Disneyland/California Adventure

Apologies in advance for this post being picture heavy, but I think they tell the story of the day much better than I do!

We left Nana and Poppy at home the Thursday of our trip and took Uncle Rhino and the girls for a one-day cram session of Disneyland and California Adventure.  I hope I express how lucky I feel that we have been able to take our girls to The Happiest Place on Earth so many times.  Seriously, the girls are little pros at navigating their way around.  We also know how lucky we are to have gone when the park is less crowded.  This trip, the place wasn't horribly crowded, but it was definitely more packed.  We still managed to do almost everything we wanted to do.

One of my favorite things about meeting the characters is watching the interaction between them and the girls, especially Olivia since she knows so much about each of them.  Before we met the fairies, we talked a little bit about what she might ask them when she met them.  When she stood with Tinker Bell, she asked her what kind of fairy Tinkerbell thought she would be if she wee a fairy.  Tinkerbell asked her what she liked to do and she said that she liked to sing.  And, so Tinkerbell said, "Well, I bet you would be a music fairy!"  Olivia looked at me and said, "MOM, I'm a music fairy!"

➹ Sydney gave Mickey and hug and then got scared and came running back to me sobbing!  ➹

Thanks, Disneyland, for another great day!

Just Another Disneyland Trip {Round 3}

So, since we have a season pass to Disneyland, and our hotel was only a few blocks away, and we had no agenda on when to be home on Thursday, AND since our friend Maren was taking her two girls to Disneyland that day, we decided to pop in for a couple of hours to say hello to even more of our friends.

One thing we had never done at Disneyland was Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  It's also the one thing David always wants to explore.  So, with all of our other wish lists fulfilled from the previous two days, we decided to make that our thing to do for the morning {along with hanging out with Maren and the girls}.

We had a fun couple of hours in an area where all the kiddos could run around and the adults could actually have a conversation.  I'd say that is a total success for Disneyland!

Just Another California Adventure Trip {Round 2}

Did I mention in my last post that our hotel was only about a half a mile away from the entrance to the parks?  Well, it was, and it was awesome.  It was so nice not having to park, and then load everything into the stroller, and then onto the tram, and then unload again for security.....and then basically do it in reverse on the way out.  So.Much.Easier just walking down the street and only unloading once for the security check.  Oh, and our hotel room was actually a suite, so the girls had their own room towards the back and they loved making a mess in it playing house in it.

➹ The parks didn't open until 10 {11 our time} and even though we planned on getting there 30-45 minutes early, the 7 am wake up call from the girls was just a bit early! ➹

➹ Sarah and I headed straight to {my favorite} Toy Story Mania ride while David waited in line with our passes to get Fast Passes for the highly coveted Radiator Springs.➹

➹ Seven minutes after the park officially opened, all of us {David included} were on the Toy Story ride.  We ended up riding it twice so Sarah could go ride California Screamin' by herself. ➹

➹ We then sent David over to ride California Screamin' by himself while we took the girls on the King Triton Carousel. ➹

➹ By the time we were finished with the carousel and got the girls seated for a photo op, David was off the ride and ready to move on to the next ride. ➹

➹ Jumpin' Jellyfish!  First time for Olivia!  Followed by a couple Little Mermaid rides....and then it was time for Cars Land! ➹

➹ The little girls weren't big enough to ride the Radiator Springs ride, so David and I took Kendall and Olivia while Sarah watched Sydney and Kate.  We only had about a 5 minute wait with the fast passes!  And, it was most definitely worth it! Olivia and I got to ride it twice because David switched places with Sarah and watched the little ones for round 2. ➹

➹ I think I took this one on Luigi's Tires. ➹

➹ After Cars Land, we went through the Bugs Life area and actually watched the "It's Tough to Be a Bug" 3-D movie.  It was cute and was a nice break from the warm sun outside. ➹

We also went on the Monsters Inc ride and watched the Muppets 3-D movie.  I have never been a huge fan of the Muppets, so it didn't do much for me, but I was glad that we were able to do something that we'd never done before.  We were also trying to do something to kill some time because we knew Sofia the First was going to be out posing for pictures and we had never met her before!

➹ Sydney LOVES Sofia, but she wasn't buying this version of her! ➹

We swapped out the kids once again so we could take the big girls on the Soarin' Over California ride.  Olivia rode it twice -- once with David and me and once with Sarah and Kendall.  She LOVED it.  I think it is one of her favorite rides there now.   After finishing that and seeing a few more characters, it was only around 4:30 and the parks were still open for a few more hours.  So, we decided to walk back over to Disneyland because why not. 

➹ On our way out of California Adventure. ➹

➹ Sydney fell asleep in the stroller on the way over, so we let her rest while we took the other girls to meet some princesses. ➹

We may have ridden another ride or two with Sarah & the girls before we had to say goodbye to them.  We stayed a little while longer and rode It's a Small World one more time...so glad we did it again at night when it was lit up.  And, I got a picture of Olivia in her Minnie skirt with Minnie Mouse on our way out!

We had SO MUCH fun with some of our favorite people.  If I haven't said it before, let me say it now.  I just feel so lucky that we are able to have these experiences with our girls!

2013 in the Books

As I've mentioned before, my one goal in 2013 was to post at least one picture of my girls a day on Instagram. Well, 365 days and 742 pictures later, that goal is done! Woo hoo. Love these girls to pieces. 

Thanskgiving

Like I mentioned in the last post, we spent Thanksgiving up with Peter and Irma just north of Portland.  Knock on wood, we almost always luck out with great weather while we are up there.  We had a couple rainy days, but we also had a couple of days of gorgeous sunshine.  Thanksgiving Day was one of those days and it was so much fun spending some time outside with our girls and their cousins riding in their little motorized cars around the driveway.

The food was amazing as usual and Irma bought the kids the cutest little tables from Pottery Barn Kids and had them decorated especially for them.  Honestly, I think I spent more time eating at the kids' table than at the adult one.

The girls had an absolute blast hanging out with their cousins.  Apparently trying to figure out the difference in names between Arden and Anders was too much for Olivia, so she would always call them "the tall one" or "the five year old."  Sydney had it out for Baby Brooks who is a year older than her, but pretty much the same size as her.  Bless his heart, he was not enjoying having to share his toys, his food, his brothers or his grandparents with her.  We took the kiddos to see Frozen in the cutest little movie parlor...I wish we had ones like that here!

Marissa took some AMAZING pictures of our family the day after Thanksgiving in the cute town of Camas.  I can't wait to share those with you, but I need to wait until our Christmas cards arrive in everyone's mailboxes {including mine...}.

It was so great catching up with all of the family who was there.  David's cousin who I had never met was in town and it was so great meeting him and hearing about some of his family.  We had great intentions of visiting other friends and family while we were out there, but a week is just not nearly long enough I guess.  Hopefully we can get back out there this summer!

The girls did great on the plane ride back as well.  Olivia did sticker books pretty much the entire time and David was a gem and walked Sydney up and down the aisles several times when she got antsy.  Sweet girl fell asleep on the way to the airport, slept through the shuttle ride from the car rental, stayed asleep through check-in and security and woke up right before we boarded the plane.  So, you know, she had some energy... ;)