Disneyland!

We decided to take Camden to Disneyland before baby brother is born and before I get big enough that the workers would give me dirty looks for riding the rides while I'm pregnant.  We left Nate with Grandma for the day and went.
The sun was shining and the longest wait was probably 20 minutes, even without using fast passes.  What a perfect day to go!  We definitely had fun, but not everything went as I expected.  So many of the rides are very dark and very loud, or have scary things in them.  Camden is a fairly cautious boy, and the rides scared him more than I expected.
A few pictures--- 

 Jedi training was so cool! The Jedi masters pick about 20 kids to come to Jedi training, but we got there about 10 seconds too late for Camden to be picked.  Now I'm glad we were late!  See those tiny girls in the front?  They couldn't have been much taller than Nate.   I'm so impressed they didn't break down in tears.  The stage popped out of the ground and Darth Vader and Darth Maul (sp?) came to convince all the "Jedi" trainees to join them.  Each kid had to fight one of them.  Darth Maul was making me nervous!  I can just imagine the terror on Camden's face if he had had to fight either one of them.  SOOO glad we were 10 seconds late!  I do think this was one of Camden's favorite things, though.  He choose a Mickey Mouse light saber for a souvenir, anyway!

 

Camden also really liked Star Tours.  

On to the rockets!  This was a much happier ride than Space Mountain.

 Hmm...how do I get this out? 

 Let's try two hands...Nope!  It's stuck.

 Playing with Dad in line. Camden kept trying to eat Brian's face.  It was pretty funny. :)

 Tarzan tree house

 Jungle Cruise.  This was one of Camden's favorite rides, and he requested to do it again.

 Later, we went over to the Winnie the Pooh ride, and we were so lucky to be there just in time to meet...

Tigger!

 and Eeyore!

 And, of course, Winnie the Pooh!

Camden was so happy to see these guys.  Not afraid in the least.  This was one of the "magical" Disneyland experiences I was hoping to have today.   

 Another favorite for Camden was the carousel.  I don't know what it is about carousels, but Camden loves them!  We got to do it twice.  You can't quite see it, but he's sitting on a "Captain America" horse--it had white stars through the blue and red parts.  Who knew we'd find Captain America at Disneyland?

 We stayed to watch Mickey's Parade, and found a place without many other people. Camden was just thrilled when Pluto came and gave him a high five.  He liked Peter Pan, "nice" Captain Hook, and the Lion King float.  But, when the Princess float came by, each princess waved and smiled at him.  He did everything he could to watch without making eye contact. It was so funny!  Snow White especially tried to give him some personal attention, but he didn't want anything to do with her.  I was laughing so hard.  How many little girls would be ecstatic if any princess waved and smiled at her?  Ariel, Tiana, Aurora, Cinderella--they all tried to get his attention.  I'm glad Pluto came earlier.  :)
We  followed the parade to the entrance of the park, but Camden was sleeping (with light saber firm in grasp) before we got to Main Street.  So much excitement for one day. 

Rides Camden definitely didn't like: Haunted Mansion--there really are some creepy things in there.  I tucked his head in my arms and covered him up.  Space Mountain-- too dark and too fast.  Should have started him with a roller coaster in which he could see where he was going.  Pinocchio--this one is in Fantasyland? It is very dark, loud, and creepy!  Pirates was pretty dark, and he didn't want to do it again. 

Overall, a happy day!