Closure. Day 3.

Our last day at Disneyland was relaxed in most aspects. I wrote down a few rides that we hadn't gotten to, and I also asked all the girls to chose a favorite or two. And then we worked our way through the list, or mostly tried.

The first thing on the list was getting fast passes for Star Tours. That was the most popular ride as far as I could tell. We walked there first thing in the morning, stood in line for 10 minutes to get fast passes, and by the time I got them, our return time was past noon. At any given time, you could walk by and the wait time in the normal line was over 100 minutes long.

Next stop, Splash Mountain. There was no wait at all, because the ride had been broken down. So we skipped to the front, only to have it break down right as it was our turn to get on. They felt pretty bad about it and gave us all free passes to get on any ride of our choice. We decided to keep it to go on Splash Mountain later. (That ride came up on all three of the girls' repeat list).

California Screamin' was on our list, but that was trickier because not many people were interested in riding, and June was the only child tall enough to ride. So, we dropped off Robyn and Ivory with my parents and Tyler and I took June and Vicki on the ride. (We should note that Grandma lost her teeth the night before, just as we were getting back to the hotel. We thought this was advantageous, because no one wanted Grandma's teeth falling on them as we went upside down in the coaster.) We all had a blast. It was a pretty smooth roller coaster, and June didn't even lose her glasses going upside down.

Afterward, we waited outside Soarin' for the kids. We wanted to go on the Grizzly River Rapids, but they were closed. So we had lunch instead. Our lunch was in our stroller which my family had parked. We nabbed it and started to chow down. A few minutes later, I realized that if my family came back and couldn't find the stroller, they might be a little unsettled. In fact, I said to Tyler, "We don't have to watch for them...just listen for someone freaking out by the strollers." Tyler said that Miranda would flip, but Tim wouldn't even notice. I thought that wasn't very nice, so I got up to wait for them, but I was just moments too late. I looked over to see Miranda and my Dad looking diligently and worry clearly showing on their faces. (And Tyler was right, Tim didn't even notice.) I thought I needed my parents to watch Ivory one more time, so we could go on the River Rapids (the height requirement was 42"), but I took her down and she was just tall enough. (Thank you thick-soled shoes that I bought just for Disneyland.) The guy who measured her told her to stand nice and straight. Then he looked down and said, "Put your heels on the ground." Silly Ivory was giving herself as much height as she could. Even standing flat-footed, she just touched the sign. YEAH IVES!! But the ride was still broken. We decided to check back later.

In the meantime, I offered my Star Tours fast pass to my father. That is his favorite ride in the entire park, but his half of the people were not so interested. (Mom and Miranda get queasy on that ride.) I was curious to see how it was redone in 3D, but I knew he would enjoy it more.

We still had a little time to kill, so we decided to hit something that Robyn requested before we left California Adventure. She wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. Sure, why not? (Although now I can give you plenty of reasons why NOT, but at the time I was clueless.)

The girls were patient as always if not still climbing on the rails.

Tyler was much less camera happy this day, but I think we were all getting tired.

The Ferris Wheel looks a little scary at first, but truthfully, it doesn't spin or go fast. The cage simply slides from one end to the other and rocks with a pretty good swing. The scariest part is probably that there is nothing to hold on to. We clutched at the edge of our seats and listened to Grandma scream. She was looking pretty good with her gap-toothed grin, screaming her heart out every time we slid from one end to the other. But she wouldn't let us take a picture. (I don't blame her.)

The first rocking episode was fine, although a little disconcerting with nothing to hold on to, but each consecutive bout of rocking was bringing on an all too familiar sensation. You know, that one where you want to throw up. Ivory was making this happy face.

Robyn was making this thrilled grin.

And I was making...well, we didn't take a picture of that, but let's just say, it was not pretty. I got off the ride about 1.3 minutes before I am sure I would have puked. And then we were supposed to jet over to Star Tours which is a whole park away. I could barely walk. It is a good thing I promised my ticket to Dad, because there was no way I was going on another ride for a while. I sent everyone packing off and then I walked. Ooooh soooooooooooo sloooooowwwwlly to Disneyland. My only stop was at a shop to get a plastic bag in case the embarrassing happened. (Don't worry, luckily I never threw up.) But it took me forever to get back to the main entrance. Once inside, I crashed on a bench by City Hall and let my stomach settle.

Naturally, I was awakened by Minnie Mouse. (I mean, who else would wake you up at a theme park?) Apparently she signs autographs not far from my bench and she was checking to see if I was okay. I gave her the thumbs up (she can't talk after all) and I continued my slow progress toward my family. I finally found them taking an ice cream break.

After that, Grandma Cazier took Ivory back to the hotel for a nap. Honestly, we should have done that every day, but it didn't work out until the third day. We will know better next time.

The good news is that we had some souvenir shopping to do, so I volunteered for anything that would get me out of a ride. I ran into Mom, (seriously, a huge park and I ran into her again) and she was headed for Soarin' by herself with extra fast passes. I told her that we could grab some of our kids and go again. (Minus me, of course.) We almost didn't make it since we were taking our sweet time (sorry Mom) but we thought if we were back over in California Adventure we would check out the rapids again. It was really hot by this time, so they would be a nice relief. Still broken down.

So we went to the parade instead. I'm so glad we did, and yes, I told Tyler to leave the camera, so no pictures again, but it was really cool. Grandpa had staked out seats early on, so we were up close and personal. Robyn waved at every character, and we saw Rapunzel on a float. (I am calling that good.)

Then we went back to the hotel for dinner and woke up Ivory to finish the day. She was so chipper the rest of the evening; it is amazing what a little sleep will do for that kid. We headed for Splash Mountain, but it was broken down again. (Yes, very bad luck with the water rides that third day.) The kids went on Indiana Jones again while I took Ivory through Tarzan's treehouse again. Evening was closing in on us, but we wanted to go on Splash Mountain. Sure enough, it was up and running and we skipped our way over. And then since we were already wet, I offered for us to go and see if the Grizzly River Run ever sorted things out. I also offered to watch the fireworks again, but all the girls wanted to go on the rapids. So, 9:30 at night, we went on the rapids, in the dark. It was a bit sketchy at the front, because somehow Ivory had lost a quarter inch since the afternoon. Her head didn't quite reach the mark, but the guy was cool and let her on anyway. We had a blast, but everyone was dripping by the time we got off. But it was time to go home anyway. Tyler took the two, Grandma grabbed one on the shuttle again, and I stopped by some stores to grab a few last things.

Tim was super nice to stay and walk home with me. I know he was really tired and in pain from the three days. (You should have seen the sole-less shoe he was wearing.) But we all made it back safely.

Tyler took this picture in the evening. I think it captures our last moment well.

And so, Disneyland drew to a close. We had such a good time. Mom, I can't thank you enough. I hope all these pictures and memories will remind you that you made it all possible. It was simply magical.