Fantasy Days

The girls had waited with much anticipation for the day they would finally ride Dumbo. Since this ride usually has one of the longest waits in the park we made a beeline for it on one of our early entrance mornings. We were the first ones on and the girls were thrilled! We spent the morning exploring Fantasyland including Pixie Hollow where we ran into Tinkerbell and Vidia - two favorite fairies.

Ever wonder what happens to my girls when they stay up past their bedtime?

On the 4th of July Isabelle and Madeleine had a date with the princesses. After six days at Disneyland we still hadn't met up with one so we were very happy to have breakfast with them at Ariel's Grotto.

The moment Madeleine realized Snow White was headed her way.

Did I mention they adore Belle?

Of course there were more rides, shows, opportunities to get wet and character encounters on this day...

...but there's nothing like finishing the evening with a little break dancing.

More Disney Fun!

Disneyland just kept getting better for the girls on our next couple days. We started the morning by heading over to the Grand Californian Hotel for breakfast with Chip, Dale and other woodland creatures.

Since we were staying at the Disneyland Resort we were able to sneak through the secret entrance to California Adventure a little bit early to be the first to get on the new Little Mermaid ride. Lucky us!

Maddy made a good friend at Hollywood Studios Backlot. This picture was taken after they played a long game of tag together. I guess Goofy won!

The next day we set out for a special early entrance into Toon Town back at Disneyland. On the advice of my favorite Disney guidebook we bought a double stroller to save the girls from all the walking. I'm pretty sure it was also responsible for us retaining our sanity on this trip.

Finally face to face with the Big Cheese!

We weren't surprised at all when Madeleine turned out to be a daredevil. She was only tall enough to go on a couple roller coasters but once she got on she didn't want to get off. Somehow I ended up being strapped on this one about 4 times in a row.

Yes, I am the type of parent who lets her child have a lolly at 10:30 in the morning while on vacation. Why not?!

Suited up for the Davy Crocket canoes.

Back at California Adventure Isabelle discovered another favorite ride - Grizzly River Run. After getting completely soaked with Mommy...

...she jumped on for a second time with Daddy. My favorite sequence of pictures from the entire trip: "The Geyser" (Jason is in the blue shirt with Isabelle just to his right)

Musings on treats (couldn't Jason have kept the camera on the children? Geesh!)

Vacay at Disneyland! - Part 1

So, I thought about condensing eight days at Disneyland into one blog post but then I decided it's not as though I'm holding you hostage and forcing you to watch a slide show of our vacation. You're all free to desert this blog whenever you'd like - although I'd strongly advise against it as there is a lot of cuteness coming your way!

After waking the girls up at the ungodly hour of 4:15 in the morning to make our early flight to Anaheim, they were in good spirits (and so was Mommy) after a stop at the airport Starbucks.

Don't the girl's seats look large and luxurious? How come they didn't feel that way to me? :)

I'm a big planner when it comes to Disney. It may sound ridiculous to have an itinerary for each day but I'll tell you - we never stood in a line for longer than 20 minutes and while other children were having crying meltdowns all around us, our built-in rest/swim time everyday kept Isabelle and Madeleine low-key and happy.

As soon as we got to Disneyland we headed straight for Main Street Station to board the train for the grand circle tour around the park.

"Here it comes!"

Then it was off to It's a Small World to see the "dollies sing".

While waiting for any parade or show Maddy entertained us (and everyone else) with her dancing and hijinks.

Here comes trouble!

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which was fantastic! I'm afraid the girls got a little too used to turn-down service and chocolates on their pillows every night. A fireworks display on the headboard was an added bonus.

Tucked in and ready for the first full day of adventure!

Breakfast with Minnie Mouse was the first order of business. Can you tell Madeleine looooves the Disney characters?

On the infamous Winnie-the-Pooh ride. If you've been reading my blog for awhile you know the last time we were at Disneyland (several years ago) Isabelle made us go on this ride 15 times. With two cajolers I think we rode it at least that many times this year! Madeleine quickly learned the layout of Disneyland and whenever we got within a half-mile radius of Pooh she would stretch out her arms with waggling fingers and shout, "Give me the Winnie! Give me the Winnie!" How could we say no?

The Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island had us searching for treasure.

Even with stops along the way for goose sightings...

...the girls still managed to find some booty.

Our day ended with a harrowing ride on Autopia.

Who's Mommy's little speed racer?

How our adventure began...