California Adventure

With much anticipation we entered the gates of California Adventure and headed straight to the back where Radiator Springs was. This boy was electrified with excitement and who am I kidding, I was too! 

This place was seriously like you were walking in the Cars 1 movie. And I have seen this movie over and over and over so I know ;) As only Disney can do, it was pure magic and took us to another world.

We rode Mater's tractor pull which was a lot of fun- no pictures, it slings you around quite a bit and I was holding onto Finn pretty tight. We stopped for lunch at Flo's V8 Diner- so yummy! 

While Lucas rode the Radiator Racers, Finn and I checked out our favorite places from the movie. 

Mater! These were not just life sized cars, they were life sized cars that actually drove the streets of Radiator Springs and they talked. Yes, they talked. 

This was the point when Lightning said, "Happy Birthday Buddy!" And Josh and I became head over heel believers in the magic of Disney. 

Second ride- Luigi's flying tires. Finn still isn't quite sure what we are doing.

Their faces were cracking me up, Lucas was in Heaven, absolute heaven. I think Josh was having quite the time too- his competitiveness came out on this ride.

I spy Finn in Radiator Springs!

We loved the tractor ride so much that we rode it again, no matter where I was in my tractor, I could hear Lucas' belly laugh as he was slung around.

I had heard this about Disneyland but it was true- characters are everywhere! We saw so many and never had to wait very long to see them. 

Here is Finn, where he stayed the entire Disney experience- with me. Poor thing was on steroids and anything familiar and he just wanted momma. I'll take it, although I might need a hip replacement at 40 after carrying him all day for two days. At least I never wondered who my riding buddy would be! 

Josh- so proud of him, not only was he in Disney, but he wore a Mickey shirt and his Disney button. 

The highlight of our entire trip was this part: our character dinner. We ate at Goofy's Kitchen and so many characters came through! The food was unbelievable- the amount, the variety, and it was all delish. Including an entire huge dessert buffet. 

Chip and Dale quickly became favorites. I am starting to think that this would be a great Halloween costume idea for the boys. 

Someone has a crush on Minnie. . . . ;) Finn loved Minnie too, he wasn't too keen on anyone else but would smile when she came around.

I think this was the point that Lucas challenged Dale to a race, and he accepted! So off they ran. Of course every other character that came by then had to race Lucas. He won all the races of course.

And then they came out and sang Happy Birthday to my sweet Lucas. What a great memory for his 4th birthday. Maybe I should have thought about this beforehand but its going to be really hard to top this celebration!

Finny and Mommy being cheesy while waiting for the Disney Jr. show. The show had Jake, Princess Sophia and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- the top 3 cartoons we watch in our house so I don't have to tell you that my boys were singing all the songs, dancing and mouths dropped open the entire time. 

The boys and Sugar in one of our waits- which I was so thankful and so surprised that we didn't wait long at all for anything, and it was a weekend! I truly don't think we ever waited more than 10 minutes for something. 

We ended the day by riding Soarin' over California- I was nervous about riding this myself and even more nervous that Lucas was going to try it but he, and I, loved it! We were then off to the hotel for baths and watching the fireworks from our room before we fell fast asleep and dreamed of more magic!