California Vacay Part II ~ The Happiest Place on Earth!

****WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD****

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at Disneyland and California Adventures. Let me tell you, my feet were ACHING by the end of day one!!! I don't think I heard the kids complain one bit about that!
I had THE most fun, though, experiencing everything there is to do at Disneyland. I get so giddy about it all, just like a little kid! We skipped in the walkways, sung loudly and screamed a LOT on the rides. Ate lots of churros and had dinner at the Blue Bayou one night, the restaurant that you see while riding Pirates of the Carribean. I used to think that whole thing was fake too, when I was a kid!

I loved being able to take Brooklyn, Blake and Gavin on almost every single ride this time. Brooklyn and Blake were brave enough to do Indiana Jones and Tower of Terror with me, bless their sweet little hearts! Super duper grateful that Disneyland caters to families with little kids in every way. We used the "Switch Pass" who knows how many times, which allowed everyone to ride the rides that Preston couldn't without having to wait in long lines each time.Since we had been season pass holders for a couple years while Matt was in school, we do Disneyland differently than typical tourists. We don't have a strict schedule to adhere to or a guidebook outlining what rides to go on first-second-third. We took our time, did everything nonchalantly and enjoyed ourselves completely without rushing around. We had no problem taking the kids out of school for the week so we could go during an off-peak time and it paid off. Matt did some running around acquiring FastPasses, but I don't think we waited more than 40 minutes for anything! Most of the wait times were between 5-15 minutes. I still miss living so close and going so frequently! Hopefully we can visit often. :)

Favorite rides:

Brooklyn -- California Screamin'
Blake -- Star Tours

Gavin -- Toy Story Mania

Preston -- Small World

Least favorite rides:

Brooklyn -- carousel (after she begged to go on this since everyone else had already had a chance????? tsk tsk)
Blake --Tower of Terror (he tried to be brave.....)
Gavin -- Space Mountain (wanted to do this one the most, once he got off he proclaimed he would NEVER to that again!)
Preston -- the hotel elevator, haha! (poor kid whimpered every time we got in the thing!)

We rode most every ride, some of them LOTS of times!!!

I think Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters will always and forever be the first ride we go on!!Check out Matt's score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He even ranked!

He's highly competitive. No one messes with him! LOL!First nap (of many!) in the parkGavin sees what he can "sea" out the porthole on the Finding Nemo submarine voyageDaddy, Blake and Gav go for a spin on Autopia -- Brooklyn is driving like a proPreston oohed, aahed, pointed and clapped on Small World.

I wonder if songs get stuck in babies' heads? Churros~ yummo!

Matt's the real churro-monster. Too bad he kept sneaking them
when I would take the kids on rides while he sat out with Prest!!Haunted Mansion with a little sun flare ;)Getting our zippity-doo-dah on ~ Splash MountainOur family in the traditional castle pose :)Presty-boy's very 1st pair of Mickey Mouse earsMore evidence that random people can't be trusted to take a GOOD picture. I had to crop a stray child out of this picture that was already off-centered. Is it too much to ask, really??

Rant over. For now. Rest assured there will be more incompetence in the years to come.Cute kids!!! Picture taken by ME!Everyone had to have their try at pulling the sword outta the stone! Better luck next time....Mommy doesn't *do* Dumbo......or the teacups

Now over to California Adventures :)

This was our first time riding Toy Story Mania. We loved it!!! We have the Wii game, which made it more familiar

We always have to get the Mickey Mouse suckers!!Once Preston got ahold of mine, it was all over.
He was a sticky mess by the time I pried the stick out of his death grip!Brooklyn and Mommy ready to embark on California Screamin', the BIG roller coaster that goes upside down. Little did we know that Brooklyn would be our thrill-seeker child!!! She screamed the entire time and did her best to keep her arms high in the air, despite the G-force. Love her!

She rode this thing a total of THREE times and begged for more!! Here she is with Daddy ==>They survived the Tower of Terror!!!Barely. Haha!! Blake pretty much clung onto me for dear life!!So cheesy, I know! ;)Gavin bites the dust at the end of day 2!Back to Disneyland for a few more rides (the kids took me on Star Tours) and souvenir shopping!

The boys couldn't leave without building their very OWN double-sided ultimate light saber!!!
You woulda thought it was rocket science with the amount of time it took to put them together!
Love you honey! ;)Brooklyn was very happy to finally BUY a souvenir of her very own!!
She also got a princess diary with a real lock & key! ;)

It was hard to say goodbye!
Thanks for letting US celebrate, Mickey!!We finished out our trip at California Adventures ☼

Gettin' buggy with it!!
Got our hot off the press tortillas from the Mission Tortilla Factory!Waiting for the Pixar Play Parade with ice cream comes and the sun in our eyes Hey, how'd she get my outfit???? My alter-ego ;)Dory "swam" on over to see PrestThis dude was a trooper the whole time! Look at that smile! At the end of day 3 no less!The boys chose Star Wars guys for their other souvenir, of course! Preston loves his little Mickey!

We saw lots and lots of characters!!!

We had an AWESOME time!!!! I can't wait to go back in a couple years!

California Vacay Part I ~ Soaking up the Sun!

(We just got back from a fantastic but exhausting family trip to SoCal. We left on Friday, the 23rd, my birthday. ;) Happy 28th to me! We celebrated by meeting up with Brett & Michelle Larson and their kids at Red Robin for dinner.

Saturday morning, we headed to the beach for a few hours. Laguna is our absolute fave! Not on the main beach, back in one of the coves. It was a perfect beach day; the sun was warm and the breeze was just right. Of course the ocean was freezing cold, but that didn't stop the kids!!! We brought along plenty to keep busy with -- sand toys galore, giant bubble sticks and kites.

I took over 800 pictures while we were gone, so bear with me as I try to narrow it down. ;)
(sorry Facebookers, you'll already have seen these pictures!)

Look at this happy guy! Finally free "side" (outside), where he likes to be!! The boys wasted no time getting down to serious business with their sandcastle makingP had a bit of a hard time walking on this loose, dry sand
so he resorted to the "Mowgli-style" way of getting aroundThis is where Brooklyn spent a good majority of the time ~ little California girl!Preston's first time in the ocean - yes, we had to do it!Perfect ocean breeze made kite-flying easy peasy!!Cool bubblesOur familySandwritingMommy's turn to take Presty out. It was my first time in the water this trip and obviously I wasn't quite prepared for the ice-coldness either!! And HELLO farmer's tan!

Hoping to get some color. No such luck. Glad the sunscreen was doing it's job!GavPreston eating fistfuls of sand. Blech!!!What a sweet daddy to take Brooklyn out to hunt for shells! Her all-time favorite beach activity!The twins head out for some funThis one is hilarious!! They got brave and were out semi-far when a BIG wave came rolling in.
Blake went under then popped up like a buoy, totally unfazed! Haha!It took a bit of coaxing to even get this guy to go OUT in the water!
I held his hand at first as we inched our way out little by little.I love this one with his cute little beach buns hanging out!!

He was outta there after a wave caught him!

I could spend HOURS at the beach, just lounging around, letting the kids do their thing. It's not as relaxing with toddler running around, but we all had a great time. I definitely miss living so close to the beach!