Golden state fun, part III.

If you're tired of my mushy-gushy vacation posts and you're all jelly and about to unfollow me, well, take heart because this is the last one. I swear. We just had a really fun time, OK? And don't be jealous because guess what? I still have a backyard of dirt and weeds. STILL. Did I mention our 3-year anniversary of home ownership is coming up? Yeeeeeah.

Anyhoo. Let's talk about California Adventure, shall we? Because it is SUPERB. Like, waaaaay better than the Magic Kingdom, in my opinion. I mean, I guess you can't beat the lit-up castle at night time or the old-school feel of 90 percent of the rides because that stuff's just priceless. But CA Adventure is state-of-the-art fun. Plus it feels bigger which means less claustrophobia.

*Side note: why the heck do the Matterhorn Bobsleds still exist? And why is the line always five miles long? It is the worst ride EVER. I remember one time, when I was maybe 11, my mom unwillingly went on that ride with us (she does NOT do rides) and afterward, she was so rattled she smacked her head on a rail. Hard. And then blamed us all. See? The Matterhorn just ticks people off and makes them feel drunk. Not cool.

So, on the second day of our Disneyland trip, we went to California Adventure. I loved nearly every second of it, except for the fact the FastPass line for the new Cars Land attraction (Radiator Springs Racers) is literally 45 minutes - 1 hour long. THE FASTPASS LINE. As in, the line that gets you a little ticket stub telling you to come back in several hours to get in ANOTHER line to wait for 30 - 45 minutes to take a 2-minute ride. Go America! But yeah, that ride was SUPER cute and I definitely recommend making your husband wait in the insane FastPass line as soon as you get to the park while you take the littles on all the kiddie rides.

Oh yeah, did I mention Buckwheat decided to blow chunks all over himself literally the minute we pulled off the freeway to go to the park the second day? He did. Fantastically, we had an extra pair of paints AND an extra shirt in the car. Also an entire package of butt wipes, with which we cleaned him off. Lucky kid. He was going to California Adventure, come hell or high water. But don't worry -- it was just a bout of carsickness and he did great once we got on the tram. And Dill still made it to the Cars FastPass line in time.

Another attraction worth possibly sacrificing your firstborn for: World of Color. Wow. I seriously cried through half of it because it was so amazing. Just don't sit in the Wet Zone. Well-meaning Canadians might tell you that "it's just a light mist" and you may believe them because you just went on Grizzly River Run and you're soaked head to toe. But don't be fooled, because after 10 minutes a consistent "light mist" becomes the equivalent of "torrential downpour." We were all drenched! Even then, the show was pure magic. All I have to say is, Disney apparently has the cream of the crop working for them because almost everything is mind-blowing, and World of Color is no exception. So don't miss it or you'll be sorry.

Ok, enough blabbing. Time for some pictures!!!

Yes, that is the Kindle Fire in Buckwheat's hands. It kept us sane.

These cars are actual interactive characters you can meet and greet in Cars Land. They are animated which freaked Buckwheat out, so the cast member had to "calm Lightning down" (in other words, turn him off) so Buckwheat would stand for a picture. He was still a little hesitant, but he LOVES cars so he obliged.

'90's kids will understand the caption.

While Bubby, Dill, Rebecca and Walter went on Soarin' (love that ride!), Buckwheat and I went to Disney Junior Live on Stage! That was SUPER cute. Buckwheat loved every second!



At the end of the day, we met up with my cute friend Kari who was a missionary in my congregation when I was a teenager. She is so neat and her kids are darling. What a great idea, Kari!



Mickey's Fun Wheel over the pier, just before World of Color. I never wanted to leave!

We sure had a wonderful time, but it was nice to come home to a squeaky-clean house and sleep in our own beds. I'm still trying to figure out how soon I can go back, though! Thank you to all our wonderful hosts and family and friends who took time to hang out with us. We had a BALL!