Day 2, early opening! Up at 5am as usual with Joshua's internal alarm clock. First a stop at the Goofy statue in the hotel as Joshua loves this. Then we head to Downtown Disney and decide to give La Brea Bakery a try as it has either just opened or just gone through a remodel. They didn't have much for breakfast, pastries, coffee, and steam milk for Joshua, good enough. The fellow behind the counter tells me they'll have a full menu next week. We're not big breakfast people anyway so a nice chocolate croissant and a cup of coffee and we're good to go. Gates open at 9 and as soon as we hit Main St. we see a lineup forming for Goofy - so off to the line up. I thought Joshua might be shy this time when it comes to the characters but when it was his turn he walked up, hugged Goofy and posed for the picture as the LOVES the camera. Next, over to the Astro Orbitor ride. We discovered that Joshua loves this ride. A little faster than Dumbo but the same concept, round and round while being able to adjust the height. He rode this 4 times with Mom and then myself a couple of times. Next were the teacups, which Sharmila gets a bit nauseous on so I usually go with Joshua. Now, Joshua loves to spin the teacup unassisted. Trouble is, he's not strong enough to spin the wheel. So I usually start the spinning and he takes over, the faster we spin, the bigger the smile on his face! After a round on this and once on the carousel, Fantasyland is starting to fill up. Lines are getting longer, so we head over to Small World. Almost no line-up but someone doesn't want to go on. Apparently something scared him when we rode it yesterday so Small World is...off for the rest of the trip. We did try a few times to convince him over the remaining days, but he wouldn't have it. So, over to California Adventure to take him to Redwood Creek Trails. This is his first time in here, and he absolutely loved it! In fact, over the remaining days we spent probably a total of 2 hours a day in here. The slides are his favorite and he's also quite a social 3 yrd old so he'll just walk up to people and introduce himself. The trails were probably the saving grace on this trip due to only outdoor rides. After the Trails we head back to the hotel for Joshua's nap time. We then tried the pool at Paradise Pier, except when we checked in we were given a slip that says the main pool and hot tub are closed for unscheduled maintenance, only the kiddies pool and slide were open. We were, however, invited to try the pool at the Grand and we had planned on doing this, just never got around to it. We thought the kiddies pool would suffice for Joshua, and it probably would have, but there were 6-7 12+ year olds in this pool when we arrived, and they are splashing and play fighting with each other. The parents were there (of a couple of them anyway) but there was no parental guidance. Joshua did go in, but the pool is tiny (after all, it's for kiddies) and he was bumped into, pushed over, and splashed. We quickly pulled him out and I suggested he go down the slide with me. He got quite excited with this idea so up to the top we went, only to be told by 'Krystal' the girl on duty that it's one rider at a time. I said, he's only three he can't and won't go by himself. To which she replied, one rider at a time, no exceptions. Ridiculous, talk about not thinking outside the box. Hmm yes a three year old with his dad will create all sorts of havoc on your little slide. I worked as a lifeguard on Canada's largest waterslide for 7 years, it's not like my son and I are going to chain ourselves and arch our backs hoping to reach neck breaking speeds. That's our pool experience over and done at the Pier, back to the room to get ready as we have 5pm dinner reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. We get ready and have some time to kill so we take Joshua down to the TV room to stretch his legs out on the Adirondacks. Finally heading over to the Disney Hotel we arrive at 4:45pm and the place is quickly filling up. I'm second in line however and everyone else seems to be wandering about aimlessly. The check-in desk isn't open yet, but by the time 5pm rolls around there are approximately 40 people behind me. Pay for the dinner, ask for table 15 or 16, and get table 15! Have our picture taken with Pluto which was a bit odd as they had two people taking pictures, so Sharmila and Joshua are looking at one camera and I'm looking at the other! lol. Oh well it's still a keeper. Good food and overall a pretty good time at the dinner. Joshua hasn't been eating much on this trip but he digs into the Mac and Cheese and has two big bowls full - quite unusual for him. We see Goofy, Goofy's son, Belle, join in on the pot bashing and dancing, and finally Minnie visits. With the exception on the lady who refills water glasses continuously refilling my sprite with water until I hunted her down in the restaurant this was a good experience, but expensive. So while we would probably do it each trip to DL, I don't think we would do it more than once a trip. Now, off to California Adventure to the Trails again, as per Joshua's request. Over the rope bridges and winding the flags up and down, racing down the slides again and again, this little boy is full on energy. We then head over to meet Leanne (Tink), Andy, Alex and KEVIN! lol. Right on time Leanne walks toward us in her red crocs, with Andy and Alex and Kevin a short time thereafter. What a fantastic meeting. Great people, good company and I wish we had planned another meeting, possibly a lunch where we could all sit and talk and the kids could warm up to each other. I would have loved to sit and talk with Andy a bit more as it turns out we're in the same profession. After a short time though the Electrical Parade starts and Sharmila and Joshua sit in the front with Andy and Alex while Leanne, myself and Kevin stand behind talking and watching the parade. After the parade we decide to head over to the fireworks and make it about 1/2 down Main St. just in time for the fireworks and I think a perfect location. That is, until about 1/2 way through when they were stopped due to winds Oh well there's tomorrow night! At this point Joshua is quite tired and we decide to head back to the Hotel for the night while the others head over to the laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType>. All in all a great day. However, frustration is setting in. Tune in for Day 3....

I know I ran into you Saturday morning as you were trying to coax Joshua onto Small World.  Do you remember what scared him?  We should have had Alex talk to him about that!  What were we thinking - especially since we had breakfast at the same time, and you guys were 2 tables from us!

It was wonderful meeting you guys.  Sharmila is a dream woman - you are lucky.  She is so incredibly nice, and beautiful.  Joshua is fantastic!  And that smile of his - incredible!  We actually 'ran' into you guys more often than you know - or maybe you do.  There were several times I saw you, but decided not to bother you, so didn't say hi - like as we both exited Autopia later on Saturday, and of course at Breakfast!

I would love to spend more time with you guys - so if you hit Disneyland again - let me know!

And Redwood Creek - when Alex was Joshuas age - he loved the place!  He still does.  It is such a wonderful place for the kids to run around and be kids!

I know we talking about the pool issues when we met - again - I am very sorry for the problems you had at the hotel.  We have never had a single issue there, and love the place.

Thanks for getting your report up - I LOVE reading it!

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!