Disneyland

December was such a crazy month! I felt that I had absolutely no time to blog and then I completely forgot about posting. So here is the long awaited Disneyland post and pictures.

For the second week in December, Tyler took off school, we packed up the girls and boarded a plane to sunny California with excitement, anticipation and pure happiness. We were going to DISNEYLAND! The girls were so very excited (it helped that we had been counting down the days for an entire month beforehand)!

Our flight was pretty uneventful. The girls did super extremely well, considering the lateness of the hour. They are usually in bed by 7 p.m. but our flight didn't leave until a little after 6 p.m. All things considered and Toy Story 3 we got to LAX without any problems! The bus ride was a little hard for Zoe, she was so tired and doesn't sleep well....or at all, unless is a bed of some sort. Thank goodness for ipods or she would have screamed for the whole bus ride to the hotel in Anaheim (45 mins). When we got to the hotel we ordered food and then went straight to bed so that we could be ready for 3 fun filled days at Disneyland.

Here is Zoe and Grandpa waiting for the food to get to the hotel....Zoe was so tired, she doesn't usually sit still like that!
Here we are on the plane. This would be the girls first ride on an airplane and my third. Wahoo!

We got up the next day and got ready to go to the happiest place on earth. And I would have to say the girls were the happiest kids on earth! They we super excited! After we ate what was probably the best continental breakfast ever, we headed to the bus stop and on to Disneyland.

Here we are at the entrance to the park.

Zoe was completely awed by what she saw when we started walking down the Main Street. She could see characters, sweets, toys and all things Disney! She LOVED it.

The first ride we went on was Buzz Lightyear. I rode with Zoe and she had fun looking at all the characters from Toy Story which gave me an added bonus, I was able to use both the laser shooters. Sophie also love it. Then we headed over to Space Mountain. I pulled a really mean mommy trick and convinced Sophie to come with Tyler and I while Grandpa Cindy watched Zoe. Little did she know I was about to take her on the wildest and probably the scariest ride of her life! Tyler rode with her and when she got off the ride I had to carry her because she was shaking so badly. When I asked her if she liked it she said, "I just closed my eyes and went to sleep mom." Needless to say she didn't want to go on it again.

After the tea cups and a few more mellow rides we saw that Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder were going to be coming to Fantasyland. So we got in line and waited oh...an hour for about five minutes with the characters. Both the girls were a bit apprehensive about meeting them. I think it was because Flynn was a bit intimidating. Rapunzel was extremely nice and the girls loved her!

Well, Sophie did...Zoe still wasn't too sure why we were forcing her to take pictures with strangers!

Next we headed over to Toon Town for a lunch of hot dogs and chips. But not before we played with all the cool stuff there and oogled the characters we saw coming out of the Town Hall.

Here is Sophie trying to show off and lift those enormous weights!

Next we went to Mickey's house. Luckily he was home and we got to meet him. This was the best reception Zoe had given to any character we had seen so far. She just kept pointing at Mickey and was utterly speechless. Sophie was a little braver and had him sign her autograph book.

The we went and saw Minnie. Oh the precious moment that transpired in Minnie's house was the highlight of the trip for Zoe. To say she was on cloud nine would be an understatement! Minnie Mouse was right in front of her and she didn't even hesitate, she ran straight into Minnie's arms!!!!!

Here is the whole family with Minnie.

We all dispersed after the picture.....well almost all of us!

Saying goodbye was so hard for Zoe. She could have looked at Minnie all day! Parting is such sweet sorrow for a 21 month old.

Here we are riding Dumbo....Tyler and Sophie

Zoe and me.

Sophie did so good, we took her on Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain and she said she didn't want to go on them again. Then we went to Pirates....it took some convincing...but she finally got on! I don't think she was too happy about it, in her mind pirates are scary. Zoe on the other hand had fallen asleep and I was just planning on staying with her when Tyler's mom suggested we just bring her along. That girl amazes me...she slept through the waiting in line and the whole ride. But to this day she still says, "Pirates, scary!"

I think it was the first night that we watched the Christmas Parade on Main Street. Zoe loved it and only when Mickey made an appearance did Sophie permit herself to be pick up so she could see over the crowd.

Thoroughly exhausted we turned in early the first day....well about 8 p.m. anyway. We still had two more days to live it up!

On the second morning after breakfast we headed back! Sophie's only request was that we see the castle first thing that morning since we didn't go through it from the front the previous day. We also let the girls dress up in their adorable princess dresses Grandma Cindy made for them.

After all, what going to the most magical place on earth if your not dressed the part!

After that we went on Peter Pan. Which took a while to convince Sophie that it wasn't a scary ride...she was a little traumatized after pirates! Then we went to see about the Princess activities that would be that day. We got to meet three princesses after quite a long wait in line with other equally excited girls.

Aren't they just brimming with excitement!?! Oh, wait...maybe the line wasn't quite that fun,

But the Princesses, can you say instant smiles! Snow White was probably my favorite, she was very talkative and animated

I think Sophie just about passed out with excitement when she saw Princess Aurora. Like Zoe was with Mickey, Sophie was speechless!

And finally Jasmine. She loved making small talk and said she wasn't used to the cold. We had to assure her that California was NOT cold! (we walked around in t-shirts and capris and laughed at all the people in coats!)

All in all, I think waiting an hour to see princesses was definitely worth it!!! After the girls had trekked around the park for half the day with their dresses on we opted for more sensible attire and headed over to California Adventure and rode Monsters Inc., did some shopping, and relaxed a little. We then went on some of the rides in the Bugs Life area, scared Zoe to death in the "Its a Bugs Life" show and ended up having to take her out half way through...oops on my part. And then we got to see Chip and Dale and Donald Duck.

Chip and Dale just ate these two up!! They probably would have took them home with them had we allowed it.

Tyler and I got to escape and go on Tower of Terror with Kevin (BIL), Rylie, Jessica and Josie (nieces and nephew). Ahh, I love that ride. When we were done we found everyone else jamming out to the parade in Cali Adventure. After that Tyler and I took the girls to downtown Disney for dinner and a little shopping. All Sophie wanted was Mickey ears (very specific too, she knew that she wanted the pink ones, and no others would do!) and a Tinkerbell wand that she had seen another girl with the day before. Zoe conked out halfway through the store, so we got what the girls wanted and beelined it for the hotel. Which thankfully, Zoe slept the whole way there, through a change into pajamas and through the whole night!!!

The next day, Sophie and Zoe were really exhausted, so we took the day pretty easy. It was so nice to have Tyler's parents there. The girls got to have a little time alone with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of hours and Tyler and I rode Space Mountain again and Indiana Jones. Then we waited patiently to go and have dinner with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto. Sophie was so excited!

Here are all the kids with Ariel just before we sat down to dinner.

Mulan, Zoe loved her! and Sophie was pretty excited if you can't tell.

We got to meet Belle and even saw Princess Aurora again!

It was a really good dinner with lots of yummy food and the girls were excited to get the first meal of "real" food in a couple of days.

After that we hung out in California Adventure for a while, rode the carousel, the screamer (well Tyler, Rylie, Jessica and I did), and got faces painted.

Here we are posing as Toy Story toys.

Sophie didn't want her face painted but opted for her arm instead. Which ended up coming off on her face as she slept that night anyway.

Then we took the girls to the hotel, put the to bed, and Grandma and Grandpa kept an eye on them so Tyler and I could go back and ride a few more rides.

Totally exhausted the next morning, we left early for LAX and came home. It was a really great trip and we had so much fun! I suggest going with little kids!!! It is so fun to see the magic through their eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!