Disneyland 2013

So when Boyce and I started talking about family vacations this summer, we couldn't get the idea of Disneyland out of our heads. Boyce started doing some research on how to make the most of Disneyland for toddlers, and before we knew it, we had planned our big summer vacation, and it was going to happen soon! While we were at it, we also decided to stop by Boyce's parents and spend some time in Bako and also visit his sister Lindy and her family in LA.

Day 1 - We left after a work meeting Boyce had and drove ALL. DAY. LONG. Ugh. Not gonna' lie - it took awhile because we needed to stop more often so we could feed Connor Bear. But both kiddos traveled pretty great, and we rolled into Bakersfield around 11 o'clock that night.

Day 2 - We really just chilled at Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's house. Grace (and daddy too) enjoyed herself in their little blow-up pool, and I'm sure it felt great because man alive it was hot there (100 degrees plus). We also decided last minute to get a sitter for the kiddos and go with Boyce's parents to see the movie "Now You See Me." It was pretty stinkin' awesome! That was the first time I'd left Connor with an actual babysitter and it was just fine. Phew. :)

Day 3 - This was a Saturday, and again we lounged around outside as long as we could stand it (SO hot!) and later after dinner ventured out to Rosemary's for ice cream. Did I mention Gracie LOVED being at Grandma and Grandpa's?! She even slept in her own room and slept just great. I think it's because she knows Grandma and Grandpa's house is safe and loving. :)

Day 4 - We went to church at 11, and once again Gracie didn't particularly love nursery there. So Boyce hung out with her during nursery while I stuck with Connor. After church, we came home and had a lovely dinner, and just enjoyed our last day with the grandparents. That part of the trip came and went too fast. We always enjoy being with Boyce's parents.

Hugs for Grandma!

Day 5 - Already we were off to Lindy's in LA. But before we got there, we made a pit stop in Santa Clarita to visit my BFF Natalie and her cute kiddos. She and I were roommates in college and have been good friends ever since, and I LOVE that she lives close enough to Boyce's parents that I get to see her once in awhile. And one of these days I'll remember to take pics of us together! After spending an hour or two with Nat, we kept trucking over to Culver City where Lindy lives. Gracie was really excited to see her cousins Ruthie and AJ, and maybe even more excited that Aunt Lindy had a trampoline outside. I think she and AJ spent the next two or three hours jumping on the tramp (interspersed with occasional fighting, that is). At around 3 o'clock, we walked over to pick up Ruthie from school. When we got back to her house, she showed us some of her super cool gymnastics she has learned. That gal is gonna' be an Olympian someday, I tell ya'. And I'm not even kidding. That night, we slept Gracie in Ruthie and AJ's room, which was all good and fine until about 1 am. Then Gracie woke up and of course wondered where she was and started to cry, which then woke up AJ who started coughing. At that point, we heard Gracie ask, "I hear cooking. Who's cooking?" Finally, Boyce got everyone back to sleep!

Day 6 - This was beach day! I have been so excited to take Gracie to the beach (she'd never been before). Kind of a bummer that it was pretty overcast, but nevertheless, Gracie sure did have a blast at the beach. She was not one bit scared of the waves, which even bowled her over a few times. But that little gal just got right back up and waited for the next one! Finally, when both Gracie's and AJ's lips were quivering from the cold and they couldn't deny that they were freezing any longer, we plopped down and had a yummy lunch. I will add, Connor pretty much snoozed in Boyce and my arms during our beach time. After lunch, we were all pretty cold and decided to head home.

Cousins holding hands on the beach. So cute!

Gracie was so stinkin' tired from a crazy night of being awake and from playing at the beach, she fell right asleep once we got in the car, so we napped her at Lindy's on her beach towel in her swimsuit, still sandy and beachy. The rest of the day we just enjoyed relaxing at Lindy's. We loved being outside. Her place has a beautiful view of LA.

