Deets Mommy: Disneyland 2013

I just realized that my blog has been long neglected. Once I became an avid Instagram user I have not been as good about sharing items on my blog. In my New Year's goals I made a commitment to keep this up so that Bronson has a place where he can go to see how life unfolded during this childhood.

December was a month that brought extreme excitement for our family. We left on December 9th for a week in Disneyland. Some of our plans were changed at the last minute as Papa Cookie went home to be with the Lord on the 8th; exactly four years after his sweetheart went to heaven. Because of this change Kyle's parents were not able to go with us, but we decided that it was still important for Bronson to go ahead with our vacation plans. Bronson was Grandpa's pride and joy and when we saw Grandpa a little over a week before our trip, we talked about going to Disneyland and he encouraged us and said how happy he was that we were making memories with our son.

Prior to leaving on our trip Bronson's biggest excitement was the fact that we was going to get to ride on a plane for the 1st time. He asked me all sorts of wonderful and analytical questions leading up to our trip, but once we got to the airport I think his nerves were a bit more than he bargained for. He was still excited, but quieter than normal. It was so adorable to see him walking through the airport with Mickey in hand waiting for the plane. Our plane ride was pretty uneventful except for the fact that the head flight attendant took a liking to Bronson and spoiled him with a Disney food pack and wings for the flight. It made Kyle and my heart twinge a little as the wings reminded us of Grandpa and we once again felt strongly that he would be encouraging us to go on this trip.

Most people get to their hotel near Disneyland and head straight to the park. We were fortunate enough to be given a very special treat of staying in a Disneyland Resort, the Grand Californian which has a private entrance directly into the California Adventure Park. We decided to use that entrance after leaving our bags in the room and walked directly into Condor Flatts with a life size model of an airplane. It was the first of many photo opportunities. We ended up spending the majority of our afternoon exploring California Adventure Park before running into Matt and Alex Graber and following them over to Disneyland. Our first ride over there was the Pirates of the Caribbean (Kyle's favorite childhood ride). After our ride we went to our reservations at Blue Bayou, but after taking a few bites of our food were ushered out because of a fire alarm. We decided to take the option of leaving and doing a different dinner. We finished off the night eating sandwiches in our room and watching our sweet little boy crash in the big comfy bed.

Our entire trip was such a wonderful adventure. The next morning we met the Basso clan at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast and then had a wonderful day at Disneyland. We were fortunate enough to be able to ride every single ride in the park and many of them multiple times. Bronson's very favorite was California Screamin'; which he just barely met the height requirement. It was so magical watching him get so excited about each and every ride. Our little boy brings us such joy! Some other highlights of our trip were going to Thunder Ranch BBQ in Disneyland. We HIGHLY recommend this place. The price is great and the food is even better. We also splurged and took Bronson to the Build a Bear workshop. The price wasn't very bad and the experience was quite fun.

Prior to this trip we wondered why so many of our friends had the desire to go over and over again to Disneyland and we now know. Once you go, you catch the magic. You truly find happiness and magical family time that you didn't know was possible. Bronson is already asking us when our next trip will be.