Disneyland - Day 1

Park hours for the duration of our trip were 10:00am-8:00pm. Since leaving the park to go back to our room for naps would waste about 4 hours of the day we decided to just stay open to close. It gave us time in the morning to not have to rush and still get to the park by opening. So that's what we did every day.

 

Chase didn't want to wake up.

Waiting for opening

Halloween time!

All of our kids had immediate meltdowns as soon as we walked in the gate. Off to a good start!

First stop. Princesses. While in line the family behind us was someone that Robert grew up with. Small world at Disneyland.

In hindsight we should have waited to do the princesses until Carly had a little experience with characters. She was scared of the princesses but after she discovered that they were fine she never had a problem with any characters the whole trip.

I was a little bummed she was so scared because she LOVES Ariel.

I am convinced this Snow White is the REAL Snow White. She was identical to the movie in her mannerisms and the way she spoke.

 

This is the first time we have gone to Toontown. Not a fan. The first day of our vacation it was about 98 degrees and there is literally NO shade in Toontown. There's not a ton in Disneyland all together but especially in Toontown. As you can tell by everyone's red faces!

By the afternoon we were absolutely melting. I took Carly and Logan in the shade while Carly slept because I was truly on the verge of passing out. I sat on a bench on the side of the castle while Robert took Emily and Chase on some rides. We decided to just stay there since we had a bench in the shade and watch the parade. So I spent about 3 hours sitting on a bench. :) But it was so hot I didn't care. The heat really slowed us down this day.

Emily decided when she grows up she wants to be a dancer in the Disneyland parade.

Day 1
Breakfast at McDonald's
Fantasy Faire-Meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White
Rapunzel show
Teacups
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Goofy's Playhouse
Minnie's House
Meet Mickey
Mickey and the Magical Map
Autopia
lunch at Redd Rockets
Alice In Wonderland
Dumbo
Meet Peter Pan
Snow White
Pinnocchio
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Teacups
Parade
Dumbo
Storybook Land Canal Boats

California Adventure-Day 2

Today was Chase's Birthday! Robert and I decorated the room and he got to open his birthday presents first thing in the morning. 

 

We went to breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. It was really fun! For those of you that don't know Goofy's Kitchen is a character restaurant where a bunch of characters come to your table while you're eating. They each spend a lot of time with each table. We really enjoyed it and felt it was worth the cost. Especially for a birthday.

Birthday cupcake at 9:00am.

First stop of course had to be Carsland! Mater sang Happy Birthday to Chase! He LOVED it!



Red played the tune of Happy Birthday on his horn!

Cars Land is awesome. The details are amazing. Not everyone probably cares but we've watched those movies hundreds of times so we really loved all the little details. Radiator Springs Racers and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree were by far our favorite rides of the day. I think we went on Mater about 8 times. :)

This kid was in heaven!

Radiator Springs Racers. Awesome ride. We went three times.

McQueen also told Chase Happy Birthday. He thought it was the coolest!

 

While we were sitting waiting for the parade to start Emily saw the Tower of Terror across the street. She decided she wanted to go on it. I was really surprised because she is by far the wimpiest of all our kids. So I took her on it. She was a little scared but stayed brave until we were loading onto the elevators. Then she started crying and we left. I was proud of her for making it that far!

 

Day 2
Breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen
Fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree (multiple times)
Walk/shop Cars Land Main Street
Ride Radiator Springs Racers (2 times)
Luigi's Flying Tires
Lunch at Cozy Cone
Shopping
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree again
It's Tough to be a Bug
Heimlich's Chew Chew Train
Flik's Flyers
Disney Junior show
Monsters Inc
Tower of Terror (almost)
Parade
Dinner at Flo's V-8 Cafe
Little Mermaid
Goofy's Sky School
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
Radiator Springs Racers
World of Color

Disneyland - Day 3

First thing we did was stop to see Minnie. Carly was so happy! She's obsessed with Minnie Mouse.

