I think that Disneyland is one of Ben's and my favorite places to go. It is always so clean and is run like a well oiled machine! My favorite part are the fireworks, and the "snow" that comes down after the firework show is over. It truly is the happiest place on earth! We have so much fun watching the kids faces light up and seeing them get so excited about everything they see, hear, and do! We could live there and be perfectly happy about it!
This year, was our second trip to Disneyland with all of Ben's family. We left at early o'clock in the morning on Friday the 21st. Lucky for us, the kids were very cooperative when we woke them up so early. They were pretty excited to get on a plane and go to Disneyland!
Ready to board the plane!It was quite an interesting process trying to get three tired kids, four suitcases, one car seat, two booster seats a double stroller and two carry-on bags in the airport! Then we had to go through security (which meant taking those tired kids out of the stroller, taking off every one's shoes and jackets, removing the laptop and the portable DVD player from the carry-on, showing the one quart size bag of liquids, trying to fit the double stroller through the stupid tiny little hole to get x-rayed,herding the kids through the metal detector, and then trying to get everything back into it's respective bags, shoes and jackets back on and kids back in the stroller)!! ...At least we are safe while on the plane.
When we finally got on the plane, Mickey Mouse called all of the boys (Collin, Simon, Nolan and Bauer) to tell them to have fun on their vacation, and that he'll see them real soon. All of them loved it except for Collin. He wasn't too impressed. He looked at Kai (Ben's mom) and said "That's not really Mickey Mouse, it's just a recording." I guess he's a little too old for the call!
video of calls coming soon
When we got to California, we picked up our rental car, took our stuff to the hotel, got some yummy breakfast, and went to Wal-Mart for some snacks and drinks to have in the room. By then, the kids were so tired. They just needed a quick nap! I love this picture. I think they look so darn cute...
Tired babies
Saturday was our first day at Disneyland! We got to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Buzz Light Year. The kids loved the rides (all except the part where you wait in line). I also got Bella a little princess crown! She looked so dang cute.
Princess Bella
Ben asked me why I bought it. I told him that I bought it because she needed it. She's a princess, and princesses need a crown!!
Disneyland
On Sunday we went to church and just hung out at the hotel.
Monday was another Disneyland/California Adventure day! That meant more rides, wahoo!! We learned that day, that Nolan is 39.9999999 inches tall. You have to be 40 in. to ride on a lot of the big rides. We had the lovely Disneyland workers measure him each time we went on a ride. None of them would let him go on. One of them stuck a card, the same thickness as a credit card, between Nolan's head and the bar. Because there was that tiny itty bitty little space, he wouldn't let him go on Space Mountain. Jerk.
California Adventure
We also bought Nolan a new monkey. This time he wanted a blue one. The green one that Grandpa bought him two years ago is a mess. It has holes all over it, and is missing an eye. We figured he would like to get a newer, softer version. We were right.
Nolan and his monkey
One of the funniest things that I saw Bella do on the trip, was this...
Tantrums
She got so mad at something we did or didn't let her do, or something, so she started crying (one). That wasn't getting any one's attention, and all mom was doing was taking pictures of her, so she threw herself on the floor (two). While she was on the floor, she noticed that it had a strange pattern (three). She was so fascinated by the pattern of the tile on the floor that she forgot why she was throwing the fit in the first place (four)!
Tuesday was Universal Studios day. We decided that we should find some shoes for Nolan that made him a little bit taller. We put different shoes on him for Universal, and not one person checked his height. They didn't even give him a second look. I'm not sure how I feel about that...but he did get to go on a few of the rides. mostly, the kids liked meeting the characters. Grandpa and Kai got Simon a dinosaur toy set that Simon guarded for the rest of the trip. He still loves playing with it too. 
Universal Studios
As you can see, Nolan wasn't too sure about Betelgeuse and Bella wasn't thrilled with Shrek or Curios George. And I just love this picture of Simon that I took....
Simon
Here's something strange...Universal Studios closes at 6:00! Does that seem early to anyone else? Anyway, when it closed, we went to dinner at Hard Rock. YUMMY!
Wednesday was another Disneyland/California Adventure day. Grandpa and Kai got Bella a little Belle dolly, which she loves. And Nolan got a "nake"(snake) He was really excited about the "nake." He kept walking around saying "Look at my nake! thhhhh thhh thhhh" (He has a little bit of a lisp...so his snake says "thhh" instead of "ssss")! We found Cars UNO and got it for Buddy. He loves to play that game. He was so excited that it was Cars. We also put Nolan in the taller shoes, and he got to go on the rides with no trouble. I'm glad he got to go on them, he loved it. Nolan was also crowned as prince of the merry-go-round. They give out one crown for each ride, and Nolan was picked! He thought it was the coolest thing.
