My parents joined us in California for a fun Disney/beach vacation. It was their first time going, and our kids first time as well. We had been talking about it for weeks and the kids were so excited to go see their favorite characters! We didn't make it a big surprise because, frankly they are too young to even know what Disneyland is if we hadn't told them! Plus it was nice to prep them about the rides and parades. Despite all our prep, they were still terrified of most of the characters!
We had a pretty good drive over, the kids were fairly well behaved with minimal whining and fell asleep about 30 minutes from our hotel (of course!). When Charlie hopped out of the car his hat was all twisted and he gave me a point for some reason- welcome to CA!
The hotel had fish ponds and the kids thought that was pretty neat!
And this little girl was still as content as can be in her seat. She is the PERFECT little traveler! So much quieter and happier than her siblings!
We found Grandma and Grandpa shortly after we arrived (Adam and the kids went downstairs to get something from the car and Charlie walked up to my dad and said, Are you my Grandpa?? LOL)
We hung around the hotel, ate some snacks, and did our nails!
This girl was pretty darn sleepy.
Oh wait I'm really excited!
These two were so excited to sleep in a couch bed!
The next day it was off to Disney!
Our first character sighting was Donald! We barely made it in the line before they stopped it (that happened nearly every time we found someone!)
Adella was MUCH more timid.
This is the only whole group picture we got, and the kids still aren't too sure of Donald, but the rest of us look happy to be at the happiest place on Earth!
We spotted Minnie, but she was ending her visits, but she spotted us, grabbed the stroller and posed anyway! So sweet!
Even though Adella wouldn't even smile or look at her, she adores Minnie! I think the large heads kinda scared them!
We rode some rides and I found it pretty difficult to take pictures while holding at least one kid, so they are few and far between. We found out rather quickly Adella didn't like anything in the dark and Charlie hated loud noises, so pretty much every ride!
The pooh ride was OK.
Then we got some treats at Pooh's corner and stood in line to meet him!
Pooh went over MUCH better and we didn't even have to go stand by them!
We got my mom to go on Splash Mountain and she LOVED it! She was kinda hooked on rides after that!
Then we took the kids on Dumbo, and they really liked that one!
They were a little nervous sitting in this Dumbo because Captain Hook was nearby and they were so afraid of him! Charlie didn't want to walk anywhere near him!
The kids rode autotopia and Adella loved this one! She got off jumping and bouncing all over the place!
I think that was the last ride we got my dad to go on!
We watched the parade and then left to go eat and went back to the hotel where these two crashed. I mean, really can it get any cuter!
The next day was a beach day! It was nice to just get up a bit later and enjoy breakfast and then head to the beach. The weather was gorgeous and the kids LOVED the sand!
Marilee hung out with me and slept the ENTIRE time we were there.
Building sandcastles with grandma!
Running from the waves!
This pic cracks me up, the water started coming up and Adella just lifted up her little feet knowing full well her daddy would keep her out of the water!
Finding shells!
She was seriously in love with this place!
We even managed to fly our kites!
Marilee finally woke up when we went to our favorite beach restaurant - Rockin Baja Lobster!
The next day back to Disney we went! This time California Adventure. We started on the ferris wheel. As you can see they aren't too sure about it. And in the end Adella will remind you over and over that she did NOT like the Micky Ride!
We tried to go meet Jessie. That was another bust, they were terrified!
But then we rode the Ariel ride and got Adella her princess crown and all was right again!
On Mater's ride!
Tower of Terror is Adam's favorite and my mom ended up loving it too! No matter how much we tried we didn't get my dad on a single ride that day!
We watched the Aladdin show (by accident haha) and Adella loved it, it was a little loud for Charlie!
We then found Doc McStuffins and Adella was sort of OK with that but only because daddy had a good hold of her!
The Disney Jr Show was a big highlight for both of them! It was so fun to watch them so captivated and also dancing around and participating in the show!
Charlie LOVED meeting LightningMcQueen!
And we had fun on the Cars Ride!
The bugs life rides were fun for them
And again they were so tuckered out! We didn't even get the lights out before they fell asleep!
It was a big trip for these kids and they are still talking about it. I love how they can recall such fun memories - I hope they will be able to at least sort of remember the trip as they get older. I guess that's what pictures and scrapbooks are for!
