Disneyland

We left for California bright and early on Christmas morning. Some friends of ours when they heard what we were doing insisted on taking us to the airport (despite our many protests- it was Christmas morning, after all!), which freed up our morning considerably, not dealing with the hassle of parking. We just drove up, got checked in, then took our non-stop flight. My Mom must have gotten a hint from Santa, because she sent the perfect traveling entertainment bags for the airplane ride. The Mickey Mouse dolls were a hit too. Peter especially loved his, and showed Mickey all the unfamiliar sights as we journeyed. He couldn't remember his last flight, which was about two and a half years ago.

Once in California, we crashed at Paul's Dad's apartment (he uses it during the week when he's working there, but we had it to ourselves since he was back home), which is just 20 minutes from Disneyland. It was SO nice to have a kitchen and a washer and dryer and a little space to spread out during the week. Not to mention it was free! Thanks again, Grandpa!
The next morning, the kids woke up bright dark and early (around 4:30 am west coast time), and we got excited with them as we got ready to be among the first ones there. I'd prepped myself for crazy long lines and suffocating crowds since we were going during Christmas break. Luckily, we had the "bad" weather on our sides, and the first day was lovely (almost no crowds). It drizzled a bit in the morning, but it got sunny and into the 60's later on.

Nora was excited to see the Sleeping Beauty Castle! That was her Christmas wish, after all.

 After riding several rides with us and attempting to pull the sword from the stone, the boys took off with Paul to Star Tours and other "big kid" rides.

 Nora and I rode Dumbo (her very favorite) a few times, and a couple other rides while the boys were gone.

The boys found us as we were headed to the princesses, and told us that Paul's phone had broken on one of the rides. It was completely useless, which would make it a lot harder for us to split and meet up throughout the day. We managed just fine though, old school style, without the use of cell phones to keep track of each other.
While standing in line to see the princesses, Nora could not contain her excitement and ran right under the ropes and photobombed someone else's picture with Belle. I was of course embarrassed and apologetic, but Belle gave her some love before we took our place back in line.

Here she is with Ariel, who cooed over Nora's red hair and blue eyes- "same" as hers. :)

And Belle took another moment with Nora to look at ducks.

"Tinana" as Nora calls her was there too, so we had to snap another picture.

 Later that morning, we all headed back to Star Tours so Benjamin and Peter could make their own light sabers using their Christmas money. Benjamin made a blue one, and Peter made a double sided green one. Peter's is HUGE - I think about six feet long. But he loves it.
After that, Jedi training was about to begin, so we found a spot in the growing crowd and Benjamin and Peter did their best to get picked. Peter's best was standing there stoically, but Benjamin's waving and near-tears expression really paid off. Here he is with his green training light saber, learning some Jedi moves.

When the stage lifted and Darth Vader emerged flanked by storm troopers, Nora, who was riding on Paul's shoulders, gripped Paul's hair and said, "That's Darf Vayder!" She then tried to steer Paul in the opposite direction and said, "Let's go dis way.  Run dat way!" She was really scared. 
They got to a comfortable distance, where Paul zoomed in as much as he could to capture Benjamin's moment of glory, when he fought Darth Vader and won.

 Another favorite was the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride. We had to ride that one a few times.

 Lunch in Toon Town. Silly Peter insisted on wearing this shirt backwards all day. Not sure why. :)

Later that day at the Parade, Peter came to show me his last prize he bought for himself- a Disneyland t-shirt. He felt so cool wearing it, he even let us turn the shirt he was wearing underneath around. Benjamin was equally excited about the Mickey Mouse "pillow pet" he'd gotten. Apparently those things are all the rage these days.

 Nora was not excited about holding a spot before the parade began, but she lit right up when it started. She loves to wave to everyone. It's really cute.

After a somewhat underwhelming dinner in the Downtown district, we headed home, exhausted from a very full, but very fun day.
The next morning we came back at about the same time, but the sunny weather was drawing in crowds fast. We snapped a quick picture with Donald before heading into the park.

Benjamin really wanted to ride Indiana Jones with Paul, which was one of the few rides Peter couldn't join them on. So Peter, Nora and I spent the morning riding the carousel (Peter insisted on riding it three times in a row),

 spinning teacups, riding the Circus Train, and taking a tour through the inside of the castle.

While passing by the wishing well next to the castle, we spotted Snow White. Nora was especially enamored.

Later, when we all met up and she was riding on Paul's shoulders, she grabbed his chin and whispered in his ear "I see Snow White!" She really made some impression on her!
Since the crowds were getting more and more dense, we decided to stick together for the rest of the time, and headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. Nora went along with it, but informed us afterwards that "I can't need to go to Pirates of da Cababeen again anymore." I think she was pretty scared. :)

 We had lunch, and then finally made it over to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, which sells all the princess dresses and accessories. Nora was in HEAVEN. I was just kicking myself that we didn't get over there sooner, since she had excitedly pointed out every little girl in the park she saw in costume. She used her Santa money and finally settled on a Snow White dress.

 You could tell she felt beautiful in it.

And it even had a pink cape. Princess perfection.

Having felt satisfied with our time at Disneyland, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the apartment to catch our breath. We all had a great time!