Tai @ Disneyland

Tai's first ride at California Adventures was Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (from "A Bug's Life").

Tai enjoyed the ride so much we rode it a second time.

He enjoyed the part where the catepillar burped and said "Excuse me."

We needed a Mickey Mouse ice cream break.

Friday evening we went to Goofy's Kitchen, an all-you-can eat buffet known for its character dining.

Character dining is where Goofy and all the other Disney characters go around taking pictures with the diners. Earlier in the dinner, Tai wanted to know who the man in the background of this photo was. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the gentleman. (That was Juan, a man busing tables. We told him afterward that our son thought he was a Disney character and he chuckled.)

After his birthday song, Tai blows out the candle.

The Mickey cupcake.

Dale with the grandparents.

Dale and Daddy.

Yum!

In reality, these characters, Goofy, Dale, all of them, even the friendly Mulan, scared the bejeezus out of Tai.

Minnie and Mommy.

Minnie was very friendly and funny.

Even though Tai was crying, that didn't stop Minnie from trying to take a picture with us. In a strange way, this dinner ended up being a fun time, thanks in part to Minnie.

One of Tai's favorite rides was the Disneyland Railroad, the train that goes around the perimeter of the park.

Me and Tai in front of It's A Small World, still a great ride after all these years.

We hung out with Gary and his family the second night. Here's Tai watching a video with Bryan.

We spent two nights at the Grand Californian and went park hopping both days. One might say it was a holiday full of marvel and meltdowns. Tai probably has to be a little older to really enjoy the rides, or even to take pictures with his favorite characters, like Lightning McQueen or Buzz Lightyear. We took home some good memories, though. And it sure is cute to hear Tai yell his favorite line, "To infinity and beyond!"