Disneyland Day 1

Day one of Disneyland was so magical! I got so excited as we walked off the tram and into the park. They had Christmas music playing. I felt like a little kid, and I was BEAMING!!!

This picture does not do the tree justice. It is ENORMOUS!!! The weather was perfect Disneyland weather...just overcast enough to keep the big crowds away.We headed over to Tomorrowland and went on Buzz Lightyear very first. It was a definite hit and a favorite for all! Next were the rockets (or "cars" as David calls them--this was his favorite ride.)
I won't give you a play by play of the whole day, but I will tell you that right after this ride (our second ride) my giddy bliss turned to panic and sadness when I realized that I had dropped one of our tickets. I had a handy little pouch in my sweatshirt that had a zipper--the perfect place to keep our tickets. I unzipped the pouch to get the map, and the tickets fell out. Some older girls helped me pick them up, then I counted them. We had 5 fast passes, and only 4 tickets. We looked all over the area, I checked my pouch, my pockets, the backpack (just in case), but no ticket. I was so bummed, especially since it says right on the ticket "Not responsible for lost or stolen tickets", and this was only our first day of a two day pass. We went to city hall to plead our case, and I was praying for a miracle. They guy there gave us a loaner ticket for the day, and told us to go to lost and found. The miracle came. Not in the form of a ticket found, but in the form of the sweet lady in the lost and found who believed us (plus we had the fast passes that gave us the missing ticket's barcode), and assured us that all would be well. Thank you, lost and found lady!!!
My cousin, Denise, had e-mailed us giving Disneyland insider tips. They were so great! One of the tips she gave us was about a Star Wars Jedi training that happens in Tomorrowland. We checked the schedule and got there early. A Jedi master comes out and tells of his mission to defeat the forces of evil, then he chooses jedis from the audience to train. Sean got picked!!! I was so excited!!! He got a little robe and a practice light saber to use for the exercises. They all learned a little routine, then Darth Vadar and Darth Maul came out! There was steam and lights and all the jedis in training got to fight them!!! I may have gotten a little teary-eyed with excitement. My son. Defeating Darth Vadar. Almost too much!
After more rides,(Darin sat out of the tea cups. He doesn't do well on dizzy rides)
(Honey, I Shrunk the Audience 3D shades)
some characters,(David and I stumbled across Mickey and Minnie while Darin had the other kids on Space Mountain. I was so bummed the other kids weren't there! Funny story about Space Mountain. I was waiting for Darin and the kids at the exit, and was telling another lady there that I was a little bit nervous about how my kids were doing. They've never really been on roller coasters. The lady was telling me how sure she was that they would love it since her son had loved it since he was 3 and a half. Right then Darin walked down the corridor with not one, not two, but all three kids sobbing!!! I felt so bad...and a little sad that I couldn't enjoy the magic of Space Mountain with any of them)
some souvenirs,

and more walking and eating, it was night time! And it was awesome!
Toward the end of the night the roles were reversed, and I was begging for "just one more ride" and all the kids were begging to go home. So we did. At midnight.