Our First Family Vacation... Disney Style!

Warning: This might possibly be the longest blog post in my blog posting history! It also contains some of the cutest pictures you will ever see. Consider yourself warned! :)

So, where is the best place to take a three year old, two year old, and six week old? The first thought that came into our mind was Disneyland, too. Tracy and Jeremy were taking their kids and asked us if we wanted to go along. Before you knew it, Terry and Craig decided they wanted to go too, so we packed up six adults and six kids under 8 and headed to the happiest place on earth! 

We were up bright and early on Tuesday, November 4 and made it to the airport by 7. The trip started out great with Caden throwing up right as we pulled up to the drop off. We had to change his clothes and get all of our bags loaded up. It was probably the most stressful part of our trip. Added bonus: Caden smelled like throw up the entire day. 

We finally got through security and on the plane. 

Makayla and Caden were so excited for their first plane ride, and Makayla even made sure Belle was buckled in her seat. 

Out of all of the kids, Brynnli was the best on the trip. I wrapped her up in the Moby wrap, and she basically stayed like this the entire flight (and most of the time at the park, too).

The kids were so enthralled with the plane ride that they fell asleep from the excitement.

Tyler sat by Tracy, Carson and Camden. I'm sure the guy in front of us was thrilled to be sitting by so many kids.

The flight was great. We got to our hotel, had some lunch at Ihop, and then headed to California Adventures. One of our first stops was to see the Disney Jr. show. So cute! Our kids loved it and were standing up dancing the whole time. 

After we got to meet Doc McStuffins and get her autograph!

We spent a lot of the time at Bugs Land. The rides were perfect for little kids, and there was hardly a wait for any of the rides. I think we maybe waited in line for 5 minutes for every ride we went on. In the words of Makayla, "good news!"

The kids got to meet Flick from "A Bugs Life."

This is how I spent my time every two to three hours... feeding Brynnli. 

One of our favorite parts of California Adventures was the parade. The kids loved seeing all the characters.

We got to see The Bugs Life show... bad move to take our kids there. They were terrified the whole show!

Then we were off to Cars Land, which was so stinkin' cute! Here's Daddy and Caden on the Mater ride.

After a long first day Caden and Camden were pretty pooped.

But the rest of us enjoyed the World of Color show

I think the first day was a success, seeing as all of our kids were out before we got out of the park.

Day Two: 

Day two we were up early ready for another fun day. Everyday we would have breakfast in Grandpa and Grandma's hotel room.

Since part of the reason we were going to Disneyland was to celebrate Terry's retirement, we decided to give her gift that morning.

Then we were off to Disneyland. Tyler, Makayla and I had a slight delay getting to the park because we had to wait out Makayla's temper tantrum in the hotel room which lasted a good 20 minutes. 

Once she calmed down, we headed to the park and went on a few rides. 

We started out going on the Peter Pan ride, but that was a mistake because it really scared Caden. He hated all of the rides from that point on and kept asking us when we were going to leave. He did like one ride though, the Merry-go-round. We went on it at least a few times each day. 

One of the hardest and best things we had to do was to go back to the hotel room for naps. It was hard to leave all the fun, but we knew our kids would do so much better if they were on somewhat of a schedule.

After nap time we went back to the park and ran into Captain Hook!

One of the things we really wanted to see at Disneyland was the Frozen characters. Since Makayla and Caden are obsessed with the movie, we knew we had to meet them. Earlier that day Grandma and Grandpa waited in line for an hour and a half for a reservation to meet Elsa and Anna from Frozen. Our time finally came to meet them, and I have to say it was probably the highlight from the entire trip because the kids just believed in the magic of it all so much. Elsa and Anna were so cute with the kids and complimented Makayla on her Frozen outfit and shoes.  

I just love this picture because Makayla is just beaming from ear to ear.

We also got to meet Rapunzel

And the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella.

While waiting to meet the next round of princesses, I had to take another break to feed Brynnli. This guy plopped down next to me to take a nap. I don't know if it was more awkward for me or him.

We got to meet Ariel. When we walked in she said, "Oh my, you've brought the whole school of fish!" and later told Camden that he was "just learning how to use his legs like she was."

Next we got to meet Snow White who told us our family was almost as big as her family.

Then it was off to meet Cinderella: 

We got to meet Aladin, Jasmine, and Genie

 Brynnli was just staring at the characters. Probably one of my favorite pictures.

We went to the Tiki room where all of the kids were laughing and dancing the entire time. 

Next was Toon Town where we met Pluto

 Goofy who was making the kids pose... well goofy.

 And then Minnie's house to meet Minnie herself.

To end day two we watched the parade, which was by far one of mine and Tyler's favorite parts of the whole trip. Makayla and Caden were so excited, jumping up and down, and dancing the entire time. 

Memorable moment (or rather, a moment I would like to forget): I need to preface this story by saying that I get it: Disneyland is overwhelming for kids, especially a three year old. I get that the kids are tired, out of schedule, and a complete mess at times. So here's the story.  At the end of day two we were getting ready to leave and I told Makayla she had to go to the bathroom before we left. She told me she didn't need to go, but I made her go in the bathroom with me. She started screaming at the top of her lungs, "NO!!!! I don't need to go potty!" I set her on the toilet and she screamed like I was abusing her. I tried everything... I even told her I would give her a sucker if she went. She still screamed, but I made her keep sitting there all the while she yelled "No, I don't need to go potty!" At some point she went, so we went to go wash our hands... she was still screaming at this point, and the two ladies in the bathroom looked at me like I was the meanest mom. We walked out of the bathroom and she was still screaming. I really thought our child was possessed. As we were leaving the park (yep, Makayla was still screaming) Tyler said to me, "Did you tell Makayla you would give her a sucker? Because some people were talking about you as they left the bathroom." It's funny to laugh about it now, but at the time I was pretty embarrassed. 

