Another trip to Disneyland!

Ok so I have totally been neglecting this little family blog for the past....long while. We went to Disneyland and I wanted to document it, so here goes. MAybe I'll be better about this blog. We will see!

We stayed at the Disneyland hotel this time-AHmazing. More about that as we go...

 

loved the cute mickey and minnie statue out front! 

 

the girls found these fancy chairs in the lobby-photo op!

 

by the time we got to the hotel it was bedtime so we took a long wishful look at the enormous pool below us, and then went to sleep. We had plans to wake up early and  get in the park with our magical morning hotel priveleges.

 

we were up bright and early and in the park by 7! we went to CA adventures first since that was the MM for the day. Sadie is an old Disneyland pro (we've lost track of how many times she has been but we guess 15 or so), so she jumped right in to rides and the whole magic of Disney. Ava seemed to love it too.

 

can you guess who didn't? 

haha. 

Charlotte spent the morning in  a MOOOD. 

 

she snapped out of it when they went on the carousel! We brought my sister Julia along to help with the kids (which was SOO helpful. She is fantastic!), so her and I got to go on some new-to-her rides!

 

under the big sorcerer's hat by the hotel. Iconic!

 

we loved being so close to downtown disney. There was a great sandwich spot right next to the hotel.

  

the next morning was early entry to Disneyland! we all wore our star wars shirts this day!

 

Ava adored the Dumbo ride!

 

Sadie got to ride Jingle the head carousel horse. She and Rory have been reading up on Disney lore and hidden Mickeys so it was adorable to see them get all excited when they spotted something they recognized!

 

Julia THIIIS close to going on Indiana Jones for the first time. Verdict: AWESOME

 

waiting for the other guys to go on Space mountain

 

big kids don't scare Ava away!

 

Minnie's house!

 

they actually didn't cry this time! miracle!

 

I got to take both of my older girlies on the tire ride in Cars land! so fun bumping Julia!

 

loving all the new Star wars stuff!

 

we enjoyed the amazing pools (yes poolS) at the hotel every afternoon. check out the wading pool and those slides! crazy fun and we all got a summer glow being in the sun all day!

 

Julia watched the kids one night and we went on a date night at Disney! including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear, etc...and a visit to the Jolly Holiday bakery!

 

and of course the fireworks! which were almost ruined for me by an obnoxious lady but I won't go into that.

 

on our last day we finally took Sadie (and the rest of us) on Autopia! She had a blast driving her car. Standing in the heat-not so fun. We were glad to be on our way out as the temps rose!

 

we loved this enormous LED map of disneyland in the lobby of our hoteL!

 

we took off to hit up Santa Barbara-hit up the beach and then some sandwiches for dinner. Ava was pretty much acting like a hellion by this time. It was super duper fun. That night we got about 3-4 hours of sleep I think. The kids took turns acting up, and the hotel was kinda scary so didn't get much rest.

 

the next morning we tried to relax and caught up on our curious george.

 

then we hit up the beach again!

 

and met up with a longtime blog friend of mine-Jill! I had SUCH a blast talking shop with her-I only wish we could have stayed longer! She is such a sweetheart and her kids are just the cutest.

 

alas, we had decided to take off for home a day early since we didn't want another night like the one we had had.

 

packed up, and headed to the SB zoo-it's a quaint little zoo that is perfect for kids and adults alike! the girls LOVED it. Ava was past both her naptimes so she was a little rough, but we moved quickly through the zoo but still got to see so much!

 

this little fox was their favorite! 

Sadie named him Foxy, and they kept saying "Hey Foxy! how are you? hatee hatee hatee ho?"

just kidding. I did that.

we got back on the road and survived anhilation by Ava-barely. She does not like the car. We also had a long tour of San Luis Obispo while trying to find some dinner. oh, vacations! I need a vacation from my vacation now.