Saturday, March 19, 2016

LEAP DAY !!!

So of course 2016 is a Leap Year which means we got an extra day and we chose to spend our day in Disneyland and California Adventure. It was so fun to wake up in our hotel room and be able to just walk over to the park.


We are always a little startled at just how many of us are there waiting for the park to open, but it's okay. Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth. We decided to be a little silly while we waited for opening.




The bonus of getting there early is that extra 30 minutes you get on Main Street before the rides open. We met Mickey and Donald!



We divided and conquered as the rope dropped. Mom came with Cara and me to ride Splash Mountain while Dad got us fast passes for HYPERSPACE mountain. We were one of the first people on Splash, but because Indiana Jones was closed there were a lot more people joining us.


By a twist of fate, we WERE the first people to hop on Big Thunder Mountain though. We were excited, plus we got an extra neat pass that let us on Splash Mountain again later that day!



Daddy took Iva and Sam to meet Tinker Bell and Fawn. Iva was smitten.



Unfortunately Sam had a breakdown that kind of continued for the whole morning. Tink couldn't cheer him up even!


Mom ran and met Peter while trying to cheer up Sam.


Iva's curls were insane while we were in California. She looked like she actually had hair. It was adorable.


Meeting Minnie again.


Iva liked playing in Goofy's Play House while the big kids did The Go Coaster. Iva was just an inch too short.


We couldn't resist meeting Mickey IN his house.



Isn't this such a fun picture of Mom? She was running to get us more fast passes for different rides and stopped!


Hyperspace Mountain was AWESOME. It's kind of like you are on Star Tours.


Mom is kind of obsessed with getting our free pictures that come with Disney Visa Card. She made us run over to California Adventure before it was too late. 



Stitch tried to play with Sam, but he was still in a MAJOR funk and was very upset and unsettled.


We played in one of our favorite places which was indoors and we thought maybe that would cool Sam off, but it did not.



Mom took Sam and Iva back to the hotel for nap time and it proved very healthy for everyone. Sam cheered up the moment he was laid on the bed and fed. He very much liked playing with Mom in an air-conditioned room. 


Dad played with Cara and me on Tower of Terror and Goofy's Sky School. Mom eventually met us back in Cars Land for Iva's first time on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree!




She didn't love it, but she didn't hate it. I think she was still in a post nap haze. She did however love meeting ARIEL back over in Disneyland.


Mom loves this picture of us on Splash so much because it's obviously two dads and they both have two daughters. (Plus Cara and I are acting scared and we think the other girls actually are!)


Tarzan's Treehouse! (In Mom's words, the endless staircase of death if you have toddlers and babies.)




Iva loved riding Winnie the Pooh. She hardly knew who he was, but she did by the time we left!



Waiting for the Paint the Night Parade! You have to get your seats early! We loved it. Iva would sing and dance along.


Sunday, March 13, 2016

Santa's Present Day Two

Sunday morning came awfully quickly for us sleepy heads, but we had decided to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa and not do Disneyland so we didn't have to get up early. We went to church with them and everything.


 


Aunt Jeanette even came over for a yummy spaghetti lunch. We always like to see her.


Santa set us up with special dinner reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. It was so much neat! We found a little Autopia car while we waited for our seats!


Then we got to meet Chef Goofy! This ended up being one of our very favorite family photos!


If you've never done a character dining experience, different characters come up to your table and greet you while you are eating. It's so fun. Iva loved giving everyone high fives and hugs and posing for pictures.





She also REALLY liked the yogurt and macaroni and cheese. (Goofy's Kitchen was a buffet! We had so many great choices! Mom even tried a pb and j PIZZA!)




We made it a point to take a bite of almost EVERY dessert. We skipped the bread pudding and cobbler, but we loved just about everything we sunk our teeth into!


We finally got Sam in on the photo ops. He was hard to capture.


Every half hour or so the characters would dance through the restaurant and wave their napkins and so would we.




Santa also set us up with a hotel for two nights right outside the gates of Disneyland. We even got a Frozen themed room! We took about an hour or so to swim in the pool while Mom got us settled into our room. She even fed Sam and watched some of the Oscar's.


Iva loved this little pint sized bed. She ended up falling off it and crawling into Mom and Dad's bed, but it was kind of fun to pretend.