California Adventure--Day 3

Our 3rd day we started at Disneyland because it opened an hour before California Adventure. When the park opened, we made a mad dash to Thunder Mountain. We were able to go a few times without standing in line. (In this picture, we are in the last car where it feels a little more intense than riding in the front. I (Tammy) don't know the physics of it all, but next time, I'm definitely NOT riding in back!) Wednesday we had gorgeous weather!!! We actually felt like we were in California.

At 10:00 a.m. we went to California Adventure. I took Sophie over to Playhouse Disney while the older kids, Steve, and Natalie went on all the wild and crazy rides. Sophie loved seeing the characters from one of her favorite shows, Little Einsteins. (I didn't have the camera with me--so no pictures.)

For lunch, Natalie, Rachel, Sophie, and I went to eat at Ariel's Grotto. This is an interactive lunch where you eat yummy food while 5 of the princesses wander from table to table signing autographs and taking pictures. (If you're planning on going, you need to make reservations up to 60 days in advance.) They gave the girls crowns to decorate with stickers and wear. Doesn't my sister, Natalie, look like Miss America?!?They started out by bringing us appetizers. Sophie's favorite was the cheese sticks that had been cut into little spears. And she loved the watermelon, too!
My favorite part of the lunch was when Sophie kept asking the princesses, especially Snow White, "You want some?" as she held out her fork of macaroni to the princesses.Here's Sophie and Rachel with Sophie's favorite princess, Princess Aurora. My favorite princess was Belle because she was the nicest one. ;) She spent so much time talking to Rachel.
Cinderella was really nice, too!
Sophie's favorite part of the whole experience was the food--especially dessert! It was really yummy--we were hoping she'd let us have hers--but she ate almost every bite! After eating all of the food, we had to go on rides--ugh! Actually we had a lot of fun. I really liked the Tower of Terror. (But it was definitely NOT Ben's favorite ride.) Everyone else like California Screamin'--they'd gone on it while I'd had Sophie at Playhouse Disney. They were excited to see how I'd like it--in the copy of the picture that they automatically take, I look like maybe I'm having fun--I wasn't! :)Sophie had fun in Bug's Life Land. We went to the 4-D Bug's Life Movie which she didn't like so much, but the rest of us did. The movie was a little scary. I just covered her eyes and she was fine.

My favorite ride was Soarin' over California. It's a simulator that makes you feel like you're hang gliding over different scenic areas of California. Natalie knew where to get us seats so we were in the front row in the very center of the screen. It was so much fun!

Another favorite part of the day (no pictures, because we were tired of pictures by then!) was when we went to the tortilla-making factory and the sourdough bread factory where they give out samples. Until now, my kids have refused to eat sourdough bread because they say it's disgusting. . .after eating it at California Adventure, they (especially Ben) now love it! In fact, for dinner, we ate sour dough bread bowls with either chili or clam chowder.

After California Adventure closed, we sent Sophie back to the hotel with Natalie and went on a few last rides in Disneyland. We love Disneyland, but we were talking about all of the other fun things we want to do while our kids are young, and we figured that we probably won't go again until Sophie is Ben or Steven's age. How sad!