The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland Family Trip - February 2013

Since it was Rodeo Week, we decided to take advantage of the fact that Alexa had two days off of school.  So we packed up and headed up to Gilbert as soon as Kevin got home from work on Wednesday afternoon.  We dropped Barrett off at Kevin's parents' house for the weekend so we wouldn't have to deal with napping, diapers, strollers, etc.!!  And boy what a fantastic idea that was!!!  We figured he wouldn't have remembered this trip anyways AND we'll go back when he's older, so it was all good!

 

We got to our hotel RIGHT across the street from Disneyland very late on Wednesday night (Thursday morning) and then got up super early to head on over to The Happiest Place on Earth! I think I was as excited as the girls!!!

 

We went through Sleeping Beauty's Castle first thing.

 

 

 

The girls' first taste of a Dole Whip!

Payton loves it so much it's putting her to sleep!! :-)

 

The Carousel was a favorite! 

 

As was Dumbo!

 

The Teacups!

 

The Toy Story ride was a huge hit too...mostly because the line wasn't very long when we went to it, so we got right on!!

 

I loved seeing the looks of joy on their faces MANY times throughout the trip!!!

 

Our cute little family!

(stinker Payton wasn't in the mood for a picture, apparently)

 

How appropriate to find a toothbrush while waiting in line for one of the rides in Toon Town.

 

The second day we were there, we started off over at California Adventure.

The Little Mermaid ride was an instant favorite!

 

We loved this ride too!

 

Me and my pretty princesses!

 

Daddy and his princesses...they are all ready for our lunch with THE princesses!!!!

 

One of the best decisions we made was to get tickets to have lunch with the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto.  The girls got to have their picture taken with Ariel before we sat down at our table and then while we were eating, the other princesses would come out and walk around to each table to meet all the kids.  We were near the beginning and so it didn't take long to see each one as they came out!  Definitely a highlight of our first Disneyland Trip!

 

I waited in line a long time to get our fast passes to the Cars ride...AND we even had to wait out a delay where the ride was shut down...AND we were worried we wouldn't make it to our designated time slot due to being at lunch with the princesses.  BUT, we made it and it was super fun.  Not near long enough of a ride though, if you ask me!!! 

 

We managed to be eating dinner right where one of the parades went by and Payton loved it.  She wanted to be right out there as everyone went by.  Alexa was a bit more unsure and held back.  But it was nice not to have to stake out a spot and wait forever for the parade to start!

 

We went on the huge ferris wheel...looking happy before we realized that it's a CRAZY ferris wheel.  We knew we had chosen the car that rocked to and fro but we didn't realize how MUCH it would actually rock us!!!  We had one nervous little Alexa after that ride!

 

On Friday afternoon, we walked back to our hotel to take a nap so we could go back to the park for The World of Color that night.  And I'm sooooo glad we did.  It was awesome! 

 

Seriously spectacular!

 

Payton turned out to be our little daredevil on this trip.  She loved all the scary rides that Alexa hated!  It was kinda fun to see their different personalities really come out!

 

Our last day at Disneyland!

We knew we needed to represent Tucson!

It was pretty funny how many times we heard "Beardown" or "Go Wildcats" from other fellow Arizona fans while we were there that day!  I swear, we saw more Arizona shirts/hats/gear than any other school!  I guess most people get out of dodge when the rodeo comes to town...and they all head to Disneyland!!!

 

We came back to our hotel on Saturday afternoon to find this.  We had put up the Do Not Disturb sign on our door the two previous days and simply forgot that day.  But the girls loved what housekeeping did to their bed!

 

AND THEN...we went to the beach.

First time for Alexa and Payton.

And despite it still being somewhat chilly, they got right in the water.

We told them to just get their feet wet, but it didn't take long until they were soaked through!

 

Do you think they liked it???

 

Me and my love!

 

Couldn't resist!

I know they'll hate me in years to come for posting these pictures...

but those cute little bum cracks were too tempting to pass up!!

 

And on that note...we are DONE!  Phewf...picture overload!

But what a FUN family vacation!

Can't wait to go again!