Spring Break 2014

I can't believe Spring Break has come to an end.  After months and months of planning and keeping things a secret, it's all over.  A long time ago, Joey saw a commercial for Disneyland on tv.  She started asking all the time if we could go and we would tell her she wasn't tall/old enough to go.  So every morning she would wake up and ask if she could go to Disneyland and say, "I growed! Can I go now?!".  So cute.  So we began planning but we wanted to keep it a secret until right before we were leaving, not so much to get a huge reaction from them, but we didn't want them asking us every 3 seconds when we were leaving, lol. 

The day finally came to leave.  We had packed all night while the girls were asleep.  We told them we had to take Jeremy to the airport for a business trip, and I had told them I would take them to Chuck E. Cheese after.  We pulled into the parking lot at the airport and this was the reaction when we told them:

It wasn't really the reaction we expected- I really thought it'd be bigger, but since we weren't really keeping it a secret for the reaction factor, I didn't care.  They actually got way more excited once we were on the plane.  I think they thought we were kidding and didn't believe us until that point.

We had such a great time!  I am so glad we chose Disneyland over Disneyworld for the girls at this point.  Cramming 2 parks into 3 days was tiring enough.  I can't imagine trying to do more.  There was some whining here and there from the girls- they were exhausted.  After all, TX is 2 hours ahead of CA AND we had daylight savings, so that was an adjustment.  But all-in-all it was wonderful. 

I didn't think I was going to like CA Adventure.  The girls don't like "Cars", and for some reason I had it in my head that we just weren't going to be impressed.  Boy was I wrong!  CA Adventure has a completely different feel than Disneyland.  It is more spread out (or feels like it, anyway) and not as congested.  I felt like the ride operators were friendlier as well.  Not that the ones at Disneyland were rude, but the ones at CA Adventure would ask me if I wanted a stroller pass, gave me new fast passes if I was a couple minutes late, etc.  The Radiator Springs ride and Tower of Terror were SO MUCH FUN.

At the hotel before going to CA Adventure

 

Princess Sofia!

 

 

 

 

Minnie Mouse!  Lucy wasn't so sure of her...

Tired of pictures already.

You can't see Shelby's head, but she LOVED it.

It got a little warm. :(

Radiator Springs...so fun!

 

The next two days the girls were in princess Heaven.  They really wanted Anna and Elsa dresses, but I couldn't find any here.  I should have ordered them, but I figured SURELY we would be able to get them at Disneyland.  Wrong.  Obviously they are the most popular princesses right now.  So the girls settled on new Belle and Ariel dresses.  The first day at Disneyland, we had just entered the park and were walking through the tunnel to get onto Main St. and bumped right into Ariel.  She had just come out and was walking to her picture spot.  She asked the girls if they wanted a picture and to follow her.  Little girls began rushing up to her and she would say, "Sorry, I'm taking a picture with these little guppies first, but you can line up right behind them."  So cute.  We also got to meet Belle that day, and Joey got to meet Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. 

Splash Mountain

 

 

Ariel and her guppies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Why do they have Aladdin and the Genie but no Jasmine?)

Lucy's face during the parade

 

 

 

 

The third day there was another surprise...this time for Jeremy and the girls.  Our friends, Phil and Julie, and their kids Jazmin and Jaeda, came to meet us!  It was so fun to have them there with us!  I don't think I got any good pics of any of us that day, but I think Julie did, so I will have to get them from her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last two days in CA, we drove down to the San Diego and did some sightseeing.  We went to the beach, walked around Seaport Village, saw the seals in La Jolla, met some Yellow Deli people, ate some cronuts (life changing), and went to Coronado Island (which isn't really an island).  California is so pretty, and sometimes I wish we'd never moved away, but then I wouldn't have met Jeremy, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. 

Drive-by of the San Diego Temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such a beautiful hotel.  And it's supposedly haunted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cold?  Haha!

 

 

 

It was SUCH a great vacation.  Sad that it's over, but now it's back to the daily grind!  I have lots to catch up on with work.  I'm also campaign manager for a friend that is running for school board, and that is turning out to be quite a bit more work than I anticipated.  Thankfully the election is in early May, so I'll only be crazy busy until then. ;)