Disneyland/Cal. Adventure
Thursday was Thanksgiving. We went to a restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner...and it wasn't great. It was barely good. It made me miss being home for the yummy home-cooked dinners! :O(
Friday was more Disneyland and California Adventure! We walked around with Rae, Collin, Grandpa and Kai so we could go do the "boring" stuff. I thought it was fun though. Ben's mom had circled all of the things she wanted to see on her Disneyland map. She's so organized! We went on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Simon loved to look at the ducks. All of the boys liked to hang over the edge and look at the water. We also went to the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. That was a lot of fun. There were lots of things for Simon, Nolan and Collin to climb on. They loved the tree house, caves, and the ball of bones! 
Disneyland
Bella's favorite ride was Small World. She loved to look at all the decorations. She was really cute too. She would bounce up and down, and dance to the music while pointing at everything. We went on that ride multiple times. All of us (in our little family) love Small World.
Disneyland
Saturday was the last day in Disneyland and California Adventure, so we went on the rides that the kids liked the best. Simon's favorites were Tower of Terror and "Jack" which is The Haunted Mansion. During the holiday season they have the Haunted Mansion decorated with The Nightmare Before Christmas stuff. Nolan's favorite rides were Big Thunder Mountain and Buzz Light Year. They all loved Pirates, so we made sure to go on that one more time. The only ride Simon didn't get to go on was Indiana Jones. He wasn't tall enough...he's about three inches too short. He was absolutely crushed when he had to sit out while all of the big people and Collin got to go on. Ben and I only went on that ride once. We didn't want to make Buddy sad again...poor guy.
A couple of days, when everyone was just hanging around the rooms, we went down to the pool. Simon LOVED to take a big breath, hold it, and stick his head under the water. He thought it was the coolest thing. He also, to my surprise, loved to do cannon balls into the water. Nolan liked to ride on Ben's back, and Bella didn't really like to be in the pool. She just walked around the outside of it smiling and laughing like she was getting away with something. All three of them did, however, like being in the hot tub. Or "the warm pool" as they called it.
Fun in the pool
Bauer was pretty scary by the water. A couple of times he just jumped in whether there was an adult near by or not. He jumped in the deep end and I almost jumped in after him, not realizing that I was holding my camera! Luckily, Rae said "I'll get him! I'll get him!" and she jumped in before I did! He was fearless!
On Sunday, we went to visit Del and Caylene (my brother and sister-in-law) and their two cute girls. It was good to see them! We only ever get to see them once a year. This time we got to see their new home! It was very cute. Caylene made some yummy chicken tacos and the kids played together. Brynn, their oldest, kept asking me to follow her around and take pictures of her. It was really cute. 
Del and Caylene's home
After visiting them, we met everyone back at the hotel and went to the beach. I love the beach! We got there just in time to see the sunset. It was beautiful. They collected sea shells, and built sand castles. Simon thought it was cool to write his name in the sand. They were having a great time running around until Simon and Nolan found a sink hole type thing, and got soaking wet. They were cranky and cold from then on. Bella loved to run around and chase the birds. She also liked letting the waves come up on her for a little while...until she got knocked over by one. Then she was through. I took her to Kai and she got Bella wrapped up in some towels to keep warm. Bella wasn't too thrilled to be at the beach anymore. She was even less happy when we stripped her down and put her in the showers they have there! The boys hated the showers too. Needless to say, they were ready to go home. We were only at the beach for about an hour. Wimps. 
At the Beach
On Monday, everyone except our family and Brian, Katie and Bauer left for the airport early in the morning. Ben took the boys down to the pool, while Bella took a nap and I packed up. We had to check out of the hotel by 1:00, so everything had to be in the car. We got lunch at Jack-in-the-Box, (my favorite fast food place in California) and took it back to the pool to eat. Then we met Brian, Katie and Bauer in Downtown Disney to walk around, kill some time, and do a little shopping! Then it was off to the airport! We were all sad to be leaving. Going home meant that vacation was over...sigh. However, it was nice to get home to our own beds. Even Simon wanted to sleep in his own room. We definitely had a great time though! Like I said, Ben and I love it at Disneyland. Now, I think our kids love it just as much as we do! Hopefully we get to go again soon! It really was a magical eleven days!!
Trent and Jeri Lynn, thanks for the awesome vacation!
We are very blessed to have such wonderful families, who live so close, and with whom we can share the Christmas season.
This is what Nolan did when we told him he could be done...
And here is one of my two boys...
