Disneyland- Where Dreams Come True!!

 DISNEYLAND!!!!

 

Whew- what a great day!!  We got up nice and early (well, some did!) and left Tori and Tim's by about 8:30.  We drove about 12 miles to Disneyland, parked, rode the little train to the park, and dove right in!  We started with Peter Pan since the line gets long pretty fast!  Hadley was extremely impatient in line!  I think once she figured out what she was actually waiting in line for she was fine!

 

 We did some other ride in Fantasy Land and then headed to some of the bigger rides for us adults :)

 

 Disneyland is full of all sorts of fun things on the streets and sidewalks; Hadley and Mylin became very interested in this little band playing music, I think it the was the gold bead necklaces that attracted them. But the guys in the band were very amused and girls just danced and danced!

 

Because we were so busy going, going, going all day I didn't really get as many pictures as I wanted.  I'm really sad that I didn't get any pictures of Hadley on her all time favorite ride (which she still talks about and sings the song from multiple times daily), Pirates of the Caribbean!  She could have just ridden that all day but we only did it 3 times I think...

 

When we went to Disneyland last year we didn't see any of the characters but I'm so glad we waited in some small lines and did it this time!  She of course loved seeing the Pooh characters!!  She looks sad in the pictures, but really she was just taking it so seriously and loved every second!

 



 We took a break from the sun and heat (yea, I forgot to mention it was like 95 degrees!) and went in a little Pooh shop.  Hadley was in her element...

 

Toon Town: Playing in Mickey's House and meeting Mickey and Minnie!!

 

Sooooo sad that my pictures end there!  It was about 6pm when we left Toon Town and headed to the parade and my camera battery was dead!  The parade was amazing and Hadley thought it was so cool to have the different characters wave at her and blow kisses to her!

 

We ate dinner and a place on Disney Main Street, amazing burgers!!  We did some more rides and then went back to Main Street for ice cream.  It was about 9 or 9:30 by then and it had been and loooong hot day so we decided to call it a night!

 

Yes, it was long, tiring and hot but soooo great!  It was the first day in 2 1/2 years of life that Hadley has not taken any nap at all and surprisingly she did really well (maybe just 2 or 3 little fits).  We packed up into the car and she was asleep within like 3 minutes!!

 

Hadley really believes Disneyland is where all your dreams come true- for her they probably did!!

 

Thanks for an awesome trip Tori, Tim, Mylin, and Kale- we're already ready to come back!!

California Part 2

 Onto the next phase of our Callifornia trip...

 

We got up Saturday morning, checked out of our hotel, and drove down to Huntington Beach where Tori and Tim live.  We pretty much headed straight back out the door to a visit to Balboa Island (which is near Newport Beach).  You take this little ferry across the harbor get their and it was so cute and fun!

 Coming up to Balboa Island... really a fun little place with rides, shops, restaurants, and beaches!

 

 We took a little walk down the pier (there are lots of piers in California!!) and then to the playground on the beach.  What a great idea to put a playground on the sand, Hadley was in heaven!

 

 

After Balboa Island we went to lunch at the Crab Cooker (also on The O.C., haha!).  The food was pricey and Tori doesn't like seafood so only the boys ate :)  Hadley was exhausted and had a small fever so she fell asleep on my chest during lunch.  Afterwards we headed home for naps.

 

After waking up (she was completely fine after a good 2 1/2 hour sleep!) we went back out to dinner at Ruby's Diner on the Huntington Beach pier.  Great hamburgers and amazing shakes!!

 

Afterwards we walked around the streets across from the beach and we came upon somes bands and then music.  The girls got really into dancing around the streets and chasing each other around.  I think Hadley was thinking, "Wow, this is great.  My mom never lets me play in the street at home!"

 

Sunday we went the beach a couple miles from Tori and Tim's house (forget my camera in the car).  We had kind of a bad experience between Hadley and I so we didn't stay as long as we had planned.  Hadley enjoyed more digging in the sand, but is surprisingly deathly afraid of the ocean!  I guess she has gained some new fears since our trip last year!

 

Then we went to some tide pools, sadly the tide was in, at a different beach a little farther from their house later that afternoon.

 This could seriously be a postcard, so gorgeous!!

 

 

This is her first time touching the water the entire trip!!  Finally!!

 So cute... Mylin has no fear of the water!  Maybe if Hadley only lived minutes away...

 She was so impressed with herself getting this deep in the water!!

 

 

Such a fun two days with great company and a great place to stay!



California Part 1

 I came back from our trip to California OVERLOADED with pictures so I have split the trip into several posts!!

 

We got up bright and early Thursday (the 23rd) and left the house by 6:30.  We make the 10 hour trek west to California and actually made really good time, despite traffic once we got within 30 miles of our hotel.  We relaxed for a bit and then headed up the Manhattan Beach to eat dinner and do a little shopping, sorry no pics.  Then we came back and swam in the hotel pool and spent some time in the hot tub.

 

Friday morning we got up and out of the hotel by 8:30 and headed north to Santa Monica Pier.  It was quite chilly and overcast but we put on our coats and made the best of it!  We rented bikes from a little shop on the pier and headed north up the Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu.  We biked about 10 miles round trip and stopped on the way for a little picnic and to play in the sand!

 

 

On our bike ride back toward the pier the sun came through and it warmed right up!  We took our bikes back and headed up to the pier for some fun!  We had some burgers and fries, rode the little carousel, and then headed up the famous Santa Monica ferris wheel.  Hadley loved everything and she was so cute to watch!!

 

 What a view from the top!!

 

 

We went back the hotel for a short nap for everyone.  Then we drove to Redondo Beach (where most The O.C. was acutally filmed, which is I why I picked that beach) to play and swim at little.  Well, we didn't end up getting in the ocean because the clouds came back out and it cooled off alot!  But Hadley and Steve certainly enjoyed themselves in the sand!!

After playing we found a local restaurant with some amazing fish & chips and then walked along the beach and another small pier.  We ended the night back in the hotel hot tub and turned in kinda early for our next day in Huntington Beach!