Disneyland

For our Christmas present this year my parents took us to Disneyland. We had such a great time! We went February 14-17 and we were at the park on a Tuesday and Wednesday so we didn't have to fight crowds or wait in line. The downside was that they had plenty of rides closed for refurbishment and they didn't do parades or fireworks, but I still think it was worth it. We stayed at the Grand Californian for two of the nights and it was amazing! This year Molly was tall enough to ride almost all of the bigger rides but after the Matterhorn she had no interest. Molly and Chris rode it first and Molly came walking back to us with a horrible look on her face and told me it was too fast. Then Claire and I went and she started bawling about 1/3 of the way in to the ride. I don't remember the Matterhorn being that long, but it really seemed like it would never end, especially since Claire was screaming that she wanted me to stop the ride. We decided to do Small World directly after the Matterhorn to get everyone feeling better again. But they loved everything else, especially a lot of the California Adventure rides like the ferris wheel and the swings.

The kids got took pick out one souvenir each and they both picked these Mickey ears. The hats were pretty dingy by the end of the trip.


Molly was obsessed with this poncho. It rained on Wednesday, and we knew it was going to rain, so I bought us all ponchos to bring with us. She wore it almost all day on Wednesday, even though it only sprinkled on and off. Claire on the other hand hated hers (I can't blame her, it's the equivalent of a giant plastic bag) and only wore it once for about five minutes all day.


Penny was amazingly good the whole trip. We never went back for naps, she just slept in the stroller, and she was such a trooper.


Tiana was the only princess we saw the whole trip, and only Penny, my mom and I saw her in New Orleans Square, the big girls didn't even see her. They had zero interest in meeting any characters or princesses. In general I was grateful that we didn't have to wait in line to meet anyone, but I actually kind of wanted to meet Rapunzel. She has a spot in Fantasyland but at first we thought it was a Rapunzel ride. We asked the worker and he told us it was to meet Rapunzel so the kids said no way, they only wanted to wait in line if it was a ride.


The Californian has the most beautiful pools, and they were all heated! We spent some time lounging on the pool chairs, wishing we were swimming.



We went to breakfast one morning at the Storytellers buffet, which was awesome. Lucky for us Molly took care of the bill.


Sleeping Beauty's castle!


The rockets were one of the kid's absolute favorites.



Tom Sawyer's Island.


We got to have lunch on Tuesday at the Blue Bayou, which was incredible. I don't think the kids had any idea how lucky they were to get to eat there! But in their defense, most super special restaurants don't have their menus printed on paper pirate hats.




I was afraid we'd have to spend tons of time on the carousels but luckily we only had to ride one and they got their fill.


Toy Story was also one of the favorites; I think we rode it four times. I think this must have been the only time Molly wore those 3D glasses because she refused to wear them during the ride. I think she thought it messed up her aim.



I wish I had gotten more pictures of the Californian because it really was a beautiful hotel. The lobby was incredible!