Disneyland 2013

The kids had a four day weekend at the end of October.
Daddy took the weekend off too.
So we decided to head to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Just the four of us.
This is the first vacation EVER that we have had that was just the four of us.
And I have to say it was so nice.
We had lots of surprises in store for the kids.

Saturday Morning we headed to The Storytellers Cafe in the Grand California

Maddie was so excited to be there until...

The Brother Bear Characters appeared.



Jack was such a trooper. He LOVED it.  He did the Hokey pokey and the conga line through the whole restaurant.
Maddie on the other hand could not get her body close enough to Clay to protect her.
Poor thing.

Every day we went to the pool

which was fantastic.
There are 4 pools and 2 hot tubs. 

Coffee for Daddy....Blue Moon for Mom.

Our Friends Anthony and Monica let us borrow their Double Bob.

I don't care that my child is 7 and gigantic.  He fit. We used it.  That stroller saved our lives.
For reals.
Don't judge until you take your child to Disneyland and stay aaaaaaallllllllllllll day.

Downtown Disney has the Lego store.
Jack is SUPER in to Lego's right now.
He will play with them for HOURS.

Before we knew it, it was time for the park. 

Madeline is such a girly-girl.  And she LOVES to dress up and she is SO into princesses right now, we decided to let her do the Bibbