Family picture at Disney California Adventure. After arriving at Union Station in Los Angeles, we jumped right in to three days at Disneyland.  None of us had been to Disneyland so we were looking forward to taking the boys to experience Disney.  The day we arrived happened to be Gideon’s 8th birthday, which made the first day at Disney extra special. We drove to Disney and jumped right into activities at the park!  Upon entering the park, we saw Snow White, which made Silas super happy!  He was so excited to see a princess right off the bat! We were pleasantly surprised to find that the rides did not have super long waits yet that morning.  Friday we were able to ride on Haunted Mansion, It’s A Small World, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin to name a few.  The boys watched the Jedi training show that afternoon, and got to meet many characters through out the day. It’s A Small World Some of the characters they got to meet on the first day. Since it was Gideon’s birthday, we decided to do the character dining experience at Goofy’s Kitchen that evening.  The boys enjoyed the experience, but we were disappointed overall.  The food was mediocre and they cooked things like vegetables in pasta water so it made it even harder to find things to eat.  They did have some dairy free chocolate sorbet that they brought out for the boys.  They were excited to have the treat.  The characters were suppose to come directly to the table but some required the help of our waitress to get to come to our table.  The boys loved meeting all the characters and getting their autographs. Saturday we took advantage of the magic hour since we were staying onsite at the Paradise Pier.  It was a perk to staying on site that you got to get into the park an hour early.  We are so thankful we did that both mornings that weekend.  We got to ride so many rides having that early hour.  We immediately rode Star Tours once the park opened, then Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Buzzlight Year Astro Blasters and last Astro Orbitor before 8am!  We were so happy for that fast hour! We moved on to Fantasyland to ride some of the rides the boys wanted to do there.  We waited in a 45 minute long line for Peter Pan’s Flight, which the boys absolutely loved.  It was a slow loading ride, so the line made a lot of sense.  From there we rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Per Silas’ request, we decided to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds mid morning.  I assumed it was going to be like the Log Flume at Six Flags and you would get a sprinkling, but that was the extent.  I was so wrong.  It was quite an experience riding that ride and I got quite soaked.  From there we took the boys on the Indiana Jones Adventure, which terrified Silas when it was over!  Before lunch, I took the boys to ride Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin one more time as it was a favorite ride of theirs! Our post bobsled photo.  Silas avoided getting wet totally, and Gideon ducked going down the hills so he barely got wet! Silas was wearing out so Christopher and Silas went back to the hotel and Gideon and I decided to ride a roller coaster.  Lines were starting to get long, but we decided we would try Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  We decided after riding it that it was well worth the wait, and got a Fastpass after getting off so we could ride it again and not have to wait.  Fastpasses are amazing and I wish we had used them more.  We waited about 5 minutes total with our fast pass!  Gideon and I definitely decided that the roller coaster was our favorite! Sunday morning was our last day, and we again decided to take advantage of the magic hour.  We took a chance and darted to Cars Land.  Based on our research, if we didn’t do Cars Land first thing in the morning, we would have to wait 1-2 hours to ride Radiator Spring’s Racers.  Heading their first was well worth it.  We waited about 20 minutes to ride the racers, which we all thought was amazing.  The ride went so fast I almost lost my head band more than once.  Silas was less than enthusiastic about the speed of the ride.  From there we finished in Cars Land and did Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, waiting only minutes. As it was nearing 8am, we headed to Bugs Land and started riding rides there.  We rode Flik’s Flyers, Francis’ Ladybug Boogie, and Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies. The boy’s were looking forward to riding Toy Story Midway Mania so we headed there next.  We waited in a fairly lengthy line before getting on the ride.  The boys thought it was one of the greatest rides ever. Christopher and I each took a turn on Goofy’s Sky School with Gideon as it did not look like a ride for Silas.  At this point he was feeling pretty overstimulated.  We took Silas on Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, which he thought was great. We finished the morning with breakfast, rode Soarin’ Over California and did the Animation Studio.  Silas’ line at Soarin’ Over California became the classic line of vacation.  Silas saw the seats and declared” I’m freaking out in here!” My mother in law took him out while the rest us of road it, which ended up being wise because the ride lifted you off the ground and simulated as if you were flying in the air over different places in California.  It was pretty cool. Meeting Jake at DCA! It was a packed three days, but the boys had a blast.  We are thankful we got to take them to experience Disney while they are at such a perfect age!  It was a great experience. And one more family photo to end!