Day 7 - So Lindy was a total angel and agreed to watch Grace and Connor for the whole day while Boyce and I went and played at Disneyland and California Adventures all by ourselves. Thank you Lindy! We had so much fun. We started the day off doing the most popular rides that we knew would get crowded the later in the day it got. We did Space Mountain. Twice. Seriously, can you get enough of that ride, because I can't?! Then we did Star Tours. That was the low point of the day for me because I got a little motionsick. (Seriously, isn't that so lame I got motionsick on Star Tours?!) We then hit Matterhorn and then Splash Mountain. I hadn't been on Splash Mountain in seriously 15 years, and I had forgotten how much fun that ride is!

At about noon, we decided to go to California Adventures, because Boyce and I had never been to that park before. We grabbed some lunch and then did Screamin'. Oh. My. Gosh. That was SO fun! We did it once and immediately did it again. Boyce was really annoyed at one lady who was very strategic in cutting in line, but we didn't let it ruin our fun. We just made sure she didn't cut in front of us. After Screamin' we decided to try to make it to the "Aladdin" show, which we only had 5 minutes to make it to. So we ran as fast as we could (I'm sure we looked silly!) to make it to the show. We did, and it was so fun!

After "Aladdin" we decided to go ride Soarin'. We had NO idea what kind of ride this was, and as we were standing in the so-called "box" at the front of the line we wondered what on earth we were going to be doing. But man alive that ended up being the coolest ride ever!

We did a couple of other rides, too, like the swings and the jellyfish (kind of dumb). We had dinner and then did Screamin' one more time (LOVE it!), and then went to Cars Land to do the Radiator Springs ride. The line was so super long, so we actually opted to do the Single Rider line. We befriended some very cute teenage girls who were in line in front of us, and then people directly behind us were from Magna. Sidenote: Okay, seriously, we saw so many people from Utah at Disneyland! We were just a few people away from the front of the line when the ride broke. We were going to be so bummed because at this point it was about time to head back to Lindy's, but thankfully the ride was only broken about 20 minutes. This ride ended up being so fun, so I'm glad we made it!

We got back to Lindy's at about 9:30, and I don't remember my legs and feet ever being that tired. Wow.

The one picture we took of the day together.

Day 8 - We got up early and said goodbye to Lindy and Jonathan and went back to Disneyland, this time with the whole fam. I was so giddy to be taking my children to Disneyland for the very first time. Gracie LOVES watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I couldn't wait for her to experience the magic of seeing Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and Pluto "for reals." We got off to a bit of a shaky start, though. Gracie got car sick in the car and threw up before we even got to Disneyland. A change-of-outfit later, we hopped back in the car and got there about 8:30 or 9.

We did California Adventures this day. Gracie became quickly enamored with the "Little Mermaid" ride there at California Adventures. I think we probably rode this ride 4 or 5 times. After "Little Mermaid," we wandered over to Flick's Fun Fair, and we were able to take Gracie on all the rides, including a little train ride, bumper cars, a mini ferris wheel, and a cute little ladybug ride that Gracie LOVED. We also squeezed in the "A Bug's Life" 4D show. We weren't sure if Grace would like it, but she did! While I went and nursed Connor, Boyce took Gracie to do the King Triton's carousel. We had some lunch and then hit the Disney Junior Show. It was perfect for little kids. Everyone sat on the floor as Mickey and gang visited Doc McStuffins, Jakey and the Pirates, and Princess Sofia. They also had special effects like bubbles and streamers falling from the ceiling. We all had a wonderful time. This was the first time Grace actually "saw" Mickey and Minnie, etc. She was in wonder. It was awesome!

This is what Connor did pretty much all of Disneyland. :)

One of Gracie's very favorite rides.

Not that you can tell, but this was on the ferris wheel.

Playing before the "A Bug's Life" show.

