DISNEYLAND!!!!!

For a couple years we've said we'd go to Disneyland this summer. Mary would barely be young enough to still get in free but old enough that both her and Lydia would be able to enjoy it. But then this summer filled up so quick with trips that we figured we would be too busy and it would be a little out of our budget. But a couple weeks ago my friend Kris Hewitt texted me and said that they were going and their hotel room was big enough to share with us if we wanted to join. We looked over our budget, decided to do this instead of some other things we were planning on, Robert moved his schedule around a little bit, and before we knew it we were on our way. I got back from Utah on Tuesday, Wednesday afternoon we drove down to Anaheim, and Thursday we headed to the park.

Walking to Disneyland from the hotel. Mary is a goof!

One of the things Lydia was most excited for was seeing the Mickey flowers.

Flashback to 5 years ago when Robert and I went for our honeymoon. Oh how young and naive we were :)

Several people recommended making a list of "musts" and to do those first. After talking to the girls our "musts" were the Peter Pan ride, the carousel, the Dumbo ride, and waiting in line to see some of the princesses. Peter Pan was the first thing we did. Lydia was AMAZED. She got off and went on and on, "That was the best ride in the WHOLE WORLD! We flew, and we were in the stars, and then there was a rainbow! That. Was. AMAZING!!" She has kind of a passionate personality ;)

Then it was off to the carousel.

James was a total trooper all day. He spent most of it in the carrier with me, and when he'd get hungry I'd feed him like this. And for the most part he napped in the carrier too. Such an easy baby!!

Then the Dumbo ride.

Instead of any of the forever long individual lines for the princesses, we went to The Royal Hall where it's one line for 3 princesses. We had the girls' princess outfits in our backpack, and the girls were so excited to put them on when we pulled them out.

James charmed everyone in the princess line too.

The 3 princesses we got to see were Snow White, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty and the girls were completely starstruck by each one.

Since the lines for the Peter Pan ride and the princesses can be really long, we weren't sure we'd get much more than our "musts" done. So when we got all of that done and had only been at the park for 2 hours, we were pretty stoked and considered everything we did the rest of the day "bonus."
First, it was off to Autopia. By the way, the Switch Pass -- if you're going to Disneyland with a baby it's the best thing EVER!

If you ask Mary what her favorite ride was, she says this every time.

They were so excited to hug Tigger, there was an audible, "Awww!" by the crowd around us from the cuteness of them.

Tarzan's Treehouse

In line for Buzz Astro Blasters, another favorite of the girls.

Feeding James as he dozed off... again :)

Classic picture of Robert and the girls hiding behind their fingers.
It's a Grandpa Johnston thing.

We owe it all to these guys! It wouldn't have happened if the Hewitts hadn't offered to share their hotel with us. They are the best!!

This picture perfectly illustrates the craziness of Disneyland with 6 kids 4 and under

We went on Small World and then I went to save a spot for us for the parade while Robert took the girls on Casey Jr.

Lydia takes after her Dad ;)

I shaded the girls while they ate their dinner before the parade. Lydia snatched this picture.

The girls waited anxiously for each float and then would squeal with excitement when they figured out who was on it. I started getting emotional just loving how much they were loving it.

The best part of this video - Mary's subconscious dancing through the whole thing :)

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip! Look at all
the excitement in that little face!! :)

By about 8:30pm the kids (and parents) were beat, so we went back to the hotel to watch the fireworks from our balcony. I prefer to watch them from in the park, but we wanted to be sure we left the park on a high note AKA without screaming kids.

The girls fell asleep cuddling their Mickey and Minnie dolls. The perfect end to the perfect day.

And then Friday we headed back up to Santa Cruz. It was such an amazing trip! It was the first family vacation we've ever done that didn't include a family reunion or going to Arizona to see family. This was just about our little family having fun as our little family, and I LOVE my little family. For a first family trip to Disneyland, it could not have gone better. It wasn't without the occasional meltdown, but you have to expect that. I love Disneyland, and I LOVE my family :)