Tracy Aviary

Last Friday, Grandma Taylor took the kids to Tracy Aviary. It was a good day to go because it was warm enough for Nathan (who had to wear shorts) and there weren't a lot of people there. They were so excited to tell us all about the Owl Forest, the eagles they saw, the pelicans they fed with fish, and the parrots that landed right on them and ate apples out of their hands. They had a great time! They couldn't talk fast enough to tell us all about the day.

 Grandma bought them little stuffed owls whose eyes glow and they have been taking them to bed every night. Aaron says the glowing eyes help him so he's not scared.
 

The Rest of the Story

On the second day we went to California Adventure Park. We got a picture with Lightning McQueen and Mater. Carsland is being built, but it's not done yet. The kids were pretty excited to see these two, though.

We spent quite a bit of time in Bug's Land. They had fun rides for the little kids. Nathan and Aaron liked the lady bug spinning one and the bug bumper cars. Ali was doing pretty well with these rides and thought she was a pretty big girl.
 

The rest of the day was a little off-kilter. First, Ali decided she was done and threw a great fit, so Ryan took her back to the room to have a nap. Then Aaron got tired and headed back to the hotel with Grandpa. That left Nathan and I to ride a few rides. We really liked Soarin' and I LOVED Screamin' - the roller coaster. We had some fast passes and I rode it three times in a very short amount of time. I think I could do that all day. Nathan had a corn dog and big drink, so he was happy even if he couldn't ride some of the rides because he was too small. I felt bad that Ryan didn't get to do as much that day, but he was a good sport and we were all happier for the rest.

Ali had fun in the hotel room moving the stroller to wherever she needed to it to be to get into things. She is very resourceful and hard to keep up with in even a small hotel room.

Unfortunately, Aaron got sick on Friday night, so he wasn't able to go into the park on Saturday. Grandma stayed with him while we took Ali and Nathan for the morning. We took Ali to see the princesses, but since Nathan wasn't so keen on waiting in line and seeing princesses, and Ryan wasn't too keen on riding any rides like the teacups that were close, I took Nathan to ride rides and Ryan took Ali to meet the princesses. I guess she was really cute. The pictures sure are cute. Ryan is a good day to take his little princess to see some others.

Nathan and I had a good time riding some of the rides in Fantasyland like the teacups and Dumbo. We were on the Pinnochio ride and it stopped and they had to come get us and walk us out. I actually liked that one better in the light than the dark lights they had for the ride. 

We went over to California Adventure before we headed back to the hotel so we could get a plane from the gift shop over there. Nathan and Aaron were holding on to their money until the last day to buy their souvenirs. Since Aaron didn't get to come with us, Nathan chose a couple of things that he thought Aaron would like - a lightsaber and a Goofy plane sucker. They were perfect. Nathan chose a model plane that he had to put together and a Mickey foldable hairbrush.

We went back to our hotel and then we all took a walk so Aaron could at least get out for a little while. He was feeling better, but had a slight cough still, so we figured it wouldn't be the best thing to take him around a bunch of people. We split up later and Ryan took Nathan and I took the little ones on the monorail. Aaron wanted to do that and it wasn't too crowded, so it worked well for us. Ali was pretty tuckered out. It was a busy three days for her.

We tried to get to bed fairly early because we were up just after 5 am to catch our shuttle to the airport. The kids were so good on both flights. It was a fast, fun adventure. They enjoy remembering what we did, looking about pictures, and talking about when we are going to go back. I think Ryan and I need a few years to recuperate, but I'm sure we will visit again.

Goofy's Kitchen

On Friday, the first thing we did was walk over to Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. On the way there we had to stop and take a picture on the Mickey Mouse benches. Goofy's Kitchen was a happy place for everyone. Not only did the kids get to watch cartoons while we were waiting for our turn, we got to eat all we could of yummy food - breakfast food as well as desserts and other fun things, and we got to meet some characters. Nathan got their autographs, and Aaron even warmed up to a couple of them, particularly Pluto in his chef's hat. Ali was especially cute with Princess Aurora- Sleeping Beauty. As soon as she saw her, she grabbed Nathan's autograph book and held it out for her to sign. It was very cute, especially since she had wanted nothing to do with any of the characters the day before. Outside in the lobby was a cute car that Ali and Aaron each got in and drove.