Disneyland!

We had so much fun in Disneyland with the kids. I worried a little bit about taking them this young, but they all loved it! Considering how much time we spent waiting in lines in the hot weather, they were so good. The hotel that we stayed at was about a 15 minute walk to the park, so we got up early each day to get in the park at opening and then went back for naps, then back to the park at night. The mornings were the best, the crowds were low and the weather was perfect. We were a little disappointed because the peak season was supposed to have ended after New Year's Day, but the park was packed. Luckily we stuck to the rides that all the kids could go on and those waits weren't too bad.

This was as we were leaving the drive-way.

We stayed the night in Vegas before heading to California on Sunday night. We met up with Steve and Susie (who had just gotten engaged the night before!!), Gatlin and Josh and their girlfriends and headed over to see the M&M and Coca-Cola stores.

The view from our hotel at the Monte Carlo in Vegas (free room thanks to Steve!)

We were worried about traffic the next morning from Vegas to California since it was the end of the New Year's Eve weekend so we decided to leave super early. I think we ended up heading out at about 5 AM. Jocelyn's stomach wasn't doing so well and right as we got out of Vegas, she threw up all over herself. We had to stop at the nearest gas station about and cleaned her up the best we could, but she had to ride the rest of the way without her carseat cover.

Cleaned up and ready to go again.

Since we left so early, we had to kill some time before we could check into our hotel. We headed to Newport beach because it was the first one that popped up on the map (by the way, I will never travel without a phone with navigation. We used it SO much in the park for wait times and the park map too). They had a little ferris wheel that Carly went on, and then we went on a little ferry ride to an island.

Newport Beach

Newport Beach

Ferris wheel with Carly

There's a shopping center near the hotel that had a bowling alley in the basement. The shops weren't great, it didn't look like they had many open and there was almost nobody there, but the bowling alley was really nice. We've never taken them before, so it was their first time.

Bowling shoes

Carly and Shawn

It was finally time to check in and the kids were so excited to see their bunk beds. They ended up watching fireworks from the top bunk each night.

Bunk beds

View of the fireworks from the hotel

The first day at the park was definitely my favorite. Adrian was so excited to get in the gate, every time I looked at her she had a huge grin on her face. The park was still decked out for the holidays, which was really fun to see. After getting a picture taken at the front, we ran into Minnie Mouse on Main Street and got kisses.

The first ride we went on was the Nemo submarine. It ended up being a favorite, the only ride we went on twice. It was entertaining to listen to Adrian. She knows her Disney movies, so she got really excited and knew all of the characters in every ride.

Buzz Lightyear's ride was next, and then we got to meet Tinkerbell and Vidia. They talked to the girls for a bit, asking them questions, it was really cute!

After that, we headed to Fantasyland through Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We went on Peter Pan, Snow White, and the carousel. Jocelyn slept through a couple of the lines.

Before heading back to the hotel, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean. The line was enormous and Carly ended up falling asleep in Shawn's arms. She woke up when the ride takes a drop and was a little confused! We went back to the hotel for naps and lunch and came back to the park just in time for the Christmas parade.

Then we went on the Haunted Mansion, Adrian was a little bit worried about that one, but she ended up really liking it. We went over to the Winnie the Pooh ride, and did the Jungle Cruise after that and called it a day.

Neither Shawn or I had been to California Adventure before, so we didn't really know what to expect, but they ended up having quite a few things for little kids too. The one we were really excited for was The Little Mermaid, so we headed there first.

We watched a 3D Muppet movie, and then went on the Monster's Inc ride. They had an interactive Turtle Talk with Crush there that was pretty fun.

On the other side of the park, we waited in the longest line of the trip for the Toy Story ride. While in line, they had a Mr. Potato head that talked. I didn't realize that he interacted with the people in line, so when we got up in front of him in line he started talking to Adrian. "Hey little girl in the pink. Yeah, you. Hey, I'm talking to you." She had no idea. He asked her who her favorite toy was, and she said Buzz so he asked if he paid her to say it. Pretty fun. The ride was a little different, the whole thing was a 3D shooting arcade game, similar to the Buzz one in Disneyland.

The Ferris Wheel was fun, we just had to convince Adrian in the line that we were not going to be on the cars that swing back and forth. She ended up really liking it, but got nervous anytime Carly or Jocelyn moved around.

We came back that night to watch The World of Color, but we were a little early so we found the Bugs Life 3D movie. It was really fun, the kids really liked it. At one point one of the bugs sprays the audience and Carly was so funny. She's a clean freak so she was ticked off and told Shawn "Ugh, that bug got me wet!" and then she had to wipe off each little drop of water. Adrian especially liked the stink bug that farted on the audience.

We had to get in line early for the World of Color show so both Carly and Jocelyn ended up falling asleep. It was well worth the wait though, it was one of our favorites. The whole show was probably 30-45 minutes long with music and really cool effects on the water. I've never seen anything like it.

The next day was our magic morning so we got up bright and early just to be let in a half hour late. By that day the crowds were pretty crazy. We decided to go on the submarine again and then somehow convinced Adrian to go on the Matterhorn. This was the only ride we went on that Jocelyn couldn't come with us on, so we used the stroller pass. With that we only had to stand in line once, Shawn went with Carly while I waited with Jocelyn and Adrian on the teacups, and then Adrian and I got to skip the line to go right on the ride.

We went on the Alice ride and then they got princess mouse ears at the Bibbity Bobbity Boo boutique.

We took a ride on the train and then on Dumbo.

After that, we headed over to the Roger Rabbit ride. Jocelyn fell asleep in line and they wouldn't let her ride unless she was awake, so we sat that one out. Then Carly went on the little roller coaster (go coaster?) with Shawn. At that point we decided we had pretty much seen all that we wanted to so we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hotel and at the pool.

They didn't care much for the actual pool, most of their time was spent in the hot tub.

Jocelyn would not let go of this once she got her hands on it. Not even the kids dared take it away from her!

The next day was full of lots of driving, luckily the kids didn't mind it too much.