THE MARINI'S: D-Land with Friends!

Last week we headed to Disneyland to get one more trip in before our passes expired. Lucky for us we were there with two other families, and so it just wasn't the four of us going together on the same old rides over and over. Nope, these other families have small children too, and even better....their kids aren't afraid of big kid rides. So, naturally, my mother's instincts kicked in and I thought to myself---What better way to get our kids on new rides than peer pressure from younger, smaller kids! Genius, right??? Because at this point, I have no shame. We go on the SAME rides over and over and getting the boys to try something new is like an act of Congress. So, when I had these adorable little friends at my disposal to make my boys feel ridiculous for not going on the rides that clearly they had met the height requirement for, I was not going to miss this chance.

To be honest, we hadn't been this excited to go in a while. Cars Land opened in June and we were so anxious to get down and see all of the new rides and fun stuff that was there. On Sunday morning, when we arrived at 6:15am (yes, you read that right), we were able to have early entry for Cars Land and get a jump on Radiator Springs Racers because the average wait time was around one and half to two hours. With the early entry, we thought we would be able to get a jump on things. And, let me remind you...this was all planned out. The three families had gotten together for a Disneyland/Cars Land Planning Committee to map out and plan our attack so that we would use the time wisely. There was a full on plan! And at approximately four minutes after Cars Land opened, the plan was no longer in effect. I blame Rich for this. He really was the one who spear-headed this attack plan if you will and he was the leader who took the group off course immediately. As we were to all RUN to RSR to avoid a long wait, he was sucked into another ride and all of a sudden, the plan was scrapped. Not only did he and the kids ride Junkyard Jamboree, they then went and rode Luigi's Flying Tires. As Luis and Lindsay and I looked at each other, mouths open and a little ticked off, we were like, "What happened to the plan?????" Luckily for Rich and his followers, RSR was not working and so it ended up not being a bad thing.

Here are the boys waiting in line for RSR...we only waited about a half hour because it was clearly not going to be up and running anytime soon.

The greatest part of Cars Land opening??? No lines for Toy Story Mania!

Later on that day we met up with the Fuentes Family and were able to add to the number of kids in our pack. I loved how excited everyone was to see each other and the kids were so excited to ride the rides together.

Here is Bella, Matthew, Emma, and Ryan. (Emma and Ryan...that is a whole other blog post.)

Everyone wearing their crowns after Goofy's Sky School.

Sunday night, the wait was finally over. Fast passes in hand, we headed to RSR for our first race!!! Here's what I have to say...It was RIDICULOUS FUN!!! Worth the wait and we could not wait to ride it again the next day!

Okay, can we just talk about the weather??? And how horribly hot it was????? Miserable hot. The weatherman was saying that this heatwave was the worst LA had had in fifteen years. So Monday we had a plan...off early to DL and then back to the pool for some swimming.

Happy Halloween!!!!

These three were inseparable!

A little pool time!

Speaking of pool time. Here is my problem. I don't think I can visit another pool that has a bar service and not think of Aulani (our Hawaii trip) and not order a drink. It was almost physically impossible to not grab the drink and snack menu from the nice gentleman's hand as he walked by. And for nostalgic reasoning, Rich and I both ordered a pina colada because it's what we do now... we have turned into those people. And I have never been happier in my life to be those people. More importantly as we were sipping our frozen drinks, I was slowly able to chip away at the Hawaii timeline that was years away. Put that guy in a lounge chair with a frothy drink and he starts thinking differently... and I will use that to my advantage any time I can!

Okay...back to the original start of this post: Peer pressure and why I could care less I let others use it on my kids.

Matthew caved in to the peer pressure more than Ryan. Which is technically how it should be, seeing as if he is three years older. The rides he "promised" to go on were: Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and Star Tours. He only technically went on Tower of Terror...which was HUGE because I didn't think he was going to go on any of them. The first time went on (yes, I said first), his face was priceless. As the ride came to a stop, he simply turned to me and said, "Where are we?" I try not to make a habit of laughing at my kids....but, that was hysterical. As freaked out as he was, he went right back on it the next day. And one more...I will give him props for agreeing to go on California Screamin'. Fast pass in hand, Gavin right next to him, we headed over to cross this off the list--except it was shut down because it wasn't running right. Lindsay and I looked at each other and started laughing because we both saw the look on Matt's face---I HAVE BEEN SAVED. To be able to capture on one's face the look of relief...I wish I had my camera.

Now onto Ryan. As we were walking over to Tower of Terror (yes, we were going to take him on it), he all of a sudden felt sick. And in his words--in a strained, fearful voice, "Do you want me to get sick and throw up on the ride???" And as he ran away giggling to join the other kids not going, it was clear that he had won that round. The next day, not so much. Splash Mountain!!! Bring it! Every kid who hit the height requirement was going, if he didn't go. he would have been the ONLY ONE NOT GOING. Finally! Finally!! He caved and went. And loved it. Seriously loved it.

The final night we were there was the after hours trick or treat night.