Crazy, Fun, Wet Disney Weekend

Well we braved Disneyland last weekend. It was wild and crazy but we did have a ton of fun. We left Thursday evening and got to my brother's around 12:30am. The only benefits of traveling that late is that Hailee slept almost the whole way. We were tired though when we got there. We were up early Friday moring to meet my parents, brother, and my sister and her family at their hotel to get to Disneyland. It was raining the whole way there and we still decided to brave it figuring that it would be a dead day there. By the time we got to Anaheim it was just barely drizzling and so we were happy. Once we pulled into the Timon parking lot it was raining hard. It was fun trying to get the kids bundled and strollers and bags out. But we kept going thinking the rain would let up and we would be crowd free. Once we got there we bought ponchos ($20 for 3!) and tried to stay dry. Hailee stayed pretty dry and loved it! We were able to get on lots of rides and she thought it was great. She really loved Dumbo. By about 1ish we were all pretty wet. Hailee was dry except her feet and of course I brought extra clothes, but no extra shoes. The boys decided to get in line for Space Mountain and we head to City Hall to ask about getting a return ticket for the next day. (All we had for Sat. were tickets for Ca Adventure.) They were great about it considering we had 2 little kids, a baby, and a 8 month pregnant person. We were able to get tickets for Sat for Disney and Ca Adventure. From there we went to the hotel and let the kids swim and we all thawed out. We then went to dinner to celebrate Tanner's 17th bday. I can't believe he is that old.
So never ever go to Disneyland on a Saturday. It was soooooo crowded. My mom who grew up going there all the time said it was the most crowded she had ever seen. We were able to ride some rides. But never made it to rides like It's A Small World or Alice and Wonderland. The waits were over an hour for both. We stayed about half the day and then some of us left for the afternoon to give the kids a break. The older boys went back later to Ca Adventure and rode all their cool rides. Tyler loved Soaring over Ca! My sister and I braved it a little later with the kids and they were able to get on lots of rides later that night. So it wasn't a total bust.
Even though it was super crazy, we had a great time (even though it may not seem like it after this post). It was so fun to have everyone together and to let Hailee and Jack play. We are already planning another trip for a month like Sept or October where it is less crowded and got on a Tuesday - Thrusday. And stay at a Disney hotel. We learned a lot about what to do and not to do when doing a Disney trip, so the next one should be even better!
Pictures to come. I tried to load them and they wouldn't work. So stay tuned....