As part of the kids' birthday and Christmas celebrations, we trekked to Disneyland once again. Yep, twist our arms since we are making sure we get our moneys-worth out of our annual pass ;-) and well who wouldn't want to see Disney all decked out for the holidays! We left on Friday afternoon and had smooth sailing the whole way.
Trevor watched a movie and Ashley napped until we stopped for a quick dinner. After dinner both kids fell asleep...quietest ride ever! We got settled in our hotel room just in time to watch the Disney fireworks! It was a bit cold to watch them from the balcony but none of the 'kids' seemed to mind watching them from a bed!
On Saturday morning after our usual Disney breakfast of donuts and juice boxes, we got on our Mickey gear...
...then promptly bundled over it since it was supposed to be cold and rainy all day.
Luckily for us, the first few hours of the day actually weren't that bad!
First ride of this trip? Tow Mater, of course!!! Mommy and Trevor just laugh and laugh the whole ride.
Weeeeeeeeee!
Since there was hardly anyone at the park because of the poor weather forecast we didn't even have to use a rider switch pass for Daddy to ride it with Trevor!
You just can't help but laugh the whole ride...the country music, the way the trailer whips around, just so much fun!
After that though, the rain came! Trevor was probably the most prepared with his rain jacket and boots... and an early Christmas present of a fire fighter umbrella that was just his size!
We headed over to the Toy Story arcade game because the line is mostly under cover and so Ashley could 'walk' around.
That is, when she wasn't getting shoulder rides from Dada!
Not sure if Trevor enjoys the ride because he gets to shoot things or because he gets to wear fun glasses...or both!
Only one picture with wearing the glasses...sheez Mom!
The rain let up a bit so Daddy and Trevor went on Luigi's Tires.
Well, we thought the rain let up...at least it did when they were in line but it came back full force as soon as the ride started!
The rain didn't stop the laughter and fun though!
What a fun ride set amongst a beautiful scenery! Never mind the rain!
We loved, loved, loved all of the holiday decorations around Disney! Everything had a touch of holiday added to it. So neat to see! Some of us just didn't want a picture at each cool thing ;-)
When Daddy and Trevor went on Soarin' - Mommy and Ashley tried to catch some shut-eye after our little diva decided she wasn't going to sleep in the pack and play next to Mommy's bed. She much preferred sleeping in Mommy's bed and thought it would be fun to wake up two or three times just to make sure Mommy was there! Aye caramba! Yawn....
Since the park was pretty dead on Saturday the boys decided to stand in line for their favorite Radiator Springs Racers ride. Trevor was so excited. He talked about how he wasn't going to be scared going over the bumps because he's four now. He also stated that he was going to put his arms in the air while going over the hills!
They were ready!!
And yep! Both boys raised their arms over the bumps!
We didn't bring our good camera this trip to see if we missed it. And we actually didn't miss it. Not with Disney Photopass. Although without it we didn't get very good pictures of the hands in the air over the hills with just our iphone but oh well! Not lugging that thing around and hauling it in and out of the backpack each time we wanted to take a pic was fabulous!
Of course, we headed to Ariel after that. One, because it's one of Trevor's favorite rides. Two, the line is always short. Three, even Ashley likes the music and bobs her head to the tunes!
We stuck pretty close to California Adventures most of the day which allowed us to explore Bugs Land. Adam and Cole loved the Bug Show so we checked it out. The glasses were pretty cool for a photo op, but the show was not so great in our opinion. Pretty scary for kids!
Well we combated the bug show with a stop at Disney Junior. We high-tailed it over there and literally just made it in. If Mommy wouldn't have kept up running with Daddy and his long legs, only the boys would have made it in. Whew! Trevor was really into the snow!
Ashley was into everything - the characters, the music, being able to crawl around!
Daddy with his kiddos!
Later that night, we got to see the new car 'DJ Jazz' and had a lot of fun dancing to the music (not that you can tell that by Trevor's face!)
Why such a sad face on Trevor in that pic? Well not more than two seconds after putting him in the stroller to head back to the hotel, he fell asleep! Hence why he isn't in this photo!
But we did include him in this one!
And not more than three seconds after putting Ashley in the stroller, she too fell asleep. Mind you it was maybe 7:00! So we headed back to the hotel for a good nights rest since we'll be back three more days! On the way out of the park we posed by the big Christmas tree. The photographer had us do reindeer antlers to fit with the Christmas spirit!
Both kids slept the 10-15 minute walk back to the hotel (you tend to walk a bit fast when it's freezing out!) but as soon as we walked into our room, Ashley was wide awake! Poor girl just wanted to crawl around and play with toys. We love how our little cheerleader even popped her collar to complete the preppy look! Thanks to her cousin Lauren for the cute outfit!
