You travel to California to visit family and there is a college graduation to celebrate, so where do you go? Disneyland of course! My parents planned a surprise trip to Disneyland for Jillian’s graduation present which included a friend. Luckily she was able to twist Drisana’s arm to join her on a fun filled day. But the best part… we were invited to come along too! Because of the surprise, Shaun could not come with us and we missed him very much. Im sure he missed being with us as well.

The day had a few unexpected surprises. The first was the heat. Yes, we knew it would be a day in the low 80’s in Anaheim which wasn’t a problem but it was the humidity that nearly melted all of us. By the time we arrived at 9am the heat was intense. Oh, well… it didn’t stop our day.

Our first stop was California Adventure and The Little Mermaid. Lucky for us the park had just opened so we walked right on. Abby loved it so much that she asked to ride it again! And of course mommy couldn’t say no, so we did! Next on the list was Toy Story Midway Mania. On our way to ride Toy Story , we ran into none other then the mouse himself! Abby was super excited to see Mickey Mouse and wanted a picture with him, so much so that she tried to cut in front of everyone. Luckily we were able to hold Abby back and get her to wait her turn.

After our photo session with Mickey Mouse, we headed to Toy Story. Abby was already starting to lose steam and it was only 11am! Luckily Auntie Jillian was there to cuddle and rest up with before getting onto Toy Story. After a fun filled, 3D experience and a fun water mister/fan that Grandpa bought, Abby perked right up.

Sitting down with our water misters and fans, Jillian and Drisana took off to ride California Screamin’. As we waited two of Abby’s favorite characters made an appearance… Buzz and Woody. Buzz had to leave but Abby did get him to give her a high five. Woody stuck around though and she had the chance to take a picture with him as well as talk to Woody. Im not sure what she talked about, but she was certainly cute about it.

After the excitement of Woody we left California Adventure and headed over to Disneyland. Jillian’s one request for the day was lunch at Blue Bayou and lucky for her they had a reservation available for a large party. Everyone seemed very happy to be inside, in the dark where it was nice and cool with endless glasses of water. Both of the girls enjoyed their yummy Mac N Cheese and Ellie loved her hat. Argh Matey!

Once our bellies were stuffed with yummy food we thought it would be a good idea to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean, we were right there and its a great ride that allows you to just sit, relax and let your food digest a bit. Abby has been on Pirates a few times but does not remember and obviously this was Ellie’s first time. Both of them enjoyed it. Ellie even fell asleep in Grandpa’s arms. Abby loved the drops and even tried to put her hands up for both of them. Sometimes its hard to tell if she likes something while its going on, but once we were off the ride she couldn’t stop talking about it.

After Pirates we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. Ellie stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor after falling back to sleep in her stroller. Abby was excited to go on, but you could tell there was a bit of hesitation. The section of the ride in the elevator bothered her a bit, mostly because people were screaming but she survived and enjoyed the rest of the ride. After the Mansion it was off to Winnie the Pooh and then Jillian and Drisana decided they wanted to ride Splash Mountain. While they waited in line, we headed over to Big Thunder Ranch to see all the barnyard animals. Abby got to meet all of the goats, a cow and a donkey! What excitement. All the while Ellie slept.

Once the ranch started to close up we found a nice shady spot to enjoy and decided it was time for Abby to take a much needed nap. It took some effort but she finally passed out. When Jillian and Drisana finished at Splash Mountain, they met up with us and we took advantage of the fact that both girls were sleeping soundly. So Jillian, Drisana, Grandpa and myself headed over to Big Thunder. The wait was quick and we were on in no time. It has been years since I have been on a ride at Disneyland with my dad, so it was certainly special to sit next to him on Big Thunder. We had a blast and we could even see Grandma sitting with Abby and Ellie on one of the last big turns. Luckily she saw us too!

After our spin on Big Thunder, we made the decision to head over to Matterhorn and ride that while the girls were still asleep. On our way were trapped in the usual parade crowd. Luckily we found a decent spot to stop and watch, since we were stuck and Abby woke up just in time to see some of her favorite characters like Mickey, Minnie, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Rapunzel and last but certainly not least, Mary Poppins. It was worth the delay, especially to watch Abby’s little face.

After the parade we hopped onto Matterhorn and then headed for a bite to eat. With full tummies we made our way back to our lockers to change shoes and clothes for the night. On our way back into the park we were able to find ourselves a nice place to watch the fireworks right on Main Street. Abby enjoyed them, when she wasn’t dazed and resting her head on Grandpa’s shoulder. She did perk up when she saw Tinker Bell and Dumbo flying. After the fireworks we took off to ride the Finding Nemo Submarines. This time Grandpa stayed behind with Ellie, who had fallen asleep again and Grandma rode with us. I think this, out of all the rides, was by far Abby’s favorite. When we got off the ride Abby couldn’t stop talking about Nemo and Dory and all of their friends.

When we were done with Nemo, we decided to throw in the towel and while Jillian and Drisana headed over to Indiana Jones and a few others, we wandered through the stores and made our way to the end of Main Street. We couldn’t leave without a few souvenirs! Once all of the shopping was done and we had literally closed up with the park, we made our way to our cars and headed home. We were tired and weary travelers, but I know we had all had fun. It is, after all, Disneyland.