DISNEYLAND!

Our last 3 days were spent at Disneyland - the happiest place on earth! It was great. We met Grandpa, Grandma, Ryan, Sara & Lindsay there, which is always wonderful. We were definitely ready for more adults by the time we got to this point. Divide and conquer. This is us walking to the park - so excited! Both for Disney and to find the family!Hello Disneyland!!! Outside Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. So fun, we didn't coordinate too well. Maybe I'll have to start packing for everyone.
Every time we go we take a picture of the kids by the White Rabbit's door. Jaxon is getting too big!
You spin me right round baby right round, like a record player, right round, right round. Jared & I refuse to ride the teacups, luckily Ry and Linds like it. So the kids got to go with them. Yippee!
I never did get a full group shot, unfortunately, but this has a few. We were patiently waiting for our Peter Pan ride. Woohoo!
Jainie was posing in this one with her hand in the "5" position so Grandpa posed with her. We were eating across from Pirates. I had a cheese Monte Cristo - yum! Who knew? Jaxon and Josh had turkey legs. Jaxon ate his all by himself, then declared himself a man because he could! I wish that were all it took, there would be a lot more men around - Sara and Linds would appreciate that.
Josie (Jasmine) was the hit of the parade - she was the belle of the ball - the wonder of the road (I just made that one up:)). She was in the parade, she and Jake, it was darling. Bee Bopping away. Jake was great too. Jainie refused to participate.
Jaxon got his birthday call from Goofy. Are you ever too old for that? I think NOT!
Grandpa & Grandma gave Jaxon this birthday breakfast for his present this year. It was wonderful!!! Daisy kept following Jaxi around and giving him kisses, he would ignore her. So funny - 12 years old - finally Lilo made him lean over and give Daisy a kiss. Happy 12th sweetie! What a handsome boy. Thanks M&D for the fun present. It was delicious!
Jainie's first character!!! We were so proud of her. You can see she is posing - bending her knees - she is usually quite the poser, but I think she was too nervous. She decided to meet her because she was in Minnie's dress. Luckily, after that, she would meet any princess, or girl - still no BOYS!
Ah - a beautiful Christmas tree and the Matterhorn - bliss!
Poor Sara was sick again! It happens all too frequently. Anyway, she finally consented to get a wheelchair on the 2nd day, the kids loved it! Free rides. She still only lasted until about noon maybe 1:00, with the promise she'd sleep a few hours and come back. FYI: she never did. Oh, and she is giving this sick look on purpose, she really didn't look sick at all!
Jake wouldn't take time for most characters, too busy going on rides, but when we saw Woody, he decided to take some time to say "howdy."
This is Jake so excited because he is tall enough to go on "Mulholland Madness". I think because he doesn't know what he is in for. Anyway, he went and LOVED it. In fact, he is a thrill seeker, he loves the big rides the best. This time he even got to go on Indiana, thanks to his dad's quick thinking, so now the only ride he hasn't gone on is California Screamin' and he is counting down the days. Crazy boy.
Belle was so excited when she was tall enough for Jumpin' Jellyfish. You can see how long that lasted. This is the end of the ride. She was all smiles before it started. Luckily, Josie helped her out. She vows to never go on that ride again. We'll see.
California Adventure had Santa sitting here during the day but no one at night, just a line of people taking pics. Normally, we wouldn't have stopped, who has the time, we have rides to go on. But, there was no line so we got our family picture. As you can see, Josh is a bit grumpy, but what would a family picture be without at least one person looking unhappy?
We found Mickey right when we walked in early morning one day. It was perfect, no line! However, I use that line time to make sure I can find autograph books, figure out who is willing to be in the picture, and check the camera's functions. Obviously, no time to do this here. Thus, the picture was on the wrong setting and is over-exposed. Bummer - still I like it!
Jainie came alive in Disneyland, she made up for all of her orneriness & crabbiness when we walked into the park. This is in Small World which you can see Josie loved as well. I just had to get their expressions, so innocent & full of wonder & joy. I was right there with them. This was my favorite ride this year! And the boys, well, they will tell you it's horrible, but they couldn't take their eyes away from all the things to see. I know they secretly loved it too. The magic of Disney!
Jainie loved Minnie's house, she tried every piece of furniture there. She thought the bed was ultra-comfortable, it was made of hard concrete, the fridge was delightful, Minnie's chair - she could read books in all day long, and the stove and dishwasher were great as well. She wanted the Christmas tree that was in Minnie's front yard. To put it plainly, Jainie wants Minnie's house. And who can blame her, she does get to live in Disneyland!!! (The other kids were all riding "Goofy's Go-Coaster"? over and over. It gave Jainie time to explore).
WOW! Aren't Disney faces the best. Josie has found this tradition delightful. Every time we go she chooses a different way to paint her face. I think it is so darn cute. Jainie decided she wanted to do it this year and loved it as well. Jake did it because he wanted to be chosen for Star Wars (more about that on next paragraph). Thanks Grandma for making our dreams come true!
Jake is the biggest 5yr old Star Wars fanatic alive, I am convinced. He knows everyone's name, what color lightsaber they use, if they have other weapons, their relationships with each other, etc. You name it, he knows it. So when we saw that he could become a Jedi, we had to do it. Grandma took him to get his face painted, which he requested to look like Darth Maul (who in their right mind would want to look like that?), and he was set. Ready for his training. He was chosen very 1st to be a Jedi. It was great - he loved it and was totally absorbed. And, even better, Josh was chosen as well. Josie did NOT want to be chosen and so hid behind me, as did Jaxon. Funny.

Jake got to fight Darth Vadar - it was great. He still is asking if that is the "real" one. We insist he is.
Joshua fought Darth Maul - Josh was awesome and won, of course.
We waited to meet Alice on this day because Jainie had her Alice dress on. She loved her. She still wants to name every baby doll she has "Alice in Wonderland" and if I ever have another baby - girl or boy - she wants him/her named not just Alice but "Alice in Wonderland." Funny girl. Josie had to hold out her shirt since she didn't have a dress on.
After we went to Jaxon's birthday breakfast luau, Grandma decided Jainie was loving it so much that we should go to the princess luncheon with the girls. So, just us girls - Josie, Jainie, Grandma, Sara, Lindsay, & me went to meet the princesses at Ariel's Grotto. It was so fun. Both Jainie and Josie absolutely loved it - it was hands down Jainie's favorite part of the trip. And, Ariel was her favorite at the time, we had to back and watch her several times. Good thing she left or Jainie would have never eaten!
Well, we won't say good-bye, simply "See ya lator, alligator" to my beautiful Disneyland. Until next time - all swathed in lights.
All in all a great vacation! In fact, posting this late, really makes me want to go back. Jared said I could take the kids and go whenever but he won't be able to for awhile. Bummer - why do dads have to work? I'm sure in the celestial kingdom I will get to play in Disneyland all day long! I am so excited!!!