On Sunday the rain cleared up but it was chilly! We started in Carsland again and this time look who wanted his picture taken??
We headed right to Radiator Springs Racers for Mommy and Trevor to use the previous day's Rider Switch pass. They let us use it now because the ride was broken the last night when we went to use it!
Trevor was so excited to show Mommy how he had his hands up over the hills. Can you see it here? Probably not because of Mommy's crazy hair! He he!
Daddy didn't get a much better shot either! It was windy!
But this is what we did over the hills!
What did Daddy and baby Ashley do while Mommy and Trevor were on the ride? Just hang out and look pretty cool in their Mickey and Minnie gear!
Trevor had the idea when we were packing for our trip to bring Santa hats! Sure glad he did because not only did a lot of other people look festive...so did Mater!!!
We are lucky to have kids who can still sleep in the stroller...Ashley took a two and a half hour nap in the stroller!
So why she slept the boys watched the 'hi ya' guys (still not sure how she slept through that noise)
And since she was still sleeping, Mommy and Trevor went on the Nemo ride. While in line, Trevor says to Mommy "hey look! Daddy is eating our popcorn!" Busted!
As usual, Trevor loved pointing out all of the Finding Nemo characters during the ride!
After a quick lunch we headed over to 'Mickey's house' and Toon Town to see if we could see Minnie Mouse. Usually the wait is so long that we skip it but with Ashley wearing Minnie Mouse we thought today was the day to meet her! And luckily the line wasn't that long, but Mommy and Daddy took turns taking the kids to a nearby play area to help pass the time. Ashley loved going down the slide with her big brother!
Before we knew it, it was our turn to meet Minnie! Trevor thought she was pretty neato!
And Minnie thought Ashley was pretty neato in her Minnie outfit!
We headed next door to Mickey's house where Trevor played his piano...
...and waited and waited....but then it was time to meet Mickey! Ashley was more into Mickey than Minnie! She smiled!
And gave him a high five!!
Then played shy!
Then did it again!
Happy holidays from us and Mickey to you!
Pretty cool that Daddy, Trevor and Ashley were all in Mickey/Minnie gear for this pic! Now Mommy just needs a Mickey/Minnie shirt to fit in!
After that we caught the tail end of the Disney parade. Trevor was so excited that Santa made an appearance at Mickey's house!!
As night fell, we did a few rounds of the Buzz ride!
We also found our special spot and had someone take a picture of us with the magical Christmas castle.
It was so pretty from our spot!!!
But it was even better from right in front!! The area was roped off for the parade but Brian asked if we could get a quick pic in front and they said yes. Well our timing was just perfect because we got in line for the Disney photographer to snap our pic and we were the last ones allowed in the line. And just like the last time we came there was no one behind us in the pic because the area was being cleared out!
We were lucky once again! Love this series of pictures....even if we had to track them down post-vacation because they weren't on our photo pass card.
Reindeer antlers again :)
Say cheese! Or mouse!
The best memory though is when Trevor announced 'family hug' and it was captured!
After that the boys went on Dumbo for the first time in any of our visits to Disneyland!
The park was pretty quiet because their annual 'live singing Christmas nativity story' was going on up front so we made our way to Small World to check out their holiday display which was very cool! Not only was it fully decorated, they had a light show to music every 10 minutes! Dada and Ashley got a pic while Mommy and Trevor waited in line.
Even the inside of the ride was decked out in holiday decor. It was neat to see!
Ashley fell asleep during the ride (not sure how given all of the visual stimulation and tunes) but we still grabbed a family pic.
Another family hug!
On the way out of the park for the evening (our latest night of any trip!!) Daddy, Mommy and sleeping Ashley got a pic in front of the tree. Trevor said he didn't want one....well big surprise! By the time the pic was taken he was sleeping!
No worries though! He woke up when we got to the room and requested pizza! Luckily there is a food court at the hotel and we had stopped to get some food! What a treat....pizza in bed!
On Monday we headed out, all bundled up once again! Doesn't Ashley look excited? By now she got a little better with sleeping but she could still do a little better :)
As in she fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the park! Earliest morning nap ever! But that's okay, it worked out good for the boys to go on Pirates of the Caribbean and once Ashley woke up, Mommy and A stood in line for Jungle Cruise. By the time we were almost to the front the boys came and bi-passed a 40 minute wait! Even Jungle Cruise had holiday decor...and jokes....how lucky for all of us :)
When we asked Trevor what he wanted to do next he said 'rockets with Mommy'....great, just Mommy's cup of tea!
