DISNEYLAND!!!!

I'm SOOOOO excited about this post.....but I find myself a bit overwhelmed with all the memories I want to record so instead I've been sitting here just starring at the screen.  I guess we'll just take it from the beginning...

{*warning* you might want to get comfortable because this will the the longest post EVER!  I thought about breaking it up and giving each day it's own post.  But I decided I really didn't want to break the photos up.  So here we go....}

   Before we even made the move to Arizona, Garrett and I knew this Disneyland trip was going to happen.  We had talked about it several times, and the timing was just perfect.  Gavin would be close to 3 which was about the age we first took Kayla.  And that trip was so incredible fantastic, we knew it would be a good age for Gavin's first experience.  Not to mention our proximity to the park and the awesome 3-day Park Hopper tickets Disney honors Military families with....all things added and it was a no brainer.    

  This time around we wanted to invite the grandparents to join us.  Since we were going to be there for 3 days, each set would get their own special day.  My Mom had day 1, Garrett's on day 2, and the 3rd day ended up being just the 4 of us because my dad and step-mom we not able to make it up there :(.  Next time guys!!!  We made the drive out to San Diego on the Saturday before Thanksgiving; spent Sunday visiting with all the great-grandparents, and early Monday morning re-packed the car and set out for Disneyland with my mom.  We didn't tell the kiddos where we were going, only that we were going to a cool park kind-of far away.  HA!  They had no idea!  We ran into a bit of morning work traffic so it took an excruciating 1:45min to get there!

We finally made it and parked at our hotel which was literally right across the street from the main entrance!  The kiddos still had no idea where we were, despite the Disney paraphernalia everywhere! 

We couldn't take it anymore, so I finally made Kayla sound out where we were.  It took her about 30sec. to figure it out and pass the word on to Gavin! 

{In our rush to leave the hotel we left the stroller in the car and only realized it when we were practically walking into the park.  There was no way we were going to go back for it, and although I was a bit skeptical to go on without it, the kiddos did great and we ended up doing the entire 3 days stroller free!  A small miracle for a family with an almost 3yr old!} 

The park was all decked out for the Holidays!!

The plan was to make our way through the 'snowy castle' as Gavin coined, and on to Fantasyland for our first round of rides.  And we stumbled upon Sleeping Beauty!  They were more excited about the fact that they were meeting a princess because neither are familiar with Aurora.....that movie is a little to dark.  As we continued to walk down the path we see Cinderella!!  Unfortunately she was on her way to a tea party, and that was a bummer because the kiddos {and me!} are big fans of hers.  

Our first ride was the King Arthur Carousel.  Which was quite suiting because that was Kayla's first ride 2yrs. ago :) . 

After that we went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Big mistake.  It traumatized Gavin for a bit and he was reluctant to go on any other ride that was inside and seemed dark.  He bounced back after a while.....we did, however, avoid the rest if the 'inside' Fantasyland rides.  Maybe next time...

While mom and I took the kiddos on Alice in Wonderland, Garrett ducked into the Mad Hatter store to get Gavin's first set of ears!  We had it embroiderer the same as we did Kayla's.  His says Gavin's 1st visit 11-19-12. 

On to Toontown for lunch and a few more rides.  The line to see Mickey was wayyyyyy to long so we postponed that visit.

At this point it was time to head back to the hotel for a much needed nap.  Toontown is right beside the Disneyland Railroad so we caught a train back to Main Street.  

{PS. you can kind of see the crowds behind Kayla.  It was craziness!  Definitely the most crowded I've seen in a long time.  Another reason we were grateful for not having the stroller with us!  Despite the huge crowds I was very impressed with Disney's ability to keep the lines moving.  They obviously added cars and boats to rides they could, like Pirates if the Caribbean, and we rarely waited more than 30min.}  

Just as we were leaving the park we finally had our first encounter with a beloved favorite..

In true Donald fashion, he immediately noticed Gavin's Mickey shirt and {interpreted by his handler} asked 'what about him?!'

  We eventually made it back to the room(s) for a little nap.  The kiddos were doing great, but it's just not our parenting style to push them through their need to sleep.  We wanted to be able to enjoy the nightlife in the parks and, for our kiddos, that just would not have been possible without a little down time.  Our hotel was seriously SOOO close and convenient, 8 minutes past the turnstile and we were tucking them in!  Both of them passed out immediately {as did my mom and Garrett} and two hours later I was waking everyone up so we could get over to California Adventures in time for the big Pixar Play Parade!

  When we got in we made a bee line to the new Cars Land and picked out a spot right in front to watch the parade.  

Even though Gavin was still a little tired, he really enjoyed it!

...as did Kayla!

Afterwards we had a delicious dinner at Flo's V8 Cafe.  Cars Land was truly awesome.  You walked down the main drag of Radiator Springs and everything really looked like the movie!

We ended our evening with a few rides and a dance party!

Day 2

We all slept like a rock and were up and at 'em for an 8am character breakfast with Minnie and friends at the Plaza Inn on the corner of Main Street and Tomorrowland.  Garrett's parents were driving up that morning so my mom joined us for the breakfast :)

    

It was definitely a highlight of the trip!  Before this we hadn't seen a lot of 'friends' and this was quite a special experience.  Kayla was all about it; Gavin was excited to see everyone too, but he usually needed a brief handshake, high-five, or pat before he went for the full hug.

These characters really know how to play their part!  I wonder what kind of training they do for this job....

Captain Hook was the only one Gavin wanted absolutely nothing to do with!  I asked him if he wanted to say hi, and he said 'NO!  I'm eating!' and buried his face in his plate :)

After breakfast we took advantage of another few photo opts...

