Disneyland!!

Our first day in Disneyland was awesome!!  We chose a great time of year to go, but it had some disadvantages. For example, the park wasn't open as early or late as usual, several rides were closed for renovation, there were no fireworks during the week etc.  BUT we didn't wait longer than 30 mins for anything, the weather was perfect and since it was our girls' first time, they didn't know they were missing out on closed rides, shorter park hours, etc. so that worked in our favor.  :)

Here come the pictures!

   waiting for the park to open

 The girls were in HEAVEN driving the Autopia cars

eating snacks while waiting for the Nemo ride

We spent the rest of the morning in Toon Town meeting all the characters.  Such a different trip with young kids!  I'd never stood in line to meet a character before and the Mickey Mouse line ended up being our longest wait!

 

Daisy was Afton's favorite.  I just love this look of pure joy in her eyes.

Minnie's House

Afton called this the Daniel Tiger trolley.  Adorable

Gadget Coaster.  This girl is a thrill seeker, just like her parents!

We finally made it out of Toon Town and headed over to Fantasy Land for the Tangled show. This is the picture of a pretty freaking awesome dad.  We didn't make it in time to sit in the theater to watch the show so he stood in the back, scooped up both girls and let them watch like this for 30 mins.  He's also wearing a back pack.

 Excited for the Haunted Mansion!

 Sword fight in the Pirates gift shop

 Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  We rode this SEVEN times thanks to Afton.  It was definitely her favorite! 

 Splash Mountain.  The girls did not love this ride. Sadie said "I think that last hill is just a little too tall for me..."

 Star Tours

 Astro Orbiters.  They loved anything they were in charge of driving.

Mad Hatter Tea Cups.  Another favorite that we rode several times!

My princesses

 

And this is how we ended night one.  :)  Afton crashed on the walk back to the hotel so we stopped to buckle her in before she fell out.  It was a jam packed day of incredible Disney fun!

Getting to Disneyland

We had the greatest week at Disneyland for Sadie's birthday!  We'd been tentatively planning a trip for months and after the failed sale of our house, we decided there was no better way to recover than a few days at the happiest place on earth!

We had signed up for a Southwest credit card just for the miles, so we decided not to waste time driving and let the girls experience their first flight.  Can't beat $20 for 4 round-trip flights!

 eating at the airport while we waited

 both girls loved looking at the airplane information booklet

We didn't need to rent a car since we chose a hotel so close to Disneyland, so we just got a shuttle to the hotel.  The girls thought the "big red van" was super cool.

 waiting for the shuttle

The girls kept busy by playing games on our phones during the shuttle ride, but got pretty bored and just wanted to be at Disneyland!  Who could blame them?

 Afton refusing to talk to us and pretending to take a nap in the shuttle.
She was really done by this point.

The hotel was nothing fancy but it was super close to the park and even had bunk beds for the girls!  They sleep in bunk beds at home anyway, so it was an easy transition for them.  They felt right at home!

The girls really wanted to stay up for the Disneyland fireworks that night (perfect view from our balcony!) but they were just too tired.  The fireworks were SO loud.  It literally sounded like someone was throwing baseballs at our room, but we couldn't wake the girls, no matter how hard we tried.  They were just too worn out from the day of traveling.

With the time difference in California and daylight savings that same weekend, the girls were up SUPER early every day.  They were asking for breakfast by 6 am so we were always first in line at the hotel buffet by 7:00 am sharp.

 eating breakfast

We still had a couple hours to kill every day after breakfast before the park even opened so we played with toys in the hotel room and watched a couple cartoons before heading to the park.

Park pictures coming up!

Sadie's Birthday

Sadie just turned 5 and had a fun filled day!  We also celebrated her birthday the whole next week in Disneyland, but that'll be a separate post...

She woke up bright and early and so excited for her day. She opened her presents from mom and dad after breakfast and then played with all her new stuff until it was time for school.

She had the "best day ever!" and it wasn't over yet!  We went to Chuck E Cheese to ride some rides, picked out her annual birthday balloons and then went out to her favorite restaurant.

We opened presents at Grandma's house next and she loved every minute.  We ended the night by packing for our trip to Disneyland!

And if you know Sadie at all, you'd know she loved helping us organize the suitcases.  :)

Happy Birthday beautiful!  We're so happy to have you in our family.

Fall Fun!

Every year we take advantage of the Hometown Heroes weekend and spend an afternoon at Cornbelly's!  They do free admission for firefighters, police officers and military which is right in our price range!  :)

It was FREEZING this year and we wouldn't have gone if it wasn't such a good deal but the girls didn't care at all--they had a great time!

The next weekend we went to Pumpkinland!  The girls always love this place.  They cater really well to young kids with the size of their corn maze, bounce houses, farm animals, playground and kid-friendly spook alley.  It's a favorite for sure!

Corn Maze

I adore this.  Afton walked with her hand on Sadie's back through the whole maze.  

 

 

Family Pictures 2013

I have officially fallen off the blogging bandwagon.  I hate how behind I am, so I promise that I'll slowly catch up on the summer... later.  :)

For now, these are too good not to post!  To say that Afton was uncooperative would be the biggest understatement.  She told us she was scared, the flash was too bright, she was tired and wanted to go to bed... and anything else she could think of to avoid smiling.  It's a miracle we got any of her smiling!

 

 

 
And as always, a big thanks to our super talented friend Jeff for taking these and making us look good!