CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE!! (DAY ONE)

The 1st evening we arrived in good old Orange County was spent visiting my neighbors from my childhood - The Giardina's...They lived right down the street from me in Huntington Beach & have known me since I was about 6 yrs. old! They were so kind to invite us over for a wonderful BBQ! Here are the kids bowling on the Wii against Ed Giardina. They had such a blast; now I guess we'll have to get one!!! :o)

Jenny, Ed & Cathy Giardina - the greatest neighbors of all time --- we miss u guys!

Okay, this photo was snapped as we trying (desperately) to get the kids up for Disneyland...it was super early and the kids were exhausted from our 4 a.m. wake up the previous morning. Gavin was not responding to my begging, so I pulled off his covers - hoping it would rouse him out of his deep slumber. No such luck!!! lol.....As you can see, Nathan just HAD to get close to the action (as he casually observes from the sidelines brushing his teeth)!

Here we are @ the Disneyland parking lot - about to embark on an adventure of ...(say it with me guys!!!) 16 HOURS OF PURE FUN!!!!!!!!!! That's right! From 8 a.m. til midnight - the Gregg & Godoy family experienced an adrenaline fueled day at the Happiest Place on Earth....


Straight inside the gate & off to the Matterhorn! Later in the day, the lines always get crazy long, so we decided to do this one first. This was also a ride the kids had never been on before; as they didn't meet the height requirement 4 years ago! lol. We tried to convince Zach to go on it - even bribing him with other rides, but he was having none of it!

Deb & the kids..... Now we are off to the Haunted Mansion - where I had to ride by myself because of my claustrophobia. Boo - hoo! I can't take the elevator, so I had a couple of employees escort me through a back entrance. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see the kids' face as they experienced it for the first time, but I know they loved it!

While in line for the Haunted Mansion, Zach & Gavin tried to pass the time by tickling each other with a leaf. It was a crack up!

Ramon & Dane - this was his first time on the ride too (Dane, not Ramon - just to clarify). I'm sure Ramon has been on this ride hundreds of times!

Nathan & Daddy

As we waited for Tiffeny & her kids to arrive, we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. I am taking the picture in the backseat, trying to get Zach to turn around and look at the camera. This was the best I could do....lol.

Zippity -Do- Dah! Photo op with Brer Bear! Right after this was taken, we went to lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant behind him. That was always a childhood favorite of me & Debbie's. :o)

Zach, Nathan & Gavie checkin' out the ducks at the waterfront near Pirate's Island.

Here is Tim trying to pull Excalibur from the stone - there are actually a few times a day when it actually comes out! No such luck for Tim - even being English didn't help him!

The kids are just atout to ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which is probably a calmer experience than when mom is driving). Deb & I were watching from the carousel with the babies. It was scorching hot & we just wanted to rest in the shade & let the dads have a turn with the kids.

I Scream, You Scream, We all scream for Ice Cream!

At Deb's suggestion, we headed off to Gibson Girl's Ice Cream Parlour. She swore it was the best ice cream in the world, so how could we resist? (And I have to say she was right!) It was pure bliss as we ate our delicious ice cream inside the air conditioned parlour! What better way to cool off than a waffle cone of Toll-House chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream??? Exactly!!!!!