Disneyland!

As per tradition we left the beach house sad to leave the surf and sand, but excited to hit the happiest place on Earth.
Please understand me, when I seriously say that the Disney parks are truly the happiest places on Earth for me. Dead serious. Disney pulled me out of post-partum post Sarah, and another major funk last Spring. I love me some Disney.
Luckily, so do Blaine and our kiddos. We almost didn't make it this trip to Cali, and I'm so happy everything worked out that we could do it. (What with Carter baby #3 coming and all.)

On our shuttle to Disneyland our first day.

For some crazy reason, the security lines were insane when we got to the park. I've never seen it like this ever. It was nutso. Good thing they moved quickly because it was heating up and we were ansty.

Oh, these kids!

One more from Instagram.

Sarah showing off her shades.

Jake with his shades on... and showing off his excitement to see Cars Land for the first time.

Blaine filmed Jake during our first walk down the Cars Land street. He reacted exactly how we wanted him to. He was so excited to see everything and when he recognized all the shops and landmarks from the movie, he'd excitedly shout them out and point and cheer. It was so awesome.

A look at the Racers ride.

Sadly, Miles and Sarah were too little to ride the Racers, so Brent and I took the kids on Mater's Tractor ride and tried to stay cool. Yeeeeaaahhhhh..... it was hot. Damn hot. 108 degrees hot. Awful.

Well done, Disney. Well done.

Once we got our fill of Cars Land, we detoured a little and checked out this cute dancing show that featured the "ladies of Disney". It was kind of a funny modge podge of Disney gals, but Sarah was in heaven. She cried and cried when we had to leave.

Jake was just happy to sit and hold his beloved Monorail toy.

It took a little while for Sarah to warm up, but trust me--she can shake her booty.

Here she is is dancing with a weird female version of Chip--or Dale. Not sure, actually what's going on here.

Dancing with Lilo.

And our favorite: Anastacia (Cinderella's step-sister). She assured us that she and Cinderella are now friends. :)

She was so sweet with Jake and Sarah and spent a lot of one on one time with Sarah.

It was so sweet. Sarah loved her.

I'm just so impressed with the way the Disney characters interact with little kids. It really is magical.

Jakey and his Monorail... which he promptly broke the next day. :(

Sarah munching on the communal popcorn.

Everyone trying their best to stay cool. Man, it was so hot.

Markelle and Miles on the carousel in California Adventure.

Oh, Miles. This picture is so happy.

My cute family.

Ghiradelli was giving away free pumpkin chocolates. True story.

Cars Land at night. I think I love this place even more at night.

The next day... our first walk through the castle (the Sleeping Beauty tour). If I've ever done this before, I have no memory of it. It was really cool and I'm glad we did it.

I'm almost positive that both kids were happy here... Sarah's happiness is in question, but I think she is just excited about Small World. I think.

Small World.

Riding Small World... The kids love this ride.

Dumbo. Another Carter kid favorite.

Sarah and Mom.

We did something different this trip and decided to hit up a couple of character meals. Today's was Goofy's Kitchen. It was a huge hit and we loved doing this with Doug, Jen, Van, and Nona and Poppy. The food was great and the entertainment was stellar.

Sarah giving Goofy a smooch.
Adorable.

Awe.

Mulan came by our table and hung out a bit. She was so cute with the kids and Van even loved her. (He wasn't so sure about the masked characters.)

These driving the fake car pictures kill me.

It started with Sarah...

But of course all the cousins had to get in on this.

Van's just happy to be there. :)

And this one's my very favorite. I don't know how Van's little feet ended up on the dashboard, but I love everything about this picture.

Jakey driving the Autopia cars. His most favorite ride ever, probably.

Mint Julep.
My most favorite Disney treat.

Eating at The Plaza. Great food, free Diet Coke refills, and if you time it right, you can actually watch the evening parade through the hedges while you dine. Perfect, if you ask me.

Last day.

Perfection.

Waiting to ride Peter Pan. (My favorite Fantasy Land ride ever.)

 Jake and Sarah riding Peter Pan.

Carousel.

Oh, I love this boy.

Sadly, Merlin doesn't come visit the Sword int he Stone these days... still the kiddos thought it was pretty awesome to try and pull it out.

I love this back shot of the castle.

Riding Jungle Cruise.

This ride was during a rough time of the day. The kids were done and so was I. We took a little breather and got Sarah to sleep after this one.

Jake chasing down and muscling out other kids to meet Pluto. Hilarious.

Love.

It was hard to remember that it was officially Halloween time at Disneyland while it was so hot. Still, I love Disney in the Fall. Nothing like it.

Jake and I rode the Monorail together. He's so funny. He talked to the Monorail and everything.

Landmark.

Our other character meal was at Ariel's Grotto. We'd heard good things about this place and it definitely did not disappoint.

Sarah's first look at Ariel.

She was so excited to meet her.

So was Jakey.

The restaurant makes an announcement whenever a princess comes out to visit guests. It's so cute and Sarah was so excited about all our princesses.

First up: Sleeping Beauty!

Next was Belle...

Jake being a ladies' man, and Sarah practicing for Sping break?

Can you tell that Cinderella is her favorite?

I love how she kept on looking at the princesses.

And lastly, Snow White.
Sarah kept looking at the doorway after Snow White left saying, "Rupunzel's coming!" Nope--not this time.

Our last family picture together. Notice Jake's Cozy Cone drink. :)

After this, we made our way to World of Color. It was just as awesome as I remembered it.

 

In Vegas on the way back home. Wonderful Alison met us at Panda Express to say hi. Now, that's true love!

Apparently, the Cozy Cone is cozy with any kind of food.
Too bad, I am the worst mom ever and left the Cozy Cone on the roof of the car when we left Panda Express. Ugh. Of course, it was run over and of course, Blaine got out of the car the ran down the street to pick up the shrapnels left over from the tragedy. I suck.

Love vacations, but love coming home too. Until next time, California! We miss you already.

And thank you, Steve and Chris for another wonderful vacation!