Disneyland 2012

Last week we went to Disneyland with some great friends and had such a fun time.  We left last Saturday afternoon, stopped in St. George to eat dinner, then drove the rest of the way through to California.  Our friend Charley has a nice big tour bus that we all went on, which has a place for everyone to sleep as well as a bathroom, so we could drive without stopping.  It was cozy!

The kids hanging out in their bunks on the bus...they were just as excited to hang out on Charley's bus as they were for Disneyland!

We got to Anaheim Sunday morning and after we got all of our stuff loaded into the hotel we headed over to Disneyland for Day 1.  Our hotel was literally right across the street from the entrance so it was a quick, easy walk which made it really nice.  We made the girls these cute disney shirts/outfits to wear.

 

Cassie's birthday was the Sunday we got there...she got a little treat at IHOP when we took a break for dinner.

I LOVE Radiator Springs....it looks just like you're in the Cars movie.  It's so cute.  We were just there in July but it was so crowded that we didn't get to enjoy it much so it was fun to spend some time there and ride all of the rides.

All Macie would talk about since July was going on Tower of Terror.  She wouldn't go it last time but we had a "must try once" rule and after she went on it she said it was her favorite ride!  She loved it!  This was one of a few rides that I stayed off of since I'm prego!

On Monday night we had dinner at Ariel's Grotto with the princesses.  It's a pricey dinner but I have to say the food is amazing and filling and it is such a fun experience that both times we've done it I've never regretted it.  Plus, the girls get to spend time with the princesses one on one which is impossible when they see them in the park.  It was a fun evening.

Belle was my favorite.  She was extra cute to the girls and hung out for quite awhile with them, playing ring-around-the-rosies, dancing, hugging, and chatting.  Right before she left she found Paxton and kissed him on the forhead and left a big lipstick mark on his head.  It was too cute!

We got to Disneyland the first week of the Christmas decor and it was so fun. The fireworks show was right above the castle and they are the coolest fireworks especially with the Christmas music playing.  Then at the end the castle and trees all over main street light up white and it "snows"...it is so neat!

 

On Tuesday Macie and I drove to LA to the American Girl store.  I rented a car and we left around 9:30am.  It's technically only about 45 minutes away but with the ridiculous California traffic it took us about 90 minutes.  Macie said she didn't feel good so I assumed she was overly tired or car sick...about 20 minutes into the drive she started throwing up all over the backseat (amazingly she didn't get any on herself!)  I was in a rental car so I didn't have ANYTHING but my purse, and even the wipes that I usually carry were in the backpack with Tony and Pax.  I had to get off the first exit I came to which was some ghetto city and all I could find was a Home Depot.  I pulled in and went to the end of the parking lot where about 10 hispanic men started running toward the car thinking I was there to give them work!  I hurried and sped off and parked at the front of the store and went in.  I bought a fabric cleaner/deodorizer and a pack of towels.  I got the car cleaned up...thank goodness the Honda Accord has some super nice microfiberish fabric on the seats so the throwup came up easily.  I asked Macie if she wanted to go back to the hotel but she really wanted to go the AG store so we got cleaned up and continued on.

Macie seemed to be feeling better by the time we got to the store...she fell asleep for about a half hour which helped.  She took her McKenna doll with us and got the doll's ears pierced and hair done.  I started to get a little lightheaded and almost passed out so I had to sit down and relax, but Macie was in heaven in that store so she just looked around.  I let her pick out a new outfit and some glasses for McKenna then we grabbed a smoothie and sat outside, then left around 1:30pm.  The traffic home was once again ridiculous and Macie threw up her smoothie on the way home...luckily this time we were prepared with some towels and a bag so it wasn't a big deal.  She slept the rest of the way. 

I had to stop off at a Target in Anaheim to buy a new stroller.  The day before the handlebar on mine busted off completely so it's useless.  The last thing I wanted to have to buy for my last baby was a new stroller.  I bought a cheap one to get me through the week then I'll take it back and get a better one later.  We finally got back to the hotel around 3:30pm.  It was kind of a crazy day...would have been better without us feeling crappy, but we were good by the time we got back so we spent the rest of the day in Disneyland with everyone else. 

Paxton & Avery...I seriously LOVE this cute girl!

Tony and Macie in the Captian EO 3D show.

Macie and Avery with Buzz....we had waited in line to see Woody which Pax was really excited about but right before we got to him they traded him out for Buzz.  Pax REFUSED to get close to Buzz!  Wierd kid!!!

Macie and I went on the Grizzly River Run which is way fun but neither of us wanted to get too wet so we wore ponchos and came out mostly dry.  The poor couple that was with us didn't get so lucky!  Haha!

I was adoment about us going on the Small World ride...it was decorated SO cute for Christmas...we loved it!

The whole crew on Day 6 of Disney.  We were all pretty much done by this day!

We left Friday evening after dinner and drove through the night and got home around 9am on Saturday morning.  It was so nice to put the kids to bed and wake up home!  Thanks so much to Charley for staying up all night to drive us...he seriously is the BEST!!!


It was such a fun week.  On Thursday night we got to see the World of Color show which was amazing!  Poor Charley and Preslee spent all of that day sick in their hotel room then Avery got sick that night then Kira got sick the next night on the bus.  So at least one member of each family got a little bug.  But it didn't ruin our great trip.  We had such a fun group of friends and all of the little girls were darling and got along so well.  We loved the new Cars ride (Radiator Springs racers) and worked the stroller pass system so we got to ride it quite a few times.  The lines weren't too bad other than that ride so we got to ride everything over and over.  My favorite ride is still Space Mountain, Tony liked all of them, Macie's favorite was Tower of Terror and Space Mountain, and Pax's favorite was Pirates of the Carribean.  I do have to say 6 days in Disney is a lot...I think when/if we do it again we'll do a max of 4 days.  Plus, Pax was an inch short to ride a lot of the rides which was frustrating, so we said we won't go back until all of our kids are at least 40 inches! :)