It wasn't so bad going round and round, but when you add Trevor maneuvering it so that it would go up and down at the same time, she got a bit nauseous.
After our late night, both kids were pretty sleepy so they took naps in the stroller. That didn't stop us from getting our picture with Jessie :)
With the kids sleeping we decided to try out the trattoria that looked so good every time we walked by! They had heaters in the ceiling so between that and the sun it felt pretty good! The drinks probably warmed us up too!
Ashley woke up first and loved the special time with Dada!
They were so cute playing together!
Awww...kisses from Dada!
A rare photo of just Daddy, Mommy and baby Ashley!
Then the funniest thing...Daddy was taking a picture of the two of them with his phone and Ashley must have been watching the screen because Daddy stuck out his tongue and Ashley copied!
Then Trevor woke up and we got a complete family photo!
Daddy spoiled our little guy by getting him one of the twirly suckers he had been pining over. Can you say sugar high?
After that we headed over to Mickey's house to catch the parade. After a seat shuffle we scored a spot at a pretty awesome location. We just had a bit of a wait but Trevor entertained us all with his stellar break dancing moves!
He and Ashley also played a game where Ashley would push him away and he would fall to the ground and they would both laugh and laugh and laugh!
You knew the parade time was getting closer because night was upon us. So we got Ashley out of the stroller to stretch her legs before she'd be sitting in it again!
Before we knew it, the holiday parade started. We probably took a hundred pictures (thankful the iphone takes somewhat decent pictures). We will spare you from seeing all of them on the blog but they will be good for the photo book Mommy will do for Trevor later!
Ashley was in amazement the entire parade!
As was Trevor!
The best part though was when Ashley would get all excited and wave and wave and wave to all of the characters!
Trevor thought the big moving Christmas trees were pretty cool!
As were Mickey and Minnie ice skating on one of the floats!
And of course, a talking Santa ended the parade!
On our way out of the park that night, Brian took a snapshot of the castle. It was so so pretty at night!
Trevor announced on the way home that it was the best day ever! Maybe because we were picking up pizza again for a late dinner. Whatever the case, we agree that family vacations are the best...even if it's a cold weather vacation ;)
On Tuesday, we packed up when we woke up. We, meaning Mommy and Daddy...Ashley and Trevor just sat there and waited by eating the time away!
After loading up the car, we headed to the parks! First stop for the boys....Radiator Springs Racers since the wait time was short! Trevor was so excited to go for the third time this trip!
Hands up! He's ready!
What did the girls do? They went to the Princess village to see if by chance Sleeping Beauty/Princess Aurora was in since that is how our Princess Ashley was dressed. And guess what? She was!
Ashley got a kick out of her tiara!
Princess Aurora couldn't get enough of her little mini-me....
..either could the photographer. He must have taken 30 pictures of our cutie while we were with Princess Aurora!
She is pretty cute :) (even if her tiara is squishing her poor head!)
After Princess Aurora came.....
....surprise! Ariel!
It's too bad Trevor didn't go with the girls! He loves Ariel!
The third princess that morning was Cinderella! Ashley seems to think 'oops, I should have worn Cinderella!'
The girls got done just in time to run over to Carsland and see the boys come over the hills!
Trevor looks so little in his Dada's arms!
After that we had an early lunch of snacks and leftover cold pizza. Prince Trevor (!) may have just had some of his sucker for lunch!
Ashley however devoured her cheese-less pizza. Forgot to mention but when we called to order the pizza en route to the hotel the night before, they were so diligent about making a dairy-free pizza for Ashley and Mommy that they didn't start making it until it was okay that they substituted marinara sauce for their pizza sauce because their pizza sauce had parmesan cheese in it! Now that's a place that understands allergies!
We took a spin on a new bug ride....that was so dizzy that we won't be going on that again!
A quick Ariel jaunt...
Another pic for us to remember all of the festive and nice Christmas decorations at Carsland.
One last ride on Monsters! And when we were coming out of the ride we saw Sulley!!! Trevor was SO excited!
Awwwww...
Ashley wasn't so sure why we were all so excited about a blue monster!
But Trevor was in awe!
And with that it was time to head home so that we wouldn't get home too late with Daddy having work and Trevor having school in the morning! We decided though we would quick have one last Buzz ride and a quick pic in front of the magical castle during the day.
Although it didn't look as magical during the day as it did at night! And it was sure hard to get a good pic when we were all looking into the sun!
But that's a-okay because Trevor once again said that we should have a family hug and that is how our trip ended. With love and hugs and blessings that we were able to place these wonderful Disney memories in our hearts. Disneyland truly is a magical place...especially over the holidays!
