Mickey... we see you!

The little one had her first glimpse of Mickey mouse two days ago. This is her first trip to Disneyland where she can remember things. The last time was when she was 1 1/2. Not exactly the perfect age to get hyped on the mouse.

This time she watched Mickey and we watched her and it was truly amazing to see the kid believe. She knows her parents are the real Santa, but thinks Mickey mouse is real!

We drove all Thursday to Anaheim with a quick stop at the Malibu temple.

Friday was spent at Disney from morning to night and it ended with the fireworks and an exhausted bunch of kids and adults. We spent Saturday visiting friends and drove back. Our drive back was interesting as we made 2.5 miles in one hour on I-5. It was raining and at one point folks started switching off their engines. The next exit was 6 miles away and we thought we were going to spend the night on I-5! Thankfully it started moving again and we got home a good 2 hours later than planned, but got home.

There are tons of pictures and many won't make it to the blog..

This last photo sums up the excitement.

It was great to go with friends and family to a place where "your dreams come true" and "you believe in magic" and you watch that sparkle in your five year old girls eye as she gets up and blows kisses at Mickey mouse when she can barely stand up after "walking the most in her whole world life" close to 10 in the night..

For our family thanksgiving is about being thankful..

to Eisenhower for coming up with a highway system that can get us from SFO to LA in 6 hours (okay 9 hours but we are still thankful)

to Toyota for making a van that makes it worthwhile and bearable to have two little kids and a mother in law who need a comfortable ride get there without them taking out all their anger at the driver

to friends and family who make the trip memorable and finally

to Walt Disney for having the vision to make our birthday long weekends fill up with fireworks in November!

.