The Rest Of Disney (In A Nutshell)

I took a record number of pictures this time around at Disneyland, so I have been having a really hard time going through them all and trying to pick out only a handful to post.  There are so many good ones… I can't wait to get them all into a photo book.  We really did have a great time.  The kids were so much fun and easy to travel with.  Ryder was scared of two characters (Darth Maul and Captain Hook) and that's it, he wasn't scared of any ride, scaredy cat Savannah came out of her shell a little bit and actually rode some roller coasters, we didn't have to stop to change diapers, there were very few attitude adjustments needed, Ryder napped perfectly in the stroller, Disney was insanely allergy friendly for Ryder, Savannah was a trooper and walked all three days with maybe a handful of complaints, there was no crying for souvenirs… I really could go on and on.  It was a fantastic family trip!  It really does get easier and far more enjoyable to travel as the kids get older (hang in there parents of little littles).

One of my most favorite pictures from the trip.  I have one just like this with Savannah when she was Ryder's age.

Savannah and Cheridan in their princess ears.

One of the best things about all of the pictures from our trip is this toothless smile.  I love that she is toothless in all of our pictures.  What a perfect time stamp.

That moment when you get to meet the princess who you are dressed up as.  Totally a special moment for a little girl.

These two little people are the best two little people in the whole world.

Savannah's "which character are you?" quiz resulted in her being Maleficent.  She was so excited about that!  My little villain lover.

Having characters sign his autograph book was one of his favorite things about Disneyland.  He was very committed to getting as many as he could.

You will laugh when I tell you that I showed up to the park at 6 a.m. one morning with the kids so that we could be at the front of the line to meet these two ladies.  We ended up being fifth in line and only had to wait maybe 25 minutes.  The wait time on average throughout the day is 3 hours plus.  No way was I waiting in that long of a line… I knew how much both the kids wanted to see Elsa and Ana though, so waking up way too early seemed like a better option than a long ridiculous line in the middle of the day.  It was worth it, Ana and Elsa were perfect and so in character… Savannah and Ryder were in love.

Radiator Springs Comes To Life

Ryder's absolute favorite movie for well over a year now has been CARS (one and two).  Eric and I both were both looking forward to getting to take Ryder to Cars Land while we were at Disney.  No joke, the boy plays with his CARS cars every. single. day. all. day. long.  The movie is always on somewhere or being quoted by him while he is driving his cars around.  We have grown to love it as much as him.  The look on his face when he saw Tow Mater and all his other favorites cruising down the streets of Radiator Springs was priceless.  This is why people pay the high prices to take their family to Disneyland over and over again.  Disneyland is magical and the way that they bring the movies to life is amazing.  Getting to see Ryder blown away by their animated favorites coming to life in a real life built Radiator Springs made our trip worth every penny.

It is seriously unreal how they brought this movie to life.  Every little detail is perfect.

Fans Of The Dark Side

Months and months and months of listening to Ryder talk about getting to see and fight Darth Vader at Disneyland finally came to be.  Well, not the fighting part… turns out you have to be at least 4 to participate in the Jedi training.  So no fighting the dark side this trip.  Thankfully, getting to meet Darth Vader and everyone else was more than enough to satisfy him.  He was so so so excited to see the dark side!  Well, all except Darth Maul… that dude's make-up is legit and very freaky.  It didn't help that he growled at Ryder when he got close to him.  It was pretty much game over after that.  He got Darth Maul's autograph, but that was it… he would NOT go near him for a picture.  It was pretty funny.  The whole Star Wars meet and greet experience and getting to take him to watch the Jedi training made the trip for Eric and Ryder.

I love this picture… high top wearing Pocahontas using the force on one storm trooper while talking trash to the other.  Pretty sweet.

This was the moment that changed it all and forced Ryder to take about five steps backwards.

Always Our First Stop

No shocker here, our first stop after we saw grandpa and unpacked, was of course the beach.  Both kids were begging to get to the beach.  Savannah is the happiest little girl in the world when we are at the beach.  There is no doubt in my mind that the beach is her absolute happiest place.  She is fearless in the water… jumping and diving and going out as far as I will allow and trying to catch every wave possible.  Ryder is finally warming up to the idea of playing in the water.  Last year the water was much too cold, so he spent all of his time building sand castles and driving trucks in the sand.  He will now run down and play ankle deep in the water with his toys.  The water is a lot warmer than last year when we were out here, so I think after a few more days at the beach he will have no issues with going in a little deeper.  

Road Tripping Out West

Our annual summer adventure out to California to see my family snuck up on us this year.  I planned it later than normal, and still somehow I was not ready to leave on my scheduled date.  It didn't help that Ryder ended up having asthma issues the day before I was planning to leave.  The doctor put him on breathing treatments every two hours, so I decided to postpone for a day so that he could stay on schedule with his meds and so that he could rest.  Doing breathing treatments while we were on the road SUCKED.  Savannah was a huge help.  She put the medicine in the machine and hooked everything up for Ryder while I drove.  The other thing that became a bit annoying on the drive out was how frequently Ryder had to go to the bathroom.  We stopped way more than I would have liked.  There were even times that there was no where for me to stop, so he had to sit on our travel toilet and pee in the back of the van.  Awesome.  It was a pretty crazy trip.  The kids were both very good though.  Not one bit of whining or fussing or crying.  That is pretty much all any parent hopes for on a two day road trip through the boring desert with two kids.