The first day in the park, we spent our time at Disneyland. Being pregnant didn't really even put a damper on the trip because I could ride all the kid rides and watch all the shows with the family. James only separated from us a few times to ride a few rollercoasters. The first ride we hit was Peter Pan, and it was probably the longest line we stood in the whole time. Waiting in line with cousins makes it go by faster though!
The Carousel is always a hit. Tanner, Tayton, and Grayson
Then we went on Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride, and this was on Grayson's top 2 favorite rides list.
Grandma and Hazel (her forehead anyway...)
The only event of the trip we scheduled was lunch with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto. It was totally worth it. We saved a lot of time by not waiting in several lines to see all these princesses. Hazel loved it! The food was really tasty too.
Grayson didn't like the princesses, but he dug the food.
That afternoon we were exhausted, so we went back for a late nap and then met the family at Mimi's Cafe for dinner. That night we went back to Disneyland for a few more rides - Dumbo and the Teacups (Grayson's other favorite ride), the Nemo submarine, and the boat ride through the whale's mouth, and It's a Small World. The fireworks were canceled that night because of the wind, but luckily we had 2 more days to catch the big show.
Day 2 was spent at California Adventure. We went to shows and met characters the entire morning, which was really fun. My friend Stephanie even made the trip out to see us with 2 of her kids! It's always so great to see the Speeds, and I even got to meet her precious little boy Bede.
At our Crush show, someone actually proposed, so that made it extra interesting.
This was the sing-along Frozen show, and Hazel wasn't fooled by the "snow", which was actually bubbles. She did always love when Elsa made an appearance!
Sunny looks like a relative of ours! This was the ladybug ride.
Here we are with Steph, Sunny, and Bede! That little guy is such a charmer!
Grayson loves Lightning McQueen and Mater, so we thought he'd love the ride since it was kind of like the teacup ride. False. "I don't wike the Mater wide. It is TOO cazy!"
Although I don't have a picture, Hazel would say that her favorite ride was Soarin'. James took her one time, and I went with her at night. The whole time in the line, she was helping me be brave and telling me all about it. When we took off, her face was so cute how it just lit up with excitement. It was worth the trip for me.
After naps we met the family again at Mimi's for a yummy dinner. I'm glad we did that a few times because that was how we saw the whole Palmer crew. We just had so many people and different ages, so it was impossible to do the whole trip together. After dinner we headed back to California Adventure. Before the water show "World of Color", we saw Lightning McQueen driving around, and Grayson was so happy. Hazel, on the other hand, went on the Cars ride with dad and was not quite as happy. I guess she wasn't quite ready for that fast of a ride. Lesson learned.
We got in our section for the water show, watched part of it and then decided to leave because the kids couldn't see much from where we were. We pushed through the crowds to head over to Disneyand in hopes of catching the fireworks, and we made it for most of it. On our way out every night, we got to see the beautifully decorated, ginormous Christmas tree.
Day 3 of Disney started out great because we got into Disneyland an hour early for our "Magic Morning." Dennis and Barbara spent pretty much the whole day with us, so that was fun. We did more teacups, Alice in Wonderland, the Rocket ride, Buzz Lightyear, and the "Jingle Cruise.
We also met Merida, which Hazel was very happy about.
Then we went back over to California Adventure and looked for Anna and Elsa. We also found Olaf's Fun Fest while over there, and the kids LOVED the snow!
Hazel's dreams came true!
So did Grayson's because we saw Jake! This is as close as he'd get to any character.
Later Grandma found Chip and Dale.
And we found the coolest playground ever! Grayson loved the rock slide, and Hazel loved the rope swing.
At night Dennis and Barbara sat out almost 3 hours early for the parade and fireworks. It was SO nice of them to save all of us spots, and I have to say it was worth it! The light parade was amazing, and the kids thought it was awesome!
Right after the parade, we walked right to the front of the castle to watch the fireworks, so we were in perfect position! Images were displayed on the castle front and Tinkerbell flew over the castle. It's the best firework show in the world I'm pretty sure. It was also the best ending to our magical trip. The kids were awesome (only a few expected tired/hungry meltdowns) and I think we got to do everything we wanted. Until next time, Disney!
