I wish I could title this post, 1st of many 2014 Disneyland trips! But sadly no, this will be our one and only trip there of the year - and really should be for a few more years but we'll see :)
Mike and I really wanted to go to Disneyland one last time before Kendall turned 3 and we would have to start paying for her. It was a very different trip for us this time because we decided to go with just our little family. Even though having extra help around and other people to go on rides with is a major plus of going with other family/friends, this was one of the best Disney trips I have ever taken! We have so many awesome people in our lives that we often forget that we should do stuff alone from time to time. Last minute we decided to cut our trip down to 2 days in the park but they were two of the best days ever.
Kendall was the most incredible kid the entire trip. She did great and fell asleep in the car on the trip down (we left at 6 on Thursday night and she fell sleep around 9:30), she slept perfectly in her sleeping bag in the hotel with very little struggle to get her to go down, did not have a single melt down in Disneyland despite being there for over 12 hours each day and was a happy camper Sunday on the drive home with a constant stream of movies keeping her occupied. Seriously, how did we get SO lucky with her!?
We let Kendall pick the first ride of the trip and she wanted to head straight to the teacups (barf). I sat the first time out so I could take pictures but sucked it up to join her and Mike on her other rides. She switches her answer between the teacups, Little Mermaid and Winnie the Pooh when you ask her what her favorite ride was :) She was timid in the Haunted Mansion (or Happy Mansion as she calls it) and had her eyes covered for most of Pirates of the Caribbean, but other than that she didn't seem to mind any of the rides we took her on. Oh, the last time we went on the Little Mermaid she decided that "I don't like the sea-witch!" so it took a little convincing to get her to go on it. But of course she was wide eyed and signing the entire ride. She passed out in her stroller both days, which is a miracle for her, and would have slept for hours on end if we let her. The first day I woke her up after an hour but she wasn't having it so I gave her another hour and let Daddy ride some big kid rides :) The second day she slept in her stroller for over an hour while we grabbed lunch and walked around downtown Disney, almost another hour when we decided to go back to the hotel, then woke up wanting to help Daddy play a video game and passed back in our bed for another hour! I finally woke her up since I knew the park was going to get nuts Saturday night.
I could write a million paragraphs on the trip but I'll get to millions of pictures instead. We really did have a wonderful trip and I wouldn't change a thing about it. It's going to be extra hard to hold out on going until baby #2 is older!
YAY Disneyland!!!!
Momma forgot her makeup bag at home. Oh well, family picture!
First ride of the trip
About to go into Alice in Wonderland (my favorite kiddo ride)
Dumbo! Daddy squeezed in too after taking this picture.
K loved driving all the cars on the rides
First Character Meeting. Kendall was so excited to see the characters but got nervous/shy while in line. We found the trick was if she could see them interacting with other kids in line for a while she was totally ok going up to them. But as you'll see below with Winnie the Pooh, if she just got to walk right up to them she wanted nothing to do with them. Silly girl!
She was waving and calling his name until we walked up haha!
We had lots of play time in Toon Town
Mickey's house! We had some shyness issues here as well but we left a few people go ahead of us so we were the last group to see him. After a bit of me holding her she was all about him!
And he was all about her! One of MANY kisses Kendall got from Mickey!
In California Adventure on Luigi's Flyer Tires
Meeting McQueen!
This girl was wide awake one second and passed out leaning out the side of the stroller onto a garbage can while I waited for my coffee the next! The only reason I even noticed she was out cold was people walking towards us were giggling and pointing at her!
After I tried to wake her up she rolled over and yelled SLEEP! at me :)
Waiting for one of Daddy's favorites - the sliding ferris wheel
This was Mike and my first time really checking out Bugs Land. There are some really fun kid rides in there!
We watched part of World of Color from the backside, but decided to sneak off to Toy Story Midway Mania while the line was short. Good thing because the park was closing down by the time we got off and we still caught the end of the show!
No problem falling asleep after a 9-11 day in Disneyland!
Back and ready for more Day 2
She was SO excited to finally get her Jack Skellington doll!
It's hard to tell, but if you look closely at the first row you can see Kendall's arms up :)
Minnie was the only character Kendall did not shy away from at all. She was yelling and waving at her from line then RAN up to her when it was her turn.
Check out my nail polish Minnie!
Then two minutes later she refused to get put down for Pluto.
But still gave him some kisses and pets :)
Singing and playing in line at Fantasy Faire
Princess Tiana
Cinderella
And Sleeping Beauty!
We actually went on the Mark Twain Steam boat! I don't ever remember being on it before.
Mommy needed to sit for a minute and K took advantage with some cuddle time
This picture may be my favorite picture of all time! CHEESE! (just like her mommy)
We left Disneyland to go back to CA Adventure since Kendall didn't seem to want to fall asleep. Then, minutes after entering the park - out!
Mike took this after she woke up in her stroller then climbed into bed with us and re-passed out. I have my hands on both my babies!
Back in CA Adventure and taking a dance and bubble chasing break
My happy loves waiting for Francis' Lady Bug Boogie - one of our new favorites!
Drinking hot coco waiting for the fireworks
About half way through the fireworks Kendall said "lets get out of here!" so we listened and got in line for the only kids ride we hadn't ridden yet; Storybook Land. Thankfully we listened to her because the second the fireworks were over all the Fantasyland lines were a million people deep!
We of course had to do teacups one last time before we left. Our last ride was Winnie the Pooh (twice) and decided we were all pretty done for the night. Not a bad thing since we got there at 8am and left at almost 11:30pm!
Kendall fell asleep for about an hour coming down the grapevine (of course right before we made a pit-stop to use the bathroom!). It was pretty hilarious watching her trying to get comfortable while sleeping.
1 comment:
A totally wonderful memory you 3 created. It will last two more years....and your next trip for 4 will become a part of those memories. Wow! Just wow!
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