Disneyland!!

Last week we went to Disneyland!  A friend of ours was driving down to that area to visit a friend so we bummed a ride.  :)  We left Ari with my mom for the weekend (*sniff*), but I'll talk about that in a bit.  We took almost 400 pictures, so I'll try to keep it under 50.  ;)  Enjoy!

We left Thursday around noon.  We tried to stop in Fillmore to give the kids a break, but a certain friend of ours wasn't home (*coughKENZIEcough*), so we took them to a gas station and did potty breaks instead.  We continued on and went to Primm (about 45 minutes past Vegas).  We stayed at the Buffalo Bill's hotel.  They actually rationed our ice.  Seriously.

Jump on the bed kids!

Sleepy time!  (Yeah, right!)

Friday morning we got up early (well, the kids woke us up early) and met a friend of mine, Rob, in Victorville (it's on the way to Anaheim) for breakfast.  I hadn't seen Rob since Christmas 2003, so it was really good to see him again and meet his son and introduce him to Shane and the kiddos.  :)  I'm mad at myself for not getting a pic of us together, but I was too busy catching up.  After that, we headed on to Disneyland!

We're here!!

For their very first ride, we decided on Pirates.  Kaden wasn't a fan of how dark it was and kept saying he was done before the ride ever started.

Mary Poppins!

Surprisingly, the lines weren't bad at all for June.  The longest wait was about 30 minutes.  The kids got plenty of climbing time in.  :)

We went back to the hotel so they could take naps.  Yeah, like that happened.  Lexi layed in bed (wide awake) and Kaden watched a guy on TV being lifted up by an elephant.  After about 20-30 minutes, we headed back to Disney (since there was no way either of them were going to sleep).

Me: "Lexi, don't climb between the benches."   Lexi: "okay!" (As she climbed)

Shane loved the swirly parts of the fountain thing behind us and wanted a picture.  Yes, I know my hair was suffering from the humidity.

On "It's a Small World."  This was one of the kid's top five favorite rides.

Waiting for the shuttle.  It was almost 9:30 and not even the crazy loud fireworks could wake Lexi up.  Kaden passed out about 3 minutes after I took this.  :)

The next day we got there really early so that we could be at the front of the line to meet the princesses (save us time later, so more time for rides!).  Lexi was soooooo excited!  But, of course, the minute she saw the first princess (Belle), she wouldn't say anything.  She just got starstruck and stood there.  Kaden was shy, but I knew that would happen.

Lexi's face was great here.

Belle showed Lexi the sparkles on her dress that Mrs. Potts had sewn on.  Lexi LOVED it.

 Belle asked if "Princess Lexi" (you should have seen the smile on Lexi's face when Belle kept calling her that) wanted to take a picture with her, Lexi sat down right next to Belle and fluffed her own skirt the same way Belle had fluffed her own.  It was adorable!

"I'm not smiling, but I'm loving it!"

 Belle was, by far, my favorite of all the characters we met.  She was SO, SO great with both kids, and I know it can't be easy generating a conversation with children who won't talk to you.  When pictures were done with Belle, Lexi didn't want to leave.  Rather than have us drag her away screaming, Belle took her by the hand and personally walked her over to the next Princess.  Lexi loved every minute of it.  :)

"I a princess, Mommy!"

 Tiana was okay.  She seemed to not know what to do with really shy kids, but she was still nice.

Kaden: "I love the frog!"

 Ariel was better than Tiana, but not as good as Belle.  She commented on Kaden's jacket (it says something about surfers on it) and she said that she loves surfers and they are very nice humans.  She was really sweet.

Somebody SMILE already!

 After time with the Princesses, it was time for some rides!

Waiting to go find Nemo.

Kaden was very upset that he couldn't drive the cars at Autopia.  He can't even see over the steering wheel, though, let alone touch the gas petal, so I was fine with him not driving. :)

 We headed over to California Adventure and while we were trying to kill some time before Aladdin started, we did Turtle Talk with Crush (from Nemo).  I don't think the kids understood that Crush was carrying on a live conversation and they thought it was just another movie.  Oh well.  It was fun for me.  :)

We ate lunch while waiting in line for Aladdin.  We were early enough that we had really good seats.

All we do is wait, Mom!

After Aladdin, we headed to the live show of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  The kids got to dance and sing and stretch!  This was Lexi stretching her arms.  :)

It was Minnie's birthday party!

With Lightening and Mater!

