California Part 2

Tuesday morning we headed to Disneyland.

Although the day started out rough (Natalee got something in her eye) it ended up perfect. We rode every ride the girls (and us) wanted to, we got pictures with a ton of characters, and we saw the fireworks and got snowed on. I will never get tired of Disneyland. It is my favorite place. This year was even more special because sweet little Natalee was able to experience the excitement with us for the first time.

The first thing we did was get in line for the Princess Fantasy Faire. We waited over an hour to see 3 "select" princesses and of course 2 out of the 3 were the lamest (in my opinion). I would have loved for Ariel, Belle, and Snow White to be there when it was our turn but......Haylee was excited though. She'd walk up to the princess and they would ask her questions but she'd just look at the camera and smile, cracked us up. She saw Snow White,

Sleeping Beauty,

and Jasmine.

However towards the end of the day we did find Belle outside the castle and that just made Haylee's day.

Belle is her current favorite princess. And, she actually talked to her and told her how old she was. It was so adorable!!!

After that, we hit Toon Town in hopes of finding some of the characters. We found Mickey,

Minnie,

Goofy,

and Pluto.

Both Minnie and Mickey enjoyed playing with Natalee. She was grabbing their hand and looking at them like "who are you?" Haylee rode the Gadget's Go Coaster...

and then we were off to Fantasyland. We all went on "it's a small world", Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Snow White's Scary Adventure. Then Haylee girl went on Dumbo,

the Matterhorn and the tea cups.

Then we all went on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and The Many Adventures of Pooh. By that time it was getting late (and cold) so we started to head to the front. Right at that time the fireworks started so we watched those, and then we just happened to be right where the snow was "falling". We were covered in "snow" but Haylee loved it. Of course the day wouldn't be complete unless we went to the World of Disney store.....Josh's favorite.

What a fun, fun day. Haylee said her favorite ride was Nemo. The "snowman guy" in the Matterhorn ride scared her, and of course she loved Dumbo. Natalee enjoyed several naps, but liked Nemo too and "it's a small world". I am so glad I was raised going to Disneyland all the time and I will definitely pass that on to our girls. You are never too young to enjoy Disneyland!

Wednesday was the day to drive home. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. As we were heading out, we started hearing a loud noise coming from the engine. Turned out to be some sort of pullie and the part needed to be over nighted to the Kia dealership. Great! So, had to rent a van, get a hotel room, and find something to do the next day till 3pm when it would be done. The last thing was the easiest. So we got a hotel right across from Knott's Berry Farm. We were going to go to the park Thursday but we didn't know when the car would be done and we didn't want to pay and only go for 3 hours. Since it ended up taking the dealership till 3pm we now wish we would have gone. Oh well, there is always next time. We did go eat at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner restaurant and got Haylee a giant Snoopy cookie.

We were finally on the road around 4pm and then after 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic we were really on our way. Sadly we got home at 1:30am and Josh had to be up by 4am for work :(

All in all, the trip was a blast. Girls behaved so good. We all took our turns having meltdowns, but we had a lot of fun and created memories that will last a lifetime.

Best part....if you ask Haylee what happened to Grandma's van (why we had to stay another day) she'll say "Grandma hit a wall." She did.

But that's a whole different story to tell! Hahahahahaha.

California Part 1

2 weeks ago today, we headed over to California. My mom, Hannah, Josh, me & the girls. The drive over was uneventful, thank God, and both girls did awesome. I was nervous since Natalee hasn't done so well on other car trips, but she was perfect. We arrived in Carlsbad late afternoon. After checking in and unpacking we went to dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant in San Clemente then called it an early night. This was my favorite hotel because the bedroom was closed off from the living area so Natalee and I didn't have to hear all the snoring going on all night. We slept the best those first 2 night.

Sunday we went to Legoland.

The park was open 10-5 both days so we got there right when it opened.

We have never been to Legoland, and will probably not go back. The rides were nothing special, the ride restrictions were ridiculous, and poor Natalee could only go on 2 rides (where at Disneyland she could go on almost every ride Haylee could).

The girls seemed to have fun so that's all that mattered. Haylee drove a little jeep through the "safari",

we rode a little boat through a fairy tale land,

went for a ride on the choo choo train,

caused a traffic pile up,

flew through the air in an airplane,

drove a boat around and hit some walls,

got a lift from a helicopter,

played in the play area,

hung out with Mama,

and random other people,

went on a swinging pirate ship,

oh, and played with some legos.

Natalee even played her first carnival game and won a big duck!

We easily could have finished the park in 1 day, but they had a promotion to come back for a 2nd day for free. So thats what we did.

Monday, we started at Sea Life Aquarium (inside Legoland) then finished up Legoland.

The aquarium was pretty neat. We saw all sorts of fishies and underwater creatures.

The girls got to touch star fish too.

We watched a sting ray feeding and learned more about the underwater world.

Day #2 at Legoland was fun for us adults. We got to ride a couple "scary" rides. There weren't any lines so we would take turns staying with the girls.

We rode a fast spinny type ride and the roller coaster. Yipee! :)

The girls rode a couple more rides including this airplane one Haylee loved. Since the park was dead, the ride attendent let them go on it 3 times in a row. I think that was Haylee's favorite.

Before we left, we did try some of their famous apple fries. They were super yummy.

After leaving the park, we went to visit Josh's Great Grandma who lives in California. She is 94 and so adorable. She hasn't seen Haylee in awhile and has never seen Natalee.

Before we left she told us she loved us all and Natalee made a kiss sound like she was blowing her a kiss. It was cute. Each of us got to tell her we loved her and give her a hug, it felt good to see her again.

After leaving there, we headed to Anaheim. Next stop, Disneyland....in the morning that it!

To be continued.......