Disneyland

Our FIRST family vacation. (Not counting trips to see family. =) ) We had talked about going to Disneyland sometime, but when Dave was deployed, we decided we were definitely going to go when he got back! I saved up while Dave was gone and it was something to look forward to. Kayla and I would watch all the commercials over and over for the parks and the dvd they sent in the mail. We were sooooooo excited! I don't know who was MORE excited, me or Kayla. I had never been to Disneyland and neither had Kayla. Dave had gone once when he was little. We were all excited to go. I discovered the ITT (Information,Tickets & Travel) office on base and planned our trip with a travel agent. She was wonderful and made planning and setting everything up so easy for us. We crossed our fingers and made plans, hoping for the best that Dave would be back in time because of the chance he would be kept longer or in the event something changed. We also wanted to plan it at a time when the park wasn't as busy. Everything worked out all right, thank goodness! 

We were going to Disneyland!!!!  I'm so glad we were able to go, especially while Kayla is still young (she is growing up way too fast!) and at a time she would think Disneyland was magical to her.  Because let's face it, if we waited too long the Dumbo rides just wouldn't seem very cool to go on......

We went the week before Thanksgiving, and took Kayla out of school. I did some research, and this was my first time going, but it was a really good time of year to go! We hardly had to wait in lines, and when we did it wasn't long, and it wasn't sweltering hot. It was perfect weather, except for the day we left when it poured down rain, while we were stuck at the top of Mickey's Ferris Wheel. Haha, good times.  =) We flew to California and stayed at a resort hotel and walked over to the park everyday. Before we left for Disneyland we had made a master list of all the things we wanted to see and do at both Disneyland and California Adventures and we conquered that list! We loved the rider swap pass. There were a lot of rides Makenna could ride on, but for the ones she couldn't ride we got a pass for. Either Dave or I would go on a ride with Kayla, grab a rider swap pass while the other parent held Makenna and after the ride we would swap girls so the other parent holding Makenna could go on the ride with Kayla, like a fast pass so you don't have to wait in line all over again. Genius idea, whoever came up with that. Kayla loved it and got to go on a lot of rides twice!  Since it was November all of their Christmas decorations were out and they were playing Christmas music and Disney music everywhere and THAT was so awesome.  It was very magical and very beautiful.

Kayla and Makenna both LOVED it! They were both really good girls and had a lot of fun. I was a little surprised how much Makenna loved it. She especially loved all the characters. She would kick her feet and jump and reach for them. If seeing them took awhile she would even cry for them! And when she got to see them up close she loved touching them and hugging them and laughed and smiled, it was sooooo cute. We got some pictures, but I wish I had gotten some video of it, it was so cute and hilarious! I guess I wanted to hurry and make sure I captured the moment. Kayla can be "shy", (She isn't shy once you know her!) but she loved the characters too and I was so proud that she would go and stand by them and hug them for pictures! Kayla surprised me again because she was so brave for all the rides. Her favorite was the roller coaster which she went on a lot! She is sooooo tall, so height was not even an issue, she could ride everything, and she did!

I had a lot of fun too. I totally felt like a little kid! When we got back from our trip one our friends asked me how Disneyland was for me since I had never gone as a kid because for most adults that go it is all nostalgic for them because they went there as kids and as an adult it might be, well, disappointing. But that wasn't the case for me! I LOVED it! I had stars in my eyes seeing everything there and I was enchanted, really. Maybe this is embarrassing to admit, but the fireworks at night (that even had "snow" at the end fall on us) made me tear up.  If adults have never gone I would totally recommend going, go for it and just have fun.  Maybe it wouldn't be the same for all adults but I thought it was very magical. (The castle DID seem a little small to be honest.) But it IS one of the happiest places on earth. =)

We got to share a lot of precious and priceless memories and moments as a family. What a reward our little family got to have, at the end of this long year without Dave, to just be together.  Just us, and have fun together! Because of the time of year standing in line wasn't so bad, when we even had to. Waiting was actually good too, because I think it was a really good time for Makenna to get use to Dave and for both girls to bond with him. It was time well spent.

These videos are just a sampling.  The first video is of us in California Adventure.  Pixar has a Zoetrope at California Adventure on display so people can see "how" cartoons are made to look like they are moving from the statues and using a strobe light.  Makenna was hilarious.  She was so excited and freaking out and would kick her legs super fast every time they turned it on.  People were taking video of Makenna, she put on her own little show.

The other video is the finale of a new water and lights show.  Its called World of Color.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!  They use water as the projector "screen" as they play a montage of Disney films put to music and use lights and water for a show.  (They had fire too at one point.)  It was one of our favorite things we did there.  Someone recommended standing on the bridge for the best view.  Pretty cool stuff!