Disneyland and California Adventure

Yesterday we took Nathan on his first trip to Disneyland. We brought Kira too because both sets of grandparents were going so there was noone to leave her with back home. It all worked out because she was perfect until the ride home! Anyway, Brian's co-worker and her sister-in-law were able to get all six of us adults in to both parks free of charge. Talk about a a score!!! So we started at Disneyland. As we entered the park Donald, Mickey and Goofy were all out for photo ops. Nathan enjoyed meeting all three of them. We then headed over to Fantasyland where we rode the Merry-Go-Round, Dumbo, It's a Small World and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Nathan said that Dumbo was his favorite and Kira enjoyed the lights and sounds of It's a Small World. We stopped for lunch and then went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Nathan said he enjoyed it, but I think the the drops scared him a bit and he clung to me during the cannon fights. Next, everyone except Kira and I went on the Jungle Cruise. We headed over to Tomorrowland where Brian was so excited to take Nathan on Autotopia because it was the one thing he remembered loving when he was a kid. Nathan enjoyed driving the cars and then wanted to ride the train around the park. We tried to go on Peter Pan, but the line was long and Nathan was about done at that point. We plopped him in the stroller and then headed over to California Adventure. He got a whopping 15 minute nap on the walk over there. That 15 minutes helped to rejuvenate him and when we got there he was ready for more. We first started with photos with Lightning McQueen and Mater. We got fast passes for Soarin' Over California and then let Nathan run around at the play structure. We found spots for the Pixar Parade and Nathan enjoyed it, though he really has only seen Finding Nemo and Cars, Inc. We need to expose him to more Pixar movies. We then went to see the Bugs Life 3D show, which we all enjoyed. The adults went on Soarin' Over California, which we all enjoyed and then decided to call it a day. We attempted to have dinner at Downtown Disney, but on a Friday night lines and waits were long and we knew Nathan was tired. So we headed home and Kira decided she had had enough of her carseat and pretty much cried from Disneyland all the way home, with a few breaks in between. Nathan was exhausted because he was able to sleep through her cries. Overall it was a great day and Nathan woke up talking about Pirates this morning and asked when we could go back.