Monday started out super early and we headed bright and early to Disneyland. Even though my kids have experienced Disney quite a few times, they were still really excited to go. Plus this time Will was joining us as well, AND we were planning a full day of fun! We typically only stay a few hours so this long day was a bit daunting - I knew we were going to be tired!
Ready for the day!
First up in the day - meeting some Disney princesses! We wanted to try to avoid the long lines so we made sure to do this first. The princesses that morning were Tiana, Mulan, and Belle. I don't think Katelyn's seen either movies with Tiana and Mulan, but Katelyn was still excited to meet them. I was a little bummed Ariel wasn't there, but Belle was a nice consolation. Doh, the pictures are all out of order and I'm too busy to sort them out. Disneyland day will be a lot of jumping around in photos, sorry!
The Dumbo ride! Katelyn liked the magic feather. We usually don't go on this ride (the ride is just too darn long) but it was early enough and not that busy that we decided to do it.
Finding Nemo!
Katelyn loves the Mother's Center off the end of Main Street, especially the little kid sized toilets they have there. She discovered a mini rocking chair this time too!
By mid-day, Katelyn was tired and knocked out! The rest of the gang went on Pirates (omg I have NEVER seen the line so long for that ride before. They had us queued all the way over to the Haunted House!). I was hoping we could all ride together but even holding Katelyn in line she was deliriously tired. She was still protesting that she wasn't tired though, with her eyes half closed and slurring her words...hah! Instead I headed back to Main Street and staked out a nice stretch of sidewalk for us to watch the Christmas parade. Perfect timing actually, it was about 1pm and the parade wasn't until 3pm. Katelyn got a nice long nap and I got to have some down time too.
Tarzan's tree house! The last time I was here I had to carry Katelyn up the full flight of stairs. Exhausting. Will had to suck it up and do it this time, haha! This was before we went on Pirates.
After they rode Pirates, Will/Andy came back with Tyler. Kareen had already come back earlier with Leah and was trying to nap her. Tyler was TIRED! Good thing I had saved a lot of room. The towel I brought came in handy and he stretched out and took a nice long nap too! Perfect down time for the adults.
The parade is finally starting!
Katelyn insisted on watching the parade from her stroller. She's not in the best of moods when she wakes up and we know ideally to just give her some space. Good thing she cheered up by the time the parade started and Tyler woke up as well. It's a very nice Disney feeling to watch their Christmas parade!
While the boys went to ride Star Tours, Katelyn and I got to meet Ralph from "Wreck it Ralph" at the little arcade near Space Mountain. Kind of a bummer that Tyler didn't get to meet him though, but we snuck in right in time before they went on break. The kids had just watched the movie (in the theater no less!) and were really excited to see the characters. Katelyn was actually nervous about the size of Ralph and stated she only wanted to meet Penelope. I said she couldn't meet Penelope unless she met Ralph first!
They even had a nice hug. Penelope's a little intimidating I think, with those huge eyes!
Tyler on Star Tours! Love Fast Passes.
Then it was off to Toon Town to meet Mickey! A Must, especially for first-timers to Disneyland!
Dinner was near New Orleans (two turkey legs for Tyler today - he loves it!) and then we had a nice seated view for Fantasmic at 9pm. It was COLD! I had on every layer I brought (2 jackets!) and the kids were really bundled up as well. We headed home afterward - it was already almost 11pm! Amazing. Exhausted. Fun!
Tuesday. Day 2. Very concerned. I think Will actually got off easy this day since he was going to work. Here we are, with a full second day planned. Ahhhh! We started off even earlier than the day before. Unfortunately, on the tram, Katelyn fell off the seat and face planted on the floor of the tram! Poor thing, her lip and cheek were bruised and scraped. She was a trooper though, and quite the tough cookie. Poor little KK.
We hit up CarsLand first before the lines got too long. Yay! The kids really liked this ride.
Next up - Katelyn's favorite favorite ride - the little Mermaid ride. She only needs this ride and she's set for the whole day.
We rode the carousel at CA Adventure as well.
Next up was Toy Story Midway Mania. Tyler's favorite ride! Whoohoo, both of their favorite rides out of the way for the day.
The kids even got a quick meet and greet with Woody!
With our FastPasses, Andy and I went on CA Screaming. I've actually never been on this roller coaster and it is a huge one at CA Adventure. We even got to sit in the very front car, which totally freaked me out but it was fine. Not such a great photo though, I think I was smacking my lips since they felt dry from the wind. It was a good ride!
