California Adventure/Disneyland - Take 2

We did our second day at California Adventure and Disneyland on Dec. 21. We had to get there before the girls turned 3 (on the 23rd) because we would have had to pay for them then AND we were afraid it was going to get busier and busier the closer we got to Christmas.

It was a busy day, but we went to California Adventure instead and got their right when it opened, so it ended up not being so bad at all! Plus it seemed like we hit everything at just the right time so we didn't have many lines to wait in at all! Nice! Like these Minnie and Mickey pictures...we were basically the first ones there and we just happened upon them. We walked by about 30 minutes later and there was a huge line to see them! Blessing! The only LONG line we waited in was for the new Toy Story video game ride we went on and it was TOTALLY worth it!

I love how you don't even have to tell the kids to smile when they are with a character. Pure joy to finally be meeting the real Mickey and Minnie!

I just loved the shirt my mom gave Zach. It was awesome. She also added some cute Minnie ribbon to the little pink shirts she gave them. Thanks for making it fun mom!

I love Bug land! They are very creative in making you feel like you are a little bug, shrunk in a big world.

Kate had to get a picture with Francis.

I love these "Popsicle stick" benches. So creative.

And these awesome Christmas ornaments. :)

And right after this picture my camera died. :( Luckily my parents were meeting us here later because I didn't get a picture of us with the Castle!

Yay! Now my Disneyland trip is complete. A picture with us and the castle.

It is just so magical! Especially at Christmas!

We spent most of the day at California Adventure but I had a few things we didn't do at Disneyland that I wanted to do with the kiddos. Disneyland was MUCH busier than California adventure! But I REALLY wanted to do the Princess walk with the girls. Basically you stand in line (30-40 mins) to walk down a little path and personally meet 3 random princesses. You don't know who's going to be in there when you go. LUCKILY it was mostly princesses the girls knew and liked!

So while we waited in line MerMer bought the girls some suckers. Good way to pass time. Better if my girls didn't always bite them! Just suck on them! Especially these ones since when you bite them big chunks come off and land on the disgusting Disneyland ground. One of the many places where the 5 second rule doesn't count.

When we finally got in we saw Princess Tiana, Princess Aurora, and Belle! I LOVE BELLE! So does Kara. And Kate loves Tiana. Even though we only watched that weird movie once...She still always talks about her.

It was really sweet to watch the princesses talk to the girls! They get down on their level and talk for a couple minutes each. (no wonder the line takes a while and barely moves! It was totally worth it though.)

They were so enamored! I didn't even have to say smile at all! They couldn't stop!

Princess Aurora

(the only one they didn't really know. Jasmine or Ariel or Snow White would have been awesome! Aurora will do I guess...they were still smiling!)

And BELLE! I wanted to go talk to her and get in the picture!!!

My two little princesses in the gift shop just outside the Princess walk. They kinda look like conjoined twins here. :)

I love having little girls. :)

Small World at night. I couldn't resist a picture. I love it.

We got done with the Princesses right as the parade was starting. We had already seen the parade, so we took advantage of that and went to toon town while it wasn't busy. This barbell is probably my favorite thing in toon town. They were trying SO hard to pick it up. I couldn't stop laughing!

Good effort Kara, keep pulling! You'll get it!!!

Goofy's house

Tea Party at Minnie's House!

After Minnie's we decided to walk through Mickey's house and just happened upon...

MICKEY!!!!
again, no line. Perfect timing!

Kara was especially amazed by him. She kept gazing up at him, touching his arm...it was so cute and magical! She was pretty sad when we had to leave.

We even got on the toon town roller coaster without waiting in any lines! It was the girls first roller coaster! Minutes later, the parade was over and so were the short lines! :)

I love this picture of Kara on Daddy's shoulders looking at the beautiful castle as we walked out of Disneyland. Again...MAGICAL!

We went here on our honeymoon 6 years ago. This trip was definitely different with 3 kids and a 21 week prego belly, but even though we didn't get to do all of the big kid rides it was SO fun to see Disneyland through the eyes of our kids.

Papa and Mer Mer with our kiddos and the HUGE Christmas tree on Main Street. Yes, I am aware Kate is sticking out her tongue...that was her new favorite thing to do the first couple weeks of the trip...and the next few pictures. Little booger.

Our happy family at the happiest place on earth! Kate...

And Kate...ug.

 The gorgeous HUMONGOUS Christmas tree. See that tiny Santa doll? It is actually a large 18 in doll as an ornament?!! It was humongous.

We went back to California Adventure to watch the water light show.  Anyway, here is MerMer and the kiddos on the Little Mermaid ride in California Adventure. It was right by where we were saving our spot for the show and there was NO line. I think we went on it  4 times...better than sitting and waiting for the show to start with 3 restless kids! It was perfect timing again!

After the Mermaid Marathon we ate (sourdough soup bowl...YUM!) and watched the Disney's World of Color water show. It was getting too late for Papa and Mer Mer (pushing 9 pm!) so they headed home and we stayed to finish off our last few rides. and then do a few more rides we missed. We went on Monsters (again NO line) and Turtle talk with Crush. He talked to Justin and asked him if he swims and how fast he swims. Justin replied "faster than you!" "Is that a challenge?!" Wow hon. Never challenge a turtle. But he is probably right. I bet he could swim faster than Crush.

This picture looks like a tired Disneyland girl holding her popcorn bucket. Really what it is is a sick girl that threw up in her empty popcorn bucket...and on the floor as we were walking! It came out of nowhere! This girl barfs all the time though...if she is coughing, if she eats too much candy, if she thinks about it. She asks to sleep with her barf bucket quite often. Yep, she is bucket trained. I feel so bad for her. :( Poor girl.

If your kid is going to barf it is best to do it at Disneyland! They called a Code V over the walkie talkies and had it cleaned up in minutes! (the powder and towels in the background...) I didn't have to clean a THING! Good thing because I can't do barf these days. Yuck. The guy said it was his 3rd one today. He looked about 19. He'll be a great dad someday!!)

Anyway, the kids STILL wanted to go finish off with Small World. It was 10 pm, but we all knew we wouldn't be back for a long time, so we made the trek all the way to Small World.

And this is how they were when we got there... :)

What? We're here?

Standing in line...Is this worth it? YES! One more dose of Holiday Magic.

Just a bit of the Holiday Magic for you guys to enjoy...to gear up for next Christmas! :)

On the way out the kids were all tired and ready to go home...until i mentioned to them that there wasn't a line at the Whale ride (the Storybook village with all the miniature towns), or then at Dumbo! So we went on both. one. last. time.

Even at 11:30 p.m. and NO NAP Dumbo can still bring a huge smile!

Then we took them potty and started to walk out. As we passed the carousel our tired, tired kids said they wanted to go on the horsies. Okay! One more! I secretly wanted to finish off with it too.

Zach made sure we took a picture of him and "Rudolph" so we'd never forget him. :)

What a GREAT day at Disneyland! We were so exhausted and didn't get home until 1:30 A.M. but it was all so fun!