We went to DisNeYLAnD!!

We have been planning this trip for months now, and it has now come and gone! And we had such a good time! Last week, we packed up most of the house (and all of the kitchen), and we all (minus one child) headed down the uneventful I-5 towards Anaheim, California! We made arrangements with some wonderful friends to take care of Simon for us; we decided Disneyland is no place for our 2 year old. A BIG THANK-YOU to the Hargadon family, and a few others who took a turn with our perfectly easy little angel (that was sarcasm, hopefully it was obvious). It was hard for me to leave him, but honestly once we got there, it was a nice break to be able to just focus on Millie and Justin. The Stacy's came with us, and we spent some time with the Penney's while we were there as well! Justin did great, although he didn't love all the rides. He warmed up to some of the kiddie rides towards the end and decided that the Teacups and the Bumper cars, and the Disneyland Hotel Pool were among his most favorite parts of the trip! Millie braved nearly every ride she was tall enough for, and even went on the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror...however was so traumatized will most likely never go again! Her favorite things were all the roller-coasters, especially Thunder Mountain, and the Madderhorn! We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which we loved, especially the amazing heated pool, as well as its close proximity to downtown Disney and the monorail, and the icing on the cake was the adjoining rooms (we shared with Mark and Kari). We also ate breakfast with the characters at Goofy's Kitchen, which was a big highlight of our trip! Justin just loved all the characters and the individual attention he received was priceless! This was also one of his favorite parts! All in all, it was a really fun trip!! Sorry I went a little overboard with the pictures, I just couldn't decide!!

This is the night we arrived. The kids were not sure what they were in for. Justin was conviced that the Hotel Pool behind them was "Disneyland".

Day 1: Disneyland
Justin's first character siting: Buzz-Lighyear! OH YEAH! Justin LOVED the characters!
Justin: taking it all in. He really handled it well!
Cousins are the best! Millie and Justin had so much fun with Zach and Kali! Millie and Zach rode tons of rides together! And Justin really loved knocking on the adjoining Hotel door early in the morning so he could run around and be silly together with his cousins!

The Penney's joined us for the first day and a half! We had such a good time with them and were so glad they came too! Millie adores these boys! (which is fine by me for now :)
Day 2: Goofy's kitchen and California Adventures

Goofy's Kitchen! It was a blast, the kids absolutely loved it!

This was the 3-D Toy Story Ride at California Adventures. Another one of Justin's favorites! He loved the glasses, not sure about the little cars we rode it that Mom and Dad said were "bumper cars"

The "real" bumper-cars!

Madelyn loved riding like a big girl! She was such a trooper the whole trip!
Day 3: Disneyland again! We went to the Hotel in the afternoon to swim and have pizza, and then went back for the really great fireworks show! It was jam-packed, but worth it.
Millie and Kali loved seeing Tinkerbell and Silvermist in Pixie Hollow.

"Bye Disneyland!" (This is the kids waiting for the van, just as we were leaving)