Thursday, CA Adventure

 Riding the shuttle to the park. We got there by 8:30 am. It paid off later as we got to walk right onto several rides that were really busy later in the day. 

 Waiting for Soarin' over California, the first ride of the day.

 Devon waiting with Shaunie and Ben, since he wasn't tall enough for the Soarin' ride.

 Kaden and Evelyn ready for Grizzly River Run. No line, and we rode it about three times in a row right off the bat.

 Gordon, Clayton, and Devon couldn't, or didn't want to, ride the rapids, so they went with Shaunie to the forest playground. They were having so much fun! And it was empty.

 Kaden's faces are so funny lately. Goofball.

 Devon enjoyed this slide. He got to have some fun, too!

 Posing with McQueen. He was revving his engine, and that freaked Devon out, so I ran in to rescue him.

 A picture with Mater, too! Almost all the kids are in this shot. Missed Clayton.

 Trying on tire hats while Tyler and I took the four big kids on the Cars Ride. We split up for this one since Devon couldn't go on it. We did that a lot this day, actually.

 Devon liked his reflection. :)

 Waiting for Shaunie, Ben, and the two little guys to finish their turn on the ride.

 Clayton was a little nervous about this ride, but he was doing really well. Not screaming and kicking like he was when we tried to get him to go on other (not scary) rides.

 But he loved it!! Probably helped that he went with Uncle Ben. So many times our kids would choose to sit by Ben or Shaunie, not myself or Tyler. I guess we are mean parents. :)

 Waiting for a ride in Bugs Land.

 It was warm - so the kids cooled off under this giant water spigot.

 Devon getting ready for a ride!

 Everyone but Shaunie and the three little boys went on the Tower of Terror. Jaren didn't like the ride. He doesn't like not knowing what is coming up, or how long it will last, or not being in control. But he survived and can say that he rode it. 

 Loving the carousel. Except Gordon, who was not quite tall enough for the roller coaster.

 Waiting in another line....

 Everyone could ride on the Golden Zephyr! Devon did this one about 5 times.

 Nap time, finally. After walking him around in the stroller, he fell asleep for about an hour.

 Clayton got brave enough to go on the River Run that we had done earlier in the day. He was crying at the top of the big drop, but he was okay by the time we were done. So proud of him! 

 Best buddies!

 Ben took the three little guys, Gordon, Clayton and Devon, while Shaunie, Tyler and myself took the kids on the roller coaster again. Devon had fun and didn't want to come back to me or Tyler when we re-grouped. 

 At one point when Ben had the three little boys, the green army men came through and Ben said to Clayton and Gordon in a half-joking way, "Salute the army men!" Clayton immediately went to attention. One of the army men came up to Clayton and said, "I like your style. At ease, soldier." So funny! 

 Going back to the Redwood Creek Trail

 Devon spent a lot of time with Shaunie this day. When we got home and were looking through pictures, Devon saw one of Shaunie and said, "mommy!" :) 

 Our whole group at the end of the day. We had a ton of fun. I think we all enjoyed CA Adventure more than Disneyland. It is a lot less crowded and seemed easier to navigate, for a newbie, anyway. I'm so glad that we didn't lose any of our children on this adventure!

 The last ride we went on was Mater's junkyard Jamboree. It's like the teacups in Disneyland, but faster. It was a fun ride, and everyone got to ride it.

 Waiting for the Bug's Life show to start with our snazzy glasses.

Cars Land at night. I know this one is a little fuzzy, but it's amazing how they can replicate something from a movie, to look so real. It was pretty cool to see. 

We ended this day with another trip to In N Out and some milkshakes. Mmm...It was a good day.