DISNEYLAND!!!!

Fair warning:  this post is gonna be a total picture overload!!!  But what happens when you go to The Happiest Place on Earth?  You get picture happy.  And you just have to take a ton of pics.  And when your blog is your way of journaling/scrapbooking?  A LOT of the pics get posted!

Jake wanted to take a little vacation when he was done with finals.  My sister and her family wanted to go to Disneyland and so we planned a trip to Cali!  We left about an hour and a half after Jake's last final :)  Thanks to our tax return for making this trip possible.

I did a TON of research on cheap places to stay.  Seriously, I spent hours on the computer searching/comparing/reading reviews, until finally settling on a hotel.  We stayed at the Cortona Inn and Suites.  It was about a ten to fifteen minute walk to Disneyland (which meant we didn't have to pay for parking) and the hotel itself didn't charge for parking (which a lot of them do).  It was a decent place to stay, no complaints.

We spent the first two days of our trip at Disneyland/California Adventure.  Oh how we love that place.  And the last day we went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles and then to Huntington Beach.

{At our hotel the first day - heading to the big D!}

{Best cousins!}

{DISNEYLAND!}

{Cute kiddos}

{Kate was clapping after the Winnie the Pooh ride w/ this confused look on her face . . .}

{Ella & Emmy in their Rapunzel dresses}

{Derek & Jake were supposed to be watching the babies (and by babies I mean Kate & Dawson - they still count as babies, right?  They're almost two . . . :) ) while the rest of us rode the Matterhorn.  Apparently by babies, they thought we meant phones . . . }

{Kate loved this little door by The Mad Hatters, and she's screaming because someone had a bubble machine and there were bubbles everywhere!}

{Dawson & Kate waiting patiently while we were in line for a ride}

{Sisters!  We ate at the Blue Bayou restaurant (the one inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride).  It was fun to do once, but I probably won't do it again . . . especially after the $180 bill - ouch!  Luckily it was for both families, not just ours.}

{Teacups!}

{Kate loved the Carousel}

{Rapunzel and Flyn Rider!  Definitely worth the wait in line :)  It was the longest line we waited in - we waited for about 45 minutes}

{Kate had to get in on the action, too}

{2nd day at Disneyland!  Started on the Jungle Cruise}

{Carousel @ California Adventure}

{California Adventure - minus Kate who was taking a nap in the stroller}

{Classic Disneyland pic.  Like the girls' matching dresses?  I made 'em!}

{Dole Whip!  Definitely something we get every time we go to Disneyland.  That and the corn dogs - yum!}

{The premiere of Pirates 4 was the day after we were at Disneyland so they were setting up for it while we were there}

{Partying at the beach!}

{Wha?}

{It was actually pretty cold while we were at the beach.  I didn't even get into my suit.  But that didn't stop the kids - or the dads, for that matter!}

{Kate was laying face down in the sand, which resulted in . . .

. . . a nice little sand beard.  Oh, and she ate the sand, too . . . }

{Kate was so cold after she got out of the ocean that her toes and fingers started turning blue!  Jake had to wrap her in his sweatshirt.  That girl was freezing!}

{Waiting to eat at BJ's Pizza in Huntington Beach}

We had such a fun vacation - we can't wait to plan our next family vacation to Disneyland!!!