Next up, Bugs Land! You can start to see Katelyn's little shiner under her right eye. Waaah. Tyler was very excited with his new R2D2 Mickey hat.
Our next stop was the Disney Jr Live show. As soon we got there and parked our strollers, I saw that Katelyn had fallen asleep! Knocked out. Even with the half hour+ we had before the show, she was so knocked out that I decided to miss the show and let her sleep. The next couple hours was horrible! She slept about an hour and then woke up suddenly and told me she needed to potty. Great! Except then her grumpy sleepiness came through in the bathroom and she had a huge meltdown. HUGE! Shudder. I think I had a flash of Katelyn and my future years when she's a teenager. Yikes.
To help calm her down, we watched the next showing of Disney Jr. Live. Poor Kareen/Andy had to sit through it again, but Leah loved it! Tyler was really tired by then, and I had to persuade Katelyn to let Tyler sit in the stroller and take a nap. She's quite possessive of her stroller.
While Tyler napped, Andy and I went on the Tower of Terror ride. I've never been on this ride either! Thank goodness for Fast Passes and not having to wait. O M G that was a crazy ride. You can tell I am anticipating the end of the ride. There were so many drops! Aaaaiiiiiiihhhh!
Yay, here we are with a happy Katelyn again. She's so sweet and wonderful when she's in a good mood, and quite a TERROR when she's grumpy. Hope it's just a phase. I don't do so well with a whiny daughter, haha! I finally had to wake up Tyler since it was getting late. I'm glad both kids got a nap in though, since I'm sure they were still lacking sleep from the night before.
I did some babysitting while Kareen and Andy took Tyler on CA Soaring (whoohoo Fastpasses!). Rather, the iPhones did though.
Last burst of energy - the kids were running all around the streets of CA Adventure!
New stuffed animals to commemorate the day. Katelyn absolutely LOVES her Ariel doll. Sleeps with it every night. Whew, I barely made it through the drive home. I must have been driving like an old lady, I was so tired. Will not be doing that again for a LONG time.
Wednesday. We needed a day of relaxation! We were all so exhausted! Of course, we needed a YogurtLand stop! Kareen and I did some quick shopping and we took it easy for most of the day.
In the afternoon, my brother's family and my parents came over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Love our family get-togethers. Things are always so relaxed and we all just hang out and enjoy each other's company. The kids this year had their own little Thanksgiving table. Love that they're old enough now to eat by themselves. Plus it makes dinner for the adults much easier!
We had quite a meal planned that night. My brother's family provided the hot pot ingredients and Will made a prime rib (my mom's favorite).
Hilariously, our appetizer that night was Prime Rib! We all thoroughly enjoyed it (with yummy creamy horseradish!) and then walked around to make more room in the tummy. Hot Pot was fabulous and my brother brought a ton of delicious things to eat. We had lots of leftovers too, perfect!
Family photo! Check out Katelyn's sassy-ness. She purposely closed her eyes for the photos! Katelyn!
Thursday - Thanksgiving! We headed after naps to Will's parents' place for a hot pot dinner. The kids were well behaved (yay) and we enjoyed our dinner.
Saturday we headed over to our friends the Sundarums for a post-Thanksgiving Friends-giving party. Thanksgiving is obviously the time for being thankful for what you have in your life, and I am thankful this year for the true friends we have. Sometimes things seem quite murky and it took some tough situations this year to help me realize who is and who aren't those things to us. The party was great and the kids had a blast. Of course there was the presence of some that I'm not-so-thankful for, but in the interest of avoiding drama, we'll just leave it like that.
Katelyn always seems to find a pair of princess high heels to wear. I bought her a set of these a bit ago, can't wait to give them to her for Christmas!
The kids got along great, they had so much fun! Katelyn even discovered a basket of Lego "Friends" that she really liked playing with. Hmmm.. will think about putting that on her Christmas list as well.
Arden, one of Tyler's friends, LOVES Katelyn! She's fawned over her since she was a little girl and always likes Katelyn to sit on her lap. At some point though, Katelyn is going to smush her! Haha!
The moms! Drama drama drama. Hopefully in the new year things will be resolved.
On Sunday we started putting up the Christmas decorations around the house. Will's parents came by and we had dinner before they headed off to Taiwan for the month. The kids are so excited about Christmas. Katelyn is old enough now to understand Christmas, and it makes holidays all the more enjoyable as a family. I remember last year she did a lot of "Ho! Ho! Ho!"-ing for Christmas. Not sure where they came up with this activity, but apparently they like posing with mean faces together. Haha!
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