Disneyland

We've been wanting to take the kids to Disneyland for a long time but have put it off for awhile waiting for Aubrey to be 40" tall so she could ride most of the rides.  She's now tall enough and October is a great time for Disneyland (low crowds, great weather) so we finally planned our trip.  Todd's mom came with us to help with the kids and at the last minute (just 2 weeks before) the Other Babbitts decided to join us and even more last minute Shanna's parents decided to join us too.  Fun!

We spent our first day in California at the beach.  We went to the Balboa pier and the waves were huge and crashing right on the beach.  It made me nervous but the kids were nervous too - keeping them safe.  Aubrey sat on the beach playing in the sand and collecting shells and Logan and Paige played in the water the whole time.  They loved it and I loved it.  Oh how I miss the beach!!!

The force of the waves going back in was impressive. 

 We had lunch at Ruby's on the pier and then our family went back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel.  It's an expensive dinner but the buffet has tons of kid friendly things to eat, plenty of decent food for the adults and the characters walk around from table to table talking to the kids and taking pictures.  The girls loved it and I was happy to know I wouldn't have to wait in line to meet any characters at the park - I want to ride the rides!

They take their own pictures but I'm so impressed they'll take pictures with your camera as well.

Aubrey is in LOVE with the princesses right now so we were all happy when Cinderella showed up

How many times in your life will you get to have Mulan sing Happy Birthday to you?  Logan was pretty excited to have the room sing to her for her birthday. 

We went to bed full and happy.  Our hotel room was pretty great with 2 queens in one room, a loft upstairs for Todd and I and a sofa sleeper in the living room.  At 2 am Aubrey came walking upstairs covered in barf.  Oh man.  Todd and I moved Paige into bed with Logan, cleaned up Aubrey and her bed and finally Todd crawled back in bed and I climbed into bed with Aubrey since she was pretty sad.  She was vomiting every 15 minutes until 6 am when everyone got up to get ready for Disneyland.  The girls handled the news that we weren't going to Disneyland surprisingly well.  Todd and I took them to breakfast and then I took a nap while they played computer and watched TV.  Then to keep them out of the hotel so Aubrey could keep sleeping Todd took them to the pool and then to lunch at In-N-Out.  After lunch they hung out some more and then it was my turn to take them to the pool since Aubrey was STILL sleeping.  Todd gave her a blessing and felt like we should take her to Urgent Care - so we did.  She was still super lethargic and had a fever of 102.  Poor kid.  Once the Tylenol kicked in she perked up a lot, giving us some hope that we could all go to Disneyland the next morning. 

She slept through the night and woke up the next morning feeling well so we got ready and went to breakfast.  Halfway through breakfast she was tired again but we dragged her to Disneylnad anyway knowing Grandma would be in a wheel chair and could give her a ride.  Disneyland and California Adventure were just great.  Great great great.  Logan wasn't sure she was going to like it after Star Tours, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain all in a row at the beginning but she hung in there and quickly realized there were a bunch of other great rides that weren't so dizzying.  Our second day of Disneyland we weren't with the Babbitts so we did a lot of the smaller rides -  Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Mr Toad, Haunted Mansion and by the third day of Disneyland in a row we were all tired but still happy and Logan and Paige couldn't get enough of California Screamin' (the roller coaster with a loop).   Our favorites were: California Screamin', Tower of Terror, Soarin' over California, Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain and Aubrey's favorite was the Ariel ride.  It was such a fun trip.  We were all toast by the time we got home.  Our feet and shoulders were killing by that last day and Aubrey wouldn't even walk 5 feet but really they all hung in there so well and were happy and we just loved it.  Loooooved it. 

The Babbitts

We did It's a Small World twice.  Aubrey's the only one that liked that one :)

But we all LOVED Toy Story - it was the longest line (45 minutes).  It doesn't have a fast pass and the wheelchair didn't get us in any faster :)

Once we got the glasses we knew we were close

Bre and Paige

Waiting for World of Color

All of us Babbitts and Shanna's parents too

Day 2 - Cinderellas castle

Good thing for Dramamine.  I rode the Mary-Go-Round more times in those 3 days than I have in 10 years

In Minnie Mouse's house

Hanging with Grandma while we all went on Matterhorn

Aubrey was excited to meet any character.  The older girls didn't care AS much but they liked it too.

This Mary-Go-Round was right in between Toy Story and California Screamin' so Aubrey rode it a LOT

Waiting for the Soundsational parade.  The girls LOVED this parade. 

Logan bought her sisters these lollipops for the parade

Aubrey was beside herself at this parade.  She sat and waved at all the dancers and characters and most of them saw her and would wave - totally making her day. 

Look at that face.  I watched her more than the parade

We loved Buzz Lightyear too.

I also love that these 2 had fun experiencing the park together.  They're so lucky to have each other

The haunted mansion decked out for Halloween

Grandma and Aubrey on the Mary-Go-Round...again.

The tower of terror was a favorite of mine and Todd's.  It's the most fun when you keep your hands up the whole time.

A whole raft of Babbitts.  Carter was soaked.

One final picture leaving Disneyland at 9pm after 3 full days.  Aubrey of course isn't even walking at this point but  we're happy as clams. It was a great trip.  Pretty much perfect. 

Oh, and I don't want to forget how fun it was that Todd, Carter, Paige, Ellie and I went on Splash Mountain at 8:30 pm on our last night and how we walked right on.  When our ride was over there wasn't anyone in line so the person working the line said, "you want to ride again?!".  We were stoked to get to stay in our log and go for another ride on Splash Mountain before leaving the park.  Such a fun way to end our epic trip :)