After that, Grace was pretty pooped, so we opted to go back to our hotel. Everyone was able to have a good nap (Boyce and I included!), and by the time we woke up, it was time to go to Goofy's Kitchen for the character dinner we'd reserved. I had no expectations, but man alive, it turned out to be pretty awesome. Goofy was there to greet all of the guests, and we got to have our picture taken with him. Then we were seated and went through the buffet dinner to get our food. During dinner, several characters visited our table. Grace was delighted to meet Minnie Mouse one-on-one. She also got to meet Chip and Dale and Belle. We'd seen Pluto around the restaurant, but he hadn't made it to our table. We thought we might end up missing him, but I took Grace to the restroom, and when we got back, Pluto was at our table with Boyce and Connor waiting for us! Grace was so very excited that Pluto was there waiting for her! I have to say, all of the characters were so great at staying at our table and entertaining us and Grace. Yes, it might be expensive, but so, so worth it!

LOVING that Minnie is sitting next to her!

I wonder what Connor is thinking...

After dinner, we went back to California Adventures, where Boyce and Gracie rode "Little Mermaid" for like the zillionth time. We also rode the "Mater's Hoedown" ride, which was so cute. I rode it with Grace and then Boyce rode it with Grace a second time. She had a great time on that ride! Then we got our spots for "World of Color." The show was spectacular, but I was a little worried because Grace was so tired by this point. She eventually fell asleep in the stroller about halfway through the show. I thought she might also be getting a fever so I was kind of anxious to leave and get back to the hotel. I feel a little bad because I know my anxiety made the show less fun for Boyce, but nonetheless, the show was really breathtaking.

We finally got back to our hotel and got everyone into their beds, and I am pretty sure all of us fell right to sleep.

Day 9 - This was our final day! We got up as early as we could (we were all still recovering from the day before!) and this time were bound for Disneyland. We went straight to Fantasyland knowing it would get busier as time went on. We went to Peter Pan first, and as we were about to get in line, one of the workers approached us and asked if we wanted to go straight to the front of the line. I don't know if we looked still tired from yesterday or slightly overwhelmed with a toddler and infant, but either way, we were so appreciative, and yup, we got to hop to the very front of the line! And that, my friends, is the magic of Disney. Grace didn't love Peter Pan as much as I'd hoped, but that's okay. We then did Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and then Gracie and I rode the carousel. After that, I went and took Connor to feed him while Boyce and Gracie rode on Pinnochio and the teacups (she loved them!) and then the carousel again. When I returned, I took Grace on Alice in Wonderland (one of my favorite rides!). After Alice, we ventured over to "It's a Small World." Grace loved this ride. After all, it is so magical with all the different "lands" and songs. So fun.

After that, we went over to Toon Town and I took Grace on the kiddy roller coaster, which I'll be honest, she did not really appreciate. It went just a little fast for her liking. We then ate lunch back in Fantasyland, and then went back to our hotel for an afternoon nap. We got back to Disneyland about 4:30 and I fed Connor while Boyce and Grace went on Autopia. After Autopia, we went and watched "Mickey and the Magical Map" because one of our friends was in the show. Grace totally got her groove on while we were watching it. We then went to grab some dinner, but before that, went and saw the princesses in the Sleeping Beauty Castle. So Gracie got to meet Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Cinderella. No doubt this was one of the highlights for our little girl. She was beaming in pure delight with each princess she met. After we said goodbye to our final princess, we then grabbed some dinner in New Orleans Square at one of my favorite restaurants.

Cinderella admiring Gracie's "slippers."

Pure euphoria, I tell ya'.

Following dinner, I took Gracie on the Haunted Mansion (Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides). After the fact, I realized taking a two-year-old on the Haunted Mansion was not one of my smarter parenting moves. This was a little too grown up for my little lady. The pitch darkness and blood-curdling scream even before you enter the ride was particularly unhelpful as well.

After the Haunted Mansion, I once again took Connor to eat, and Boyce and Gracie went to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean. As I was finishing feeding Connor in the Baby Center (Disneyland is so awesome for having places for moms to feed their babies!), I received a frantic call from Boyce. As he and Grace were at the very front of the Pirates ride, Grace had an accident. And did I mention Boyce was holding her while she had that accident? So Boyce pointed out that the magic, for him, was over. So he brought Grace to the Baby Center and I changed her, and we very quickly did our souvenir shopping, and left. :)

Ah, Disneyland. How I love you! We once again returned to our hotel and crashed, and then got up the next day and drove. A very long time. And finally got home.