Disneyland!!!

After months and months of debating, weeks and weeks of planning and days and days of waiting (mostly on Kennedy's part!), we finally made the trip to California and did Disney!!! Since my sister and her family live in southern California as well as my dear friend, we decided to extend the trip to 10 days and squeeze in a little bit of everything. Here's the breakdown (and I apologize in advance for the lengthy blog- it's hard to condense a week and a half of FUN into a small blog!)

Day 1

We left the Friday the 23rd of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight was mid-morning so it was an early morning around our house. The girls were excited though so we didn't have to extend much of an effort to get them going. Because it was a holiday weekend, I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get there and settled (flying is never easy with kids and all their "junk!") But, to our surprise, it was pretty smooth and our first time flying on Jet Blue was a good experience- the girls got to enjoy cartoons on their own in-flight tv's! Didn't quite make the whole flight smooth- just bareable (I think the girls were a bit excited to say the least).

Day 2
Saturday we had a leisurely morning relaxing and visiting with my sister and her family. Since the weather was a little, um, "crappy," the guys decided to take the kids to a fabulous outdoor sporting store while my sister and I ran errands for her PTA school project. We met up with the gang later in the afternoon and wandered the store with them, shot some rifles and observed a dog-jumping contest.

Day 3
Since we were on vacation and had limited days with my sister, we decided to bag church (I know, I know... don't tell on us!) and take the kids to the Los Angeles Zoo. It was huge and the kids had their fill on exotic animals.





Now, if you don't agree with the aforementioned, please stop reading immediately and proceed directly to day 4. Alright, so don't judge us, but later that evening we got a babysitter for the kids and just the adults went into Anaheim for a concert- The Cult. I was a bit apprehensive at first since I didn't know what to expect, it was standing room only in a relatively small venue and they're an 80's rock/pop-alternative band. After passing through the security line (ummm... and I mean a thorough inspection- you should've seen my face!!!), and passing by a few questionable individiuals with the blacked-out mohawks and tight black jeans (yah, you know the kind I'm talking about!), we actually all enjoyed the concert and I have to say, I'm kind of a Cult fan now (probably not good to just tell anyone though!).


Day 4
After a pretty busy previous day, we decided to have a day to relax and soak up some California sun since we hadn't seen any since arrival. We decided to spend the day in Palm Dessert at the Marriott resort where my sister and her husband own a timeshare. After getting off to a bit of a bad start (uh... sorry Dave, but he backed into our rental car!), we made the 45 minute drive out to the dessert and had a super, fun-filled day swimming, sun-bathing and relaxing. Kennedy LOVED being at the pool and the 4 swim lessons ahead of time totally paid off. She was so much more confident in the water I hardly had to be in there with her. Pieper loved tootling around following her cousins in and out of the water and shooting her water gun. She was a real ham that day. True to being from the NW and hardly seeing sun, both Jake and I FRIED ourselves and are now just in the stage of peeling. BUT, as a good mom, I, of course lathered the girls so they were fine. I guess the same rules don't apply to us adults.

Day 5
Today is the day we decided to head into Disneyland. We had to exchange our rental car beforehand, but arrived at our hotel around 1 pm. The girls were SO excited to finally see it. Since our friends had flown into town the day before and we had plans to do Disneyland with them, we had arranged earlier to take the girls, Kennedy, Ryan & Pieper to Libby Lu to get their hair, nails and make-up done. We had reservations that evening for the Princess Dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Before we met up with them, we grabbed lunch in Downtown Disney and took them to the Disney store to let them pick out their princess dresses. Kennedy picked out Sleeping Beauty and Pieper got Minnie Mouse. We then met up with our friends, Troy and Kim, and their two girls, Ryan and Peyton, and the girls got "beautified."

We had some time before the Princess Dinner, so we headed into Disneyland to let the girls go on some rides. Upon entering, we ran into Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. What a treat!

Here's our princesses enjoying dinner with the royal princesses!

After dinner, we met up with my sister and her family at California Adventure. The girls loved watching the rides.

On the way out, we ran into Mickey and Minnie!

Day 6

We woke up bright and early today to take full advantage of the day. We were joined by my sister and her family since it was her birthday and there's no better way to celebrate a birthday than at Disneyland. My sister and I took the younger girls and hit California Adventure's Monster, Inc. area and A Bug's Life while the guys and the older girls hit the "big kid rides."

After some time at California Adventure, we headed back to Disneyland to join up with Troy and Kim and their girls. Kennedy totally surprised us that day and went on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. She was just barely tall enough and thought it was really funny when she got all wet on Splash Mountain.

Mommy and Daddy still happy after a full day at the park!

To top the night off for my sister, the birthday girl, we ate dinner at the Blue Bayou! After dinner, it was time to call it a night. As you can see, it's hard work having so much fun!

Day 7
Back to Disneyland. Another full day of rides, fun and the Princess Coronation with Troy, Kim and their girls.


After the Princess Coronation, Kennedy had a "small" meltdown, so we headed back to the hotel for some much needed naps. Later that evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Buca Di Beppo!

Day 8
We decided we were all getting a little burned-out and the kids needed a little break. So we had a very calm morning and let the girls go swimming and take a normal nap. On a side note, while the kids were all sleeping, we sent Jake and Troy (who, by all accounts, became instant BFF's!) to find an In and Out Burger joint. After all, it was only 4 miles down the road. Well... 2 hours (yes, I said 2 HOURS!) later, they arrived just in time for us to scarff down our food and head back to Disneyland. Afterall, it was already 4 pm and it was our last day to enjoy the park. So, we loaded up the kids in their strollers and headed back. Although this time, for Kim and I, we weren't too excited. You see the guys were being relentless to us about riding the Screamin' roller coaster at California Adventure. Kim and I don't do rides. Any. Except those at Disneyland. I can do those. BUT, being the sometimes overly confident, "I'm not going to be a wimp" kind of people we both are, we did it! These pictures of Kim tell you exactly how it was. I love it.

Can you see Kim???

We took the girls on more rides, watched the fireworks display and ate dinner at 11 pm that night. Only at Disneyland!



Day 9
After 4 straight days of Disneyland, it was actually nice to take a break and slow things down. We headed north about an hour and a half to the beautiful city of Camarillo where my good friend Laura and her husband Blaise and son Will live. We enjoyed catching up, some shopping while Jake and Blaise golfed and a FABULOUS dinner!


Day 10
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and today was the day for us. Surprisingly, the trip flew by for us and I don't think any of us were really ready to return home. After attending church, having an amazing lunch (yes, she's an awesome cook!), we packed up, drove to Long Beach and boarded our short, but long!, flight home. Goodbye Cali. We'll miss you.


A big THANK YOU to Dave, Lisa, Ashlyn, Abby and Amber for being such GREAT hosts and always showing us a good time. We love you all and thank you for everything you do. Blaise, Laura and Will- thank you! We had such a good time just hanging out with you and seeing where you live. More importantly, we LOVED hanging out with Will. What a little cutie. Troy and Kim, thanks SO much for joining us and making our Disney experience even MORE fun. You guys are GREAT and we'll definitely do it again. Until then, we'll be counting the years, months and days!