Disneyland!

So my dream came true and we finally took the girls to Disneyland!  It seriously was the best trip, and we are so glad that we were able to go!  We took way too many pictures so I am going to have to break the posts up.

We left early-ish on Saturday morning and headed down to Vegas where we stayed the night.  Emma and Katelyn loved being able to swim after the long car ride and were super excited that they both got their own queen sized bed!  Miley really enjoyed her first swimming experience!

We woke up the next day, went to church, and then headed to our hotel in Cali!  The Woolfs arrived a few hours after we did and then the fun could really start!  We went to Disney Monday-Thursday and had the best time.  It just so happened that it was the hottest week of the year.  It was at least 100 degrees every day.  It made for some really hot days and really small crowds so we couldn't complain too much.

We went to Disneyland on Monday and had a great time figuring out what rides our kids did and didn't like.  Luckily the longest line we waited in was about 30 minutes for the Jungle Cruise (of all rides) so it wasn't too sad if they didn't end up liking a ride.

 The stranger taking this picture apparently didn't understand we wanted Mickey in the background.  Too bad I didn't look at any of my pictures before we got home or else I would have taken another one.

Minnie was the first character we saw right as we got to the park.  Katelyn was not afraid of her at all, which really surprised me.  Miley slept for the first two and a half hours we were in the park, which was also very surprising.

 The teacups were my girls' favorite ride.  Todd gets pretty sick on spinning rides so I was lucky and got to ride them 7 times in a row because there was never a line for them!

 Merida was the first princess that the girls got to talk to, they saw other ones as we walked in, but the lines were too long.  They were pretty timid around her so I was nervous that they were going to be like that around all of the princesses.  It was probably just because they don't really know her as well as all the others.

Kevin and Emily's son, Bronsen, is just a day younger than Emma and they get along really well.  This is them making their best silly faces.  For the first two days at the park, Emma insisted on using her hand to help her smile because she was "too tired to do it with just her face." 

 Tiana was the next princess we saw and Katelyn actually found her by herself and we quickly got in line towards the front.  They did much better with her but still weren't as talkative as I thought they would be.

We were pretty nervous to take Miley with us, but I was even more nervous to leave her with someone for that long.  She did so great though, way better than I thought she would.  I would say her biggest complaint from the first day was that we never really let her crawl anywhere.  We tried as hard as we could to get her to stay on this blanket but it was just impossible.  People were not amused that I was letting my baby crawl around on the cement, but it made her happy, so we were happy.

Stella is about 5 months younger than Katelyn and they are "frenemies" they either really love each other or they just fight alot.  They did much better with getting along this trip.  Probably because there were fewer toys to fight over and Stella was pretty occupied trying to stay away from Miley.  Miley really likes to torment 2 year olds, I guess.

The Buzz ride was the first ride we went on.  Look how nice Katelyn's hair looks compared to the picture above towards the end of the day.  We are always fighting this losing battle.

 

Emma also really loved the Casey Junior Railroad ride.  She is a thrill seeker.

At the end of the day we convinced Emma to try and go on Splash Mountain with Todd and I.  She was so brave and we were so proud of her.  At the end of the ride she said it was just "a little fun" but never wants to go on it again.

 The first day we ate lunch at the park and then went home for dinner and were not motivated enough to go back.  The heat took it out of us.  We decided on the other days to go back to the hotel (which was right across the street) during the hottest time of the day and then go back to the parks when it was a little cooler.

It was a great first day, and all of the kids slept very well that night.

To Be Continued...