for a bit, meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty & Prince Charming and then make our way to one on one time with Cinderella. She squats down next to Mal and asks her name. Mal barks! BARKS! 30 min in line and she BARKS at her. Great!

What came next convinced me that no matter what Cinderella is paid, it's not enough. She barked right back. Mal was delighted! They spent the next few minutes barking back and forth. I wanted to cry for the the sweetness of this sweet Cinderella. Mal goes into puppy mode to deal with uncomfortable situations and Cinderella was willing to go there with her. It totally made Mally's day!

Her favorite characters to meet...Chip N Dale, Cinderella, Tigger, Pluto and Winnie the Pooh.

Jake's fave....KICKING DARTH MAL's TRASH.....AGAIN! This is the second time in 2 years! You would think Mr. Mal would have learned his lesson. Maybe this time!

I love this face! This kid MASTERED the posing on this trip! He is SO his father's son!

If you go to Disneyland, be sure to take your kiddos to the Brother Bear ropes course and park in California Park. Mal LOVED this place! It is pretty fun! We walked all through these nets, like WAY too far above the ground. I was stressin. That was until Ry asked Mal if he could come with us and Mal said "No, just me and Mom." Then she told me that it's just her and me because only girls are good at this! Hahaha!

I missed my calling in life. Have I told you that?! I mean, of course I am where I am supposed to be NOW, but I am pretty sure that at some point in my life I was also supposed to be IN the Disneyland Parade. One of the dancers. Crud, I would even ride the bikes. I could TOTALLY do it! In fact, if I should ever convince Ry to move to Cali, this is TOTALLY the first place I will apply for a night job! I would pay THEM to let me do it! It makes me happy! I LOVED the parade!

This is not your average parade. This is a stop in the street and dance like crazy with MANY of the characters show! SO MUCH FUN! They even had fireworks on the weekend, which we happily watched from our balcony at the hotel room Sunday night!

There is only one thing that could bring that much excitement to this little girls face! That would be Disney Playhouse LIVE! Mal and I stopped by for the show. We were on the second row. When Handy Manny came out she was PSYCHED! So was I honestly. I sang right along and I'm pretty sure I said, "OH TOOTLES" with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse louder than anyone. SO FUN! Mal danced along and had a blast!

This was our hotel/motel. Let's just consider this part of the post a "Friday's Finds" shall we?! Ryan was looking for a place to stay. He is a totally bargain hunter. I am a total hotel snob. I don't want it to be nasty dirty or creepy. Ry found this place on the TOP 10 Places to Stay at Disneyland.. $50 a NIGHT! I'm not kidding! They were SUPER clean. The pool was outside and heated. We swam a few nights at like 9pm....IN FEBRUARY! The rooms are newly redone and so nice. There is a small continental breakfast and a fridge and micro in every room.

We were staying for 8 nights so $50 as opposed to $130 was SWEET! Plus, we packed stuff from home, soup, chilli, granola bars, popcorn, treats, cereal, oatmeal, whatever. We totally did this whole trip for such a good deal! I love that! If you don't feel like it breaks the bank, you are going to be more likely to go back soon! WHICH I LOVE!

What I REALLY love.....is just this! This trip was meant to be a celebration of our Little D, His Life, His love and our Family. What we wanted was peace, fun and a break from all reality. What we came home to was LOTS and LOTS of LOVE! It is amazing how doing fun things together as a family is like the glue that holds you together and makes you tighter. Even Mal, who before the trip was struggling with a lot of anger and frustration because she didn't like what was happening and couldn't understand why Dawson was gone, game home feeling secure and happy. Before we left, she didn't want anyone to talk about Dawson. It frustrated her. While we were gone, random strangers got on an elevator with us and she said, "Hi! This is my friend Mommy, my friend Jakey and our friend Dawson is in Heaven with Heavenly Father". That was it. She was ready. She talks about him all the time now and she is all good with it! She tells us he comes in her dreams and chases the scary things away so she can be happy. I love that!

Jake is as happy as ever. Yes, we continually work through the grief, but it is something we know we are closer because of, and something we know we can do together. We miss our D more than we could ever say. It seems like it is all pretends. One day it will all go back to normal. It seems impossible to not just go in his room, pick him up and smooch his cheekers and hear him laugh. That physically hurts. However, we are getting through. Together. With LOTS of love. We are an Eternal Family. What could be better than that?!