First Day of Summer Celebrated- Disney's California Adventure Undiscovered

I know I said we won't be taking the summer off of learning, but we will definitely won't miss out on fun!  To ring in the summer season we began our day with a wee bit o' learnin' then went to Disneyland!  We love to have a reason to celebrate and we definitely need to pay homage to the longest day of the year.

Eating lunch at one of our secret Disney get-aways.  No crowds, just us, peace.

Really trying for a "Cool" photo

We need to work on this

Back to cute...wait, did my girl close her eyes?

We still have a little guy on the injured list so a mellow, no jerky ride day was in order.  We definitely wanted to go on the new Ariel's Undersea Adventure ride that recently opened up.  In case you missed the construction, here it is.

The sign read a 45 minute wait, but it went much more quickly.  We had snacks.  I checked Facebook.  We chatted.  The kids got on each other's nerves a little bit.  I think that was because of the heat.  It was a surprisingly 80-some degrees yesterday and we were overdressed. 

Nice view while waiting in line

Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Riders sit in colorful clam shells.  The seat reminded me of the seating on the Haunted Mansion ride sans the scary creatures and music.

Tile work- the beauty of Disney

Ariel

Eric and Ariel...Happily Ever After

After our Ariel ride we stopped by two of our other favorite California Adventure stops.  Free sourdough bread and tortillas.  Mission Tortilla was closed, but the kids got their sourdough slices.  This is a great stop for families wanting a quick snack, while avoiding the high cost food.  It's also a GREAT history of sourdough field trip for homeschool families!  After, if we are still hungry and haven't packed an adequate lunch I may buy the family a chili bread bowl at Boudin's at the Wharf.  The cost is around $7-$8, but one chili bread bowl can feed our whole family.  So if you're trying to stay on budget, it's an option I recommend.

Next year, CarsLand opens.  Watching the construction from behind the decorative barriers is very exciting!  There are great things to come to California Adventure.

Here is one of the many barriers keeping the secret between us and the new CarsLand.

Trying again for "Cool"

Still Trying!

At this point in our day we were SO HOT!!  We were so overdressed!  This means it's time to frolic under the spraying water at BugsLand.  I have to admit, my kids think I'm baby stalker.  I can't help it!  The littles are so cute!  I really miss having my own teeny tinies running around.  That season went by so quickly!

One running having a blast.  The other pretending to not want to get wet. 

So happy!

Soaking the head

Looking like he wants to get into the fun!

Adorable, if I do say so.

Wetting the head some more

And so how does this thing work?

We sat there and played and tried to cool off a bit.  Then...these two twin girls came on the scene.  OH MY WORD!  They were the cutest babies I've seen in a LONG time.  I wish I could have captured their faces when they first saw the water coming down.  Their parents were precious too!  I don't know if I've seen prouder parents in a LONG time.  Their love for their twin girls was so apparent.  It was melting my heart.  Of course I had to tell them!  They were all smiles, beaming.  Super Cute!

This is EXCITEMENT!

The water kept coming down and she didn't know what to do.  She was frozen.

 Maybe I need to have a babysitting service.  In my spare time.

Getting more wet.

Now Soaked.

Super Soaked!

This is where all the water is coming from.

Love Her!

Soaked

The kids were cooled off and I continued people watching.  I then observed something that actually made me laugh out loud.  Our middle son was sitting on the bench relaxing when a grandma with three grandsons sat down.  The three boys were Biz-zee and Grandma was trying to speak to them in a way that sounded like she meant Biz-Ness!  Our middle son couldn't help but have a front row seat to this conversation going down.  The three biz-zees  were not listening to Grandma.  Our son's expression was priceless!  It was a "What the heck are you doing?" kind of look followed by a "What in the world is Grandma going to do with these three?"  Sometimes I just love kids watching kids trying to figure each other out.

Okay, I'm trying to ignore this Grandma and the three Biz-zees

I'll just watch the kids playing in the water

Oh great!  Grandma has her hand up.  (looking toward the biz-zees)  Are you listening to Grandma?

She's still hand directing.

Really, you're not going to listen to Grandma?

Oh my Biz-zees!  What are you doing now?

Uh Oh!

Enough of those Biz-zees.  Time to hydrate.  We then went in search of water fountains.  I have my favorites.  There's one by Grizzly River Run that I love.  Super cold water!  But we were in Bugsland

Excuse me, Can't you see I'm on the phone.

Yes, I'll hold.

Party Line

Did you hear that?

Really?  Seriously?

We can be so easily entertained.

Onward.

Even though we've been to Disneyland/California Adventure many times we've never been in the Disney Animation Sorcerer's Workshop.  What a treat that was!!!  There are so many wonderful learning activities for kids AND it's air conditioned!

drawing an animation scene

Seeing Crush interact with the audience was GREAT! 

All in all, we only spent just over three hours at California Adventure yesterday.  Three hours in the heat multiplies to about 6 hours.  Needless to say, I had some happy, tired kids.  What a great start to summer!