The Happiest Place on Earth

Over mid-winter break (February 17-21), we took the kids to Disneyland. Grandma, Pop Pop, Uncle Brian, and Aunt Kristen came with us. It was truly a wonderful trip. Favorite memories include:

• Playing on the water slides at the Disneyland Resort.
• Riding the Cars ride - Matty was just under the 40-inch height requirement, so we stuffed his shoes with napkins.
• Taylor agreeing to ride the Tower of Terror with us. It was absolutely horrifying for her and she is probably still having nightmares about it.
• Brayden being Brayden - he got more excited about the trash cans than anything else in the parks. He looked like a pinball running from trash can to trash can.
• Despite being crazy, B did not like going on rides. Anytime he sat on a ride with us (even adorable rides like "It's a Small World"), he said "go home" on a loop until we got off.
• The ease at which the kids went to bed at night. Both Matty and Taylor fell asleep at the parks a couple of nights.
• Meeting many Disney characters, including Elsa, Anna, and Olaf.
• Taylor's princess Elsa makeover.

Now, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

And we're off! Breakfast burritos to start the trip. This was Brayden's first trip with his own seat on the airplane. Oh, how he loved it!

 

As we were checking in to our hotel, Goofy stopped by. The kids had a blast with him. Here he is playing hide and seek with the boys.

Playing at the pool

 

Trying out the water slides

Little B and Pop Pop in the wading pool

Looks like the kids are ready for water parks.

Snuggles with my boy. He fell asleep at the pool and slept on my chest for an hour. Ahhhh... I'll take it.

A sign of a good day. Taylor and Matty fell asleep as we were walking back from dinner on the first night.

Ready to hit the parks!

Family t-shirts. Cheesy, right? I don't care - it's for the kids!

First ride of the trip in Cars Land

We bought Brayden a leash. Don't judge. I was hopeful he would like the monkey (ooh ooh ah ah) backpack and wear it in the parks, but boy was I WRONG. He wore it for about 5 seconds and then had a complete meltdown until we removed it. The good news is that he agreed to hold our hands in exchange for removing the backpack/leash. Whenever he was disobedient from then on, we would threaten the leash and he would immediately grab an adult's hand.

Me and my girl before a Frozen sing-along.

Matty and Aunt Kristen. The kids love their Aunt Kristen and Uncle Brian, and I tried not to be upset when they wanted to sit by them on every.single.ride.

This is a picture of a picture of us on the Tower of Terror. Brian, Kristen, & Elaine are in the front row on the right and me, Taylor, and Tommy are in the middle row. Poor Taylor agreed to go on this with us but did not know what she was getting herself into. I pretty much hated the ride as well. I hate free-falling, but it's funny how differently you feel when your baby is on the ride with you. Instead of freaking out and screaming, I was re-assuring Taylor the whole time that it was almost over. You can even see my head turned toward her in this pic.

Mickey Ferris Wheel. We chose the cages that sway back and forth so it was a bit of a nerve-racking experience as well.

Family photo op with Mickey

Little B went back to Mickey for extra hugs!

My boys.

Have I mentioned that they adore Uncle Brian?

Day #2

We spent a lot of time in lines for character autographs.

Once Brayden figured it out, he could not wait for autographs either. Here he is fumbling through his book to a blank page.

Family selfie

 

Where's Matty? See that cute little head?
I am super proud of my boy for riding Space Mountain. After Taylor's bad experience on the Tower of Terror, she decided not to ride this roller coaster. She stood in line with us and opted out as we were boarding. Being the good mother that I am, I asked the attendant if she could wait for the rest of us on the other side of the roller coaster platform. He said it was no problem, so we got on the ride and took off. Three-quarters of the way through the ride, it stopped. The lights came on and we sat suspended on the tracks for a few minutes. I started panicking because I knew Taylor was down below, by herself (Pop Pop was outside with Brayden). Fortunately, the ride re-started shortly. The attendants asked if we wanted to ride again since our ride was interrupted. We all looked at Taylor, sitting across the platform from us, and she said to go ahead. So, being the good mother that I am, I ditched her again! After two back-to-back spins on Space Mountain, I think we had all had our fill.

After we left Space Mountain, Taylor pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She said, "Mommy, the man at Space Mountain gave this to me and said not to give it to you until we left the ride." The paper was good for immediate entry onto any ride in the park for up to six people. He gave it to her for sitting so patiently while we rode Space Mountain two times.It was like a golden ticket!

 

I love this picture. Taylor looks so grown up to me.

Watching the Disneyland parade.

 

Taylor fell asleep during a piggyback ride on Daddy.

Day #3 started with breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.

I love this face. Wrinkled nose and all!

The much-anticipated meeting of Elsa and Anna

Followed by the more-anticipated meeting of Olaf!

Thunder Mountain Railroad

Matty and Brady stood here looking for the rest of our crew on Thunder Mountain. It is getting harder to tell them apart (especially when they are dressed alike!).

Family picture - sort of

Taylor got a Princess Elsa makeover. She felt so special and was absolutely giddy with excitement about all the attention she received. 

 

My beautiful little princess

One last ride on Radiator Springs. We had to buy Matty new shoes to meet the minimum height requirement (he wore different shoes to the park that day), but it was worth the shoe purchase to see this smile. 

Breakfast in bed to wrap up the trip

We had a wonderful time and will definitely be back (after we recover financially). Disney really is the Happiest Place on Earth!