 After rope drop we went straight to Splash Mountain. Both Robert and I wanted to ride it and since Carly and Logan aren't tall enough, we made Emily and Chase go twice. They HATED it! I think we traumatized them just a little. :) But it's good for them right?

 Yay! Rapunzel!

 

By about 5:30 all the kids were really tired so we decided to call it a day! We went back to the room, packed up and got ready to head home.

 



Day 3
Splash Mountain (twice)
Winnie the Pooh (twice)
Meet Winnie the Pooh
Meet Tigger
Haunter Mansion
Lunch at Hungry Bear
Meet Tiana
Pirates of the Carribbean
Tarzan's Treehouse
Jungle Cruise
Tiki Room
Teacups
Meet Rapunzel
Castle Walkthrough
Shopping
Dinner at Village Haus
Peter Pan
Then we let each kid pick one more ride but I can't remember what they each picked
More Shopping

Goodbye Disneyland! Until next time.....

I guess Carly was done with her bread....

4 Years Old!

My Chase turned 4! Gosh I love this kid. I really wish I could freeze him the way he is right now. He melts my heart. But he's pretty much had me wrapper around his finger since he was born.

Chase at 4......

Favorite food: tough one. He eats just about anything. Probably jello!

Nickname: Chaser, Chaser boy, Buddy

Favorite fruit: grapes

Favorite snack: fruit snacks

Favorite movie: Cars 2

Favorite TV show: not a TV show but he is obsessed with YouTube videos of people showing their Cars 2 toys. He calls them "Cars Collection."

Favorite toy: cars!

Favorite things to do: play cars. Are we sensing a theme?

Greatest accomplishment: learning to swim

 

Chase is such a sweet boy. He's always been really sensitive. This came in really handy when potty training earlier this year. He hated to have me be mad at him so when I had a total meltdown after accident number 300 for the day he never really had another one. Every time he would go in the potty he would say "Mommy's happy!" Haha! I felt horrible that I lost it but it worked!! Anyway, his desire to make everyone happy is starting to fade. He's getting into that testing phase.

 

Chase started preschool this year. He's always been a smart kid and knows a lot about how things work but the basic academics have never really interested him like they did Emily. But he knows all his letters and numbers and whatnot and is starting to learn to write them. He seems to really love preschool and the friends he's making.

 

Chase inherited this lovely trait from his dad. He paces. Robert NEVER holds still. Chase doesn't either. If you are having a conversation with him he will be walking back and forth across the room. It's strange but his dad does it too!

 

He took swimming lessons this summer and really excelled so we're continuing them through the winter as well.

 

Chase absolutely adores Logan. And the feeling is mutual. Chase was the first person that ever got Logan to giggle! Logan always smiles when Chase is around.

 

Chase's life still revolves around Cars. It's all Cars all the time. He knows the names of all the characters and really gets into playing. It's adorable.

 

Chase got the birthday of his dreams this year and got to spend it in Cars Land!!! (More on that to come. :)) All of his gifts were Cars related. Imagine that.

This kid is such a gift to our family. We love him so much!

 

 

School Days

This is about 6 weeks old but oh well. :)

Emily FINALLY started kindergarten this year! This has been a long time in the making. She was so excited but has since discovered that kindergarten is really easy and has become quite bored. And her teacher just had a baby so now she has a sub for the next month. She doesn't love school as much as I thought she would (for a variety of reasons) but she does love recess! And she lost her third tooth the night before her first day.

After 6 weeks of kindergarten I am pretty much over it. Going for only three hours a day is really more hassle than it's worth! Anyway....

Chase also finally got to start preschool! He's been anxiously awaiting his turn since he's been going with me to take Emily pretty much since he was born. He's loving it and his cousin is in his class this year. So fun!

The week before preschool started there was an open house. He got to pick a tote bag and then they can decorate it however they want. He of course picked orange (his favorite color) and told me I want white letters and a lion. He's such a random kid! Love him.