Disneyland... finally!

So I am finally getting around to telling you about our Disneyland trip last month. This year the Richardson family reunion was in Disneyland, so we spent 4 fun-filled days at the Happiest Place on Earth. We had been looking forward to this trip for well over a year. My kids love Disneyland, but combine it with their cousins and grandparents, and it was pretty much the best.trip.ever.

We had annual passes, so we decided to head up a day early and start our fun. The first day was just our little family, and it was pretty low-key, for Disneyland anyway. We hit all our favorite rides... as you can tell from the pictures, Rylee's favorite ride is NOT Splash Mountain. That ride stresses her out, so naturally, we had to go on it twice that day. We had to get a picture to commemorate her favorite part--the 50 foot drop!

We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel this year instead of the Disneyland Hotel. It was a little bit longer walk, but the view from our room was worth it. We would come home at night, open the windows, turn out all the lights, and fall asleep to the lights of Paradise Pier below. We made some great memories!

The second day we met up with the family. The kids were beyond excited. We had early entry into Disneyland that morning, so we got several good rides in before the crowds arrived. Janell's boyfriend, Scott, came with us this year, and all the girls just LOVED him. He was so good with them, and they were always wanting to ride with either him or Jaylen's wife, Blaire. We've been to Disneyland a lot, but it was so much fun to share it with family. We had a long day on Thursday, as we stayed up for the Halloween Screams fireworks show that evening. It was such a good show... and Jack Skellington was the master of ceremonies, so you know our family was happy!

We spent the third day all over the place. We spent some time on our own, and some time with the family all together. The kids LOVED riding Indiana Jones with the whole family. I think we took up a whole car every time we went, and you could hear Blaire screaming wherever you were sitting.

So the last day was the actual reunion. We all wore our Richardson reunion shirts, which Jaylen and Janell had made. Each of us got to pick a Disney character for the back of the shirt. We went with a family theme, so we were Jack, Sally, Lock, Shock, and Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was so great to have the shirts on, because it was easy to find each other. We had a great time on the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, but I think Justin beat everyone again... Dang it!

It was great to catch up with everyone at the reunion. We all had lunch together at one of the restaurant pavilions and played games and caught up. Then we went right back out into the park and had some more fun. By the end of the trip, we were all worn out. I don't think I've ever seen my kids turn down a day at Disneyland, but when we asked them if they wanted to catch a few rides on the morning of Day 5, they elected to sleep in. A definite sign of a good trip...