Day Three: 

Day three was the Magic morning, which meant we got to go into Disneyland an hour early. To start off day three we had to take the iconic picture right as you walk into Disneyland. The sun was really bright, so this was the best picture we could get

 The Jones Family:

 And Grandpa and Grandma with all six of their grandkids. 

 On the way in we ran into Cinderella again. She grabbed Makayla's hand and they got to go for a little walk. I just love the way Makayla is looking up at her in this picture.

We also got to meet Chip... the one half of Chip and Dale (the clean Chip and Dale... not the dirty one)

 Me and my lil princess in front of the castle.

 We spent the majority of the day riding rides. Daddy and Kayla went in the cars and Caden and I were right behind them. I'm worried when the kids get their driver's licences in 13 years because they are really bad drivers! :)

 Grandma and Kayla got to go on a ride

 Then it was off to meet Captain America.

 After that we stopped for lunch.

 Then off to meet Thor.

About this time of day Caden fell asleep and I had to feed Brynnli again, so Daddy and the rest of the family went on the train ride where Makayla fell asleep. 

When Makayla woke up we let her choose what ride she wanted to go on and she picked "fast train" aka Thunder Mountain Railroad. You would think that a three year old would be scared of that ride, but not Makayla. She LOVED it and wanted to keep riding it. I think total on the trip we went on "fast train" at least seven times!

On this particular time Jeremy and Tyler got to sit together. They make a cute couple. :)

 And me and my Kay-bugs got to go together.

 We rode more rides before stopping to get dinner before the parade again and calling it a night.

 Oh, and Camden spit up all over Tracy's leg. It was worthy of two pictures:

Day Four:

Day four was the first day of the Christmas season, so we got to experience Disneyland at Christmas time. The characters were all dressed up in their winter best. We got to meet Donald Duck

 And Goofy again

 Then it was off to meet Tinkerbell. Makayla has really been into Tinkerbell lately, and she was so excited to meet her.

 We got to meet Fawn, one of Tinkerbell's friends.

Yea! Finally meeting Tink!

 Caden was having a minor meltdown because he thought Tinkerbell forgot to sign his book (even though she really did), but Tinkerbell was so sweet because she signed another page for him and gave him a special hug.

 P.S. When we were looking back at pictures of Disneyland after our trip Caden saw this picture and said, "Her's my best friend!"

On the way to our next stop we ran into Alice from Alice in Wonderland. 

Caden got to pick the next ride and he chose the "slow train"

 At some point in the day Camden peed on Grandpa. Then later that night he threw up all over his clothes. Not a good day for Camden... or Grandpa.

 Oh here I am feeding Brynnli again... and again a random person decides to plop down next to me. Seriously people?

 We rode more rides and met more people like...

Tiana

 Tigger

 And Winnie (according to Caden, his name is "Windy the Pooh")

About this time of day the kids were in need of a desperate nap, so we headed back to the hotel. I love this picture of our three princesses in their bed. 

On our way back to the park we ran into Belle. Makayla was so excited to see her because she wore her special Belle dress. 

 She even got to go on a walk with Belle around the park.

Day four was also the first day of the Christmas parade. We all had a little treat before the parade started. Caden enjoyed his treat the most. 

Disneyland set up the castle for Christmas to make it look like Frozen. Of course we had to get a picture in front of it. 

 Makayla told us she "used her special powers with that other Elsa to change the castle to ice."

That night they also opened "It's a Small World" which had been decorated for Christmas. Loved this ride!

 Before the fireworks show, we ran to meet Mickey Mouse. You can't go to Disneyland and not meet Mickey.

Friday night was the fireworks show, which was one of our favorite parts. Makayla and Caden still talk about it. Brynnli was just chillin before the show started. Seriously, she is the best baby on this trip. She just chilled in her stroller for the majority of the time.

After the parade, Caden was out.

 Makayla, on the other hand, still had too much energy. Since the park was open until Midnight, we thought we would let Makayla go as long as she could last.  And guess what time she lasted? Midnight! If the park was open she would have lasted another hour or so. I couldn't believe her.  To end our last night at Disneyland we watched the Fantasia show. After that we let Makayla pick whatever rides she wanted to go on, so she picked "fast train" and we went on it two more times. Then she picked Dumbo. 

 And finally we ended the night on the Merry-go-round.

It was so hard to leave Disneyland. We had so much fun and couldn't believe how fast four days went by. 

 Day Five:

Day five was memorable for a completely different reason. We got all of our stuff packed and headed to the airport. We finally got on the plane and sat there for at least 45 minutes waiting to take off. The pilot came on and said the plane was having mechanical issues they were trying to resolve. Our kids were getting restless, and we were getting nervous trying to entertain them. Awhile later the pilot informed us the issues couldn't be resolved and we had to deplane while they got another plane. Our flight was delayed about three hours. Do you know how hard it is to keep the kids entertained for that long? Mind you they were hungry and tired, which made it even easier. Finally a few hours later we were on the new plane and ready to go. About 10 minutes into the flight the kids were out

 and so was Tyler. 

I think our trip wore everyone out! But we had so much fun!

The day we flew home was Carson's birthday, so Craig talked to the pilot and asked if the kids could see the cockpit. Carson was pretty excited

 Caden on the other hand, not so excited.

I have to say our first family vacation was a huge success and honestly, the funnest vacation I have ever been on. It was truly magical to see the kids get so excited. They really believed in the magic of it all. Since we have been home, the kids talk about Disneyland ALL the time. Every time they see a princess or character, they tell me, "we met that guy at Dinweland!" I can't wait to go back in a few years!