In mid February, Ben took a week off of work and we headed to Disneyland. Thanks to E&Y and all of Ben's previous travels, we had enough Marriott points to get our hotel free for the week. They even upgraded our room to a two room suite, which was perfect. The kids could go to sleep in separate rooms and Ben and I could stay up after we put them to bed. The kids were wonderful on the way down. Movies and a bin full of activities and surprises kept them happy most of the way. We stopped in Las Vegas on the way down and stayed in a hotel on the strip. We got our hotel room from Priceline so we didn't choose the hotel and it ended up being on the strip. The hotel was really nice, but both Ben and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Clara really liked all of the lights and was disappointed that we didn't let her play on the slot machines.
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| Ben forgot his sunglasses. Looking good in a pair of mine. |
We got into Anaheim a little before noon and after getting some lunch, we put the kids down for a nap and then went into the park that evening. Since it was President's Day, the park was packed but we still never waited in line more than a few minutes. Clara wanted to ride the rockets first and that was probably the longest line we waited in. The fireworks show that evening was a couple of hours earlier than usual so we decided to stay and watch it. It was an impressive show, but both of the kids were scared of the noise. Clara sat in the stroller and dozed off and Ben and I took turns holding a scared Rex.
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| Our first ride in the park! |
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| While Daddy & Rex saved a parade spot, Clara and I went and visited Sleeping Beauty's castle. |
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| The carousel proved to be a favorite again this time. |
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| Riding the teacups with Mama. |
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| Asleep during the fireworks. |
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| Ben plugging Rex's ears during the fireworks. He was pretty frightened. |
We spent a good amount of time in California Adventure. The rides in Bug's Land were always short and the kids really enjoyed them. Clara was just tall enough to ride Soarin' over California this time and she thought it was great! Ben rode it with her and then I rode it with her later. Cars Land wasn't open the last time we want and we had fun exploring it. I waited in the Fastpass line for the new Cars Racers one morning so that we didn't have to wait in the 2 hour line. Clara got a little nervous on the ride but both Ben and I thought it was worth the extra effort.
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| Clara spotted Jake from the Disney Jr. show "Jake & the Neverland Pirates" She was so excited to hug all of the characters. |
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In Belle's library figuring out which Disney character she is. She got Alice in Wonderland and Ben got Captain Hook.
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Clara and Rex have both been loving Toy Story lately. We let them pick out one toy at Disneyland and Clara got a big Jessie doll and Rex got a big Woody doll. During the Pixar parade at California adventure, Clara shouted to Buzz, "Hey Buzz! It's me Clara!"
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| Hanging out in Mickey's house |
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| Rex didn't want to leave. He loved meeting all of the characters. |
When we met Goofy, we were the last people in line. After I put Rex back in his stroller, Goofy came over and played with him. He tried to take Rex's blanket and when he wouldn't surrender it, Goofy pretended to be sad. Rex handed it right over then and Goofy pretended to cover up with it. Both Clara and Rex were delighted.
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| Enjoying an afternoon snack after nap time. |
We lost track of the number of times we rode Ariel's ride. Most of the time we could just hop off the ride and then get right back on. It was definitely Clara's favorite. When we were riding the bus back to the hotel Clara was talking to some of the other passengers about the ride and told them, "I'm meaner than Ursula!"
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| Cars Land! I love Clara's pose. She had been asking for cotton candy for a couple of days. Victory! |
When we bought our park tickets, we purchased a character meal as well. We chose to go to Ariel's Grotto and meet the princesses. The food was good and the kids really loved meeting the princesses. Rex was enamored with Sleeping Beauty and kept blowing her kisses. Clara got all of their autographs and they were all so sweet to her.
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| Clara's dessert creation |
Clara was eager to meet all of the characters. She had never seen Alice in Wonderland but really wanted to go meet the Queen of Hearts. The queen pretended to wipe her nose with Clara's blanket and when we walked away Clara said, "She was really nice!"
The line for the Buzz ride was always really long but we lucked out on our last morning there and got to go two times in a row. Rex really liked it until the ride stopped right in front of Emperor Zurg. He was a little nervous about it after that and sat in my lap.
Before we had children, I had never been to Disneyland. One morning when lines were really short, Ben sent me to ride the Matterhorn while he took the kids on Dumbo. I got back just in time to watch the end of their ride.
Our bus didn't show up at it's scheduled time when we were leaving the park. It wasn't a problem for Clara--she just had an impromptu dance party on her "stage."
It was a great vacation. I loved seeing Clara and Rex's delight and spending all day with Ben. Now I just want to go back!
