Thanksgiving @ Disneyland

* * Picture overload... that's just how I roll * *

Last year, for Christmas, my parents surprised us with a trip to Disneyland. Kinsley looked forward to seeing Cinderella and her castle all year. I don't know what she was more excited for. Spending an ENTIRE WEEK with her cousins or going to a princess castle. The Saturday before Thanksgiving we drove 12 straight hours to Anaheim. I rode with my parents and sister because Eric couldn't get off at his extern site until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The drive wasn't as hellish as I had imagined and we all arrived in one, mostly sane, piece.

On Sunday we went to church with my cousin Brennon and his family in Newport Beach. Kinsley was excited to have MORE "cousins" to play with. Later that day, after both of my brothers and their families arrived in California, we had Brennon's family and everyone over for popcorn. Brennon even made us all lemonade from his lemon tree.

Thanksgiving 2011
The ONLY group shot

Day One
Princess Breakfast
On Monday morning we dressed the older girls up as princesses and took them to a delicious breakfast for princesses at Ariel's Grotto (California Adventures. My parents bought us hopper passes so we hopped between the parks). Kinsley LOVED it. You should have seen the pure excitement on her face when the royal page announced the entrance of the first princess. She hardly ate any breakfast because she was SO excited. The princesses walked around to every table and paused to talk with the girls and take pictures. I brought a princess bedtime collection book for all of the princesses to sign- I thought Kinsley would get more use out of it over an autograph book.

After breakfast we met up with the rest of the group in Disneyland. Kinsley talked nonstop about princesses all day. The little girls did SO good sitting in their car seats. What did mom's do without double strollers?

Kinsley loved riding on the "airplane" (as she calls it). She also said she liked riding the "cups" but she told me "I don't like going fast, fast, fast. Just slow slow. Cuz I bonkeded my head going fast fast." Aila, too, loved riding the tea cups but unlike her sister she DID like going "fast fast."

Kinsley's least favorite ride of the day was the "scary house."
Day Two
The lines were ridiculously long. At one point the line waiting to meet Rapunzel was 2 hours and the wait to ride Dumbo was 45 mins!!! It was packed but we still had a great time. Thanks to Kristi we were often moved to the front of lines. Kinsley loved riding the carousel! I think she rode on it three times on day two. We also had a great time meeting other characters.

Mickey Mouse

Pluto

Woody

The Beach
Wednesday morning, we picked Eric up from the Long Beach airport and spent the morning/afternoon at the beach. Kinsley loved playing in the sand and was ecstatic when she found a playground on the beach! Aila loved swinging and it was really nice having Eric there to help me with the kids.

I told Eric that if Aila fell off the pier he would have to jump to get her.

Disneyland/California Adventure
We decided to post-pone Thanksgiving dinner until Friday because we heard Disneyland is REALLY busy the day after Thanksgiving. It was still pretty busy but we didn't have to wait in lines for two hours.

Aila absolutely LOVED riding the tea cups. Eric, on the other hand, did not.Splash MountainAila missed her daddy and loved all of his attention.
Kinsley was really excited to meet Rapunzel! I think she is Kinsley's favorite princess. Kinsley always talks about wanting to have "long long" hair like her.

The kids were able to sit on Santa's lap. Kinsley told Santa she wants a "wheeler chair like Aunt Kristi." She has yet to change her mind. =( I told her I didn't think Santa makes electric wheelchairs at the north pole. Aila, on the other hand, was not a fan of Santa Clause.

The Parade

We let Kinsley pick out a souvenir. I tried to steer her away from the stuffed animals because the last thing we need is ANOTHER stuffed animal. But when she found this Minnie Mouse she said, "Minnie I have been looking and looking all over for you Minnie. I love you so so much!" I couldn't say no to that.

Scariest ride between the two parks. Yes, it is a Ferris wheel. No, I am not joking.Date night
Thursday night the park was opened until midnight so my parents deamed it "date night." They had us all drop our kids off (10 kids- my cousin Brennon and his wife Hillary came too) paid for our dinner at PF Changs, and watched the kids while we went on all of the adult rides at Disneyland. We all had a blast and are very thankful not only for the trip- but also for date night!

Thanksgiving (Friday)
We were really glad we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday because we needed some time to relax before the long drive home. I made the girls these applique turkey shirts from some fabric scraps I had laying around. I think they turned out cute-- but they were harder to make than I had originally planned. I swear- I can't sew if my life depended on it! Perhaps I shouldn't have dropped out of that begining sewing class in college.

This Thanksgiving we were thankful that we didn't lose anyone at Disneyland.

Eric stayed behind, in California, and took part two of his National Boards exam. I am happy to report that he thinks he did well. Two tests down... one more to go!