And made a quick visit to Tinkerbell and her sister Periwinkle!  Tink had to quickly get something out of her little house and I wish I had captured the look on Kayla's face!  I think right then and there Kayla believed this was, in fact, Pixie Hallow and where Tinkerbell lived!

Tinkerbell is obviously a favorite with us so this encounter was pretty awesome.  Tink's giving her a high-five because Kayla just told her what she dressed up for Halloween :).

Can we just take a minute here to appreciate all the awesomeness that is Disney!

Every time I look at that photo I get a little teary-eyed!  I know that's probably a little ridiculous....but seriously....how sweet is that moment?!  Disneyland(world) truly is a special place like no other.  Hundreds of thousands of people there.....lines a half mile long.....and no matter what.....they give each and every kid an opportunity to get lost in a moment with a cherished 'friend'.  It makes this mama's heart melt!  

OK, moving on.  By this time Garrett's parents had arrived so we said good-bye to Grammy Karen (she took the train back home) and hello to Grandpa Ron and Grandma Linda.  Our first ride all together was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!  You might notice....Garrett and I take this ride very seriously!  It's the third time riding it over the years.....and I'd just like to point out the scores!  That's 2 to 1 in my favor!!  As I'm typing this Garrett adds that I can space ranger it up all I want because he's the real Ranger in this family!

We grabbed a few fast passes for Space Mountain to be used later and then made our way over to Critter Country. {with a pit stop at the Pirate's of the Caribbean} The girls got in line for Splash Mountain while the boys headed over to the Winnie the Pooh ride and a meet and greet with a few characters.  Kayla could see the drop and said she wanted to go on it anyways.....this girl loves roller-coasters!  Since it was her first time we, of course, had to buy the photo!  That's Grandma Linda right in front of us!

After a quick lunch, we hopped on the raft and floated over to what is now called The Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Our afternoon break was quickly approaching so we jetted over to Space Mountain.  Garrett, Grandpa Ron, and Kayla pretty much walked right on.  This was definitely a favorite of Kayla's!

After napping, we headed back to Disneyland just in time for the Christmas Fantasy Parade.  The place was a mad house and Garrett and I had to each hold a kid so they could see.  So no photos of that time :( .  We had a quick dinner and pretty much hung out in Tomorrowland riding Autotopia and the Astro Orbitor, which Kayla had been eyeing ALL day.

Day 3

Again, we all slept like a rock!  We said a quick goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa as they headed back home and we back to Disneyland.  We were in the park by about 8:30 and weaved our way through it, back to Toontown.  We still hadn't seen Mickey and it was the priority of the morning.  While we were waiting in the short line the kiddos and I quickly checked out Minnie's house.

The line was mostly formed on the side of Mickey's house so we were completely surprised when we turned the corner to see the big buy right in his doorway.  I was actually talking to my dad on the phone at the time and totally hung up on him in an effort to get my camera out and not miss the moment!  {I only found out latter that I had NOT hung up and my dad listened to the entire encounter via the cell waves, a happy mishap :) . 

We decided to split up; Garrett and Kayla went on the Matterhorn {another favorite of Kayla's}and the Tea Cups while Gavin and I rode the little roller-coaster in Toontown and then the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

We all met back up and hustled back over to California Adventures.  On our way out of Disneyland park we ran into Pluto!  We were pretty excited about this; we hadn't seen him yet and Gavin was starting to ask for him :)

At California Adventures we walked around Paradise Pier and Kayla said she wanted to go on that HUGE ferris wheel {photoed back on the first day}.  Garrett and I talked about it with her for a while because she has a reputation of a fear of heights and panic moments.  She said she really wanted to go on it AND sit in a bucket that slides back and forth.  So on it we went.  She did OK until we rounded the top and started the descent.  At which point the sliding bucket felt like it was falling out of the sky and she totally freaked out!  Burring our faces was all Garrett and I could do as we glided through the boarding area for a second rotation with Kayla screaming and crying and everyone staring at us!  HA, definitely a moment we will never forget!  We managed to calm her down and by the time we approached the boarding area again all her tears were gone ;)  After that we decided to head back to our room for a slightly earlier break because we had a reservation for dinner, an actual sit-down dinner at 5pm, back in the park.

Since this was our last day/night we decided to stay up a bit late to watch the fantastic World of Color water show in California Adventures.  Earlier in the day we found out that you could purchase a dining package at one of two of the nice restaurants in the park and receive tickets for the reserved viewing section, front and center.  It was a bit pricey, but we thought what the heck!  It was our last night and we wanted to go out with a bang!  We ate at Wine Country Trattoria, and the food was wonderful....especially after eating mostly park food for the last couple of days.  We had so much fun at dinner!  Garrett and I decided that this was the perfect way to end a Disney vacation and we will continue that tradition in future visits.  On the last night, to just sit down as a family and enjoy an excellent meal, then follow up with a show.....everything about was just perfect.    

We had some time to kill so we knocked out all the rides in 'a bug's land' and then found our seats for the show.

I took these photos while holding Gavin.....so this is about as good as it's going to get ;)

 So amazing.  So SO amazing!  Our Disney adventures were just about everything I had dreamed it would be.  The only thing I'm a little bummed about is that we didn't make a little time to visit with the Princess's we love....like Rapunzel, Merida and Cinderella :(

But really though, it was truly magical.  The kiddos were great troopers through all the crowds, stroller free, and behaved beautifully.....not perfectly of course ;) but beautifully all things considered.  I'm all ready having day dreams of our next Disney days....whenever that may be.....perhaps this time in Orlando ;)