Minnie in her aviator outfit.  :)

A worker gave Kaden and Lexi these buttons that said "1st visit" and they loved wearing them.  After they had them on, the workers and characters all treated them differently.  One lady sweeping came up and talked to them for a while and made sure they were having a great time.  :)

Aladdin during the parade.

Mickey playing the drums during the parade.

Kaden watching the clock thing outside the Tiki room.  Unfortunately, he LOVED the Tiki room.  If you've been there you'll understand my dismay.

Does she not look exhausted?  "Please let me sleep!"

On the Winnie the Pooh ride.  Shane's eyes look crazy because of his eye disease and the way he reacts to flashes of light.  Good times.

Lexi was too short to ride Splash Mountain, so while the boys went, we waited.  (I went by myself later and got to ride twice in a row because no one was waiting in line.  They worker just said, "Want to ride again?" and sent us in again without even getting out. Awesome!)

Family shot!  (Minus Ari)

Waiting to meet Tinkerbell.

I was so jealous of her arms.  She was super nice, too.

I went on Indiana Jones and Shane waited with the kids (they were both too short to ride).  This would be the perfect picture if it weren't blurry.  :(

Lexi was begging to go ride the horses on the carousel.  We had to wait an hour and a half to see Rapunzel (and we were there 30 minutes before she got there!! it was CRAZY!), so Shane took her on the carousel.

Our camera was reacting weird to the light coming in, but just ignore that.  :)  Kaden was SO excited that Flynn Ryder was there.  Flynn was soooo great with Kaden.  It was awesome.

Such a sweetheart.

The kiddos with the happy couple.  :)

 Then it was time to PLAY before getting back in the car for a loong drive.

Be free!

Kaden finally got to drive.....a car that didn't move.  hahaha

Waiting to see Mickey (somehow it was only a 5 minute wait!).

MICKEY!

 The kids asked to ride Buzz one more time (it was both of their favorite rides), so we hit that on the way out.

She was OUT.  It was around noon.  :)  We woke her up for the ride.

Buzz!

Shane tried getting a pic with Kaden in front of the huge Buzz, but it FREAKED Kaden out.  Shane thinks he looks like he's choking Kaden, but I promise he's not.  :)

 Before we left, we let the kids each chose one toy (well, we gave them a price limit and they each chose one big toy instead of a couple of smaller ones).

Kaden LOVES his new Buzz!

As soon as Lexi saw Minnie in a PRINCESS dress, she was hooked.  :)

We drove to Vegas on Sunday and got there around 6 or 7 (I can't remember exactly).  We ate some dinner and the kids crashed again.  :)

Monday morning we went to Steph's cousins new house for a yummy breakfast and they got to play with her almost 3 year old nephew and his toys.  :)  Then we headed home.  The kids were D.O.N.E. with the car and the drive back was as bad as I expected.  They were fighting and ORNERY and wouldn't sleep.  So. much. fun.

We tried stopping once again in Fillmore to see a certain friend, but she was again not home.  (Yes, there is stuff to do there!)  ;)  We let the kids play on her swingset anyway and it helped.  :D  Thanks Kenz!

We finally got home around 8:00 pm and my mom brought Ari to our house so that we didn't have to get back in the car.

Now, let me just tell you a little something about Ari.  I left her with my good friend, Kelly, on Thursday and my mom picked Ari up after she got off of work.  Yes, I cried and cried having to leave my baby.  It would have been easier to leave an arm.  I was heartbroken.  Ari ended up getting the stomach flu all weekend (my poor mom), but was feeling better by Monday.  When my mom brought Ari back, I thought FOR SURE Ari would be ecstatic to see me.  I pictured her kicking her little legs and smiling and wanting to be cuddled.

Um, yeah.  Not at all what happened.  

Ari was PISSED.  She wouldn't smile at me, Shane, Kaden or Lexi.  Seriously.  I was holding her and she just stared at me.  After we put the other kids in bed, we tried to get a smile out of Ari.  Shane tried bribing her with Doritos (which she normally will eat), but she took the chip with a straight face, crushed it in her little hand, and threw it on the ground.  "You're gonna have to do better than a CHIP when you ABANDON me people!"

 I cuddled her for a couple of hours and fed her, then put her in bed.  She seemed to like the fact that she was back in her own bed, but still wouldn't really smile at me.  I was worried until Tuesday morning when she woke up.  She was ALL SMILES and just wanted to be cuddled ALL DAY LONG.  She's doing better today (more herself) and doesn't freak out when I leave the room anymore.  :)

It was a GREAT trip and Kaden keeps asking to go back.  We're going to wait until Ari is a little older (& taller) then we'll do another trip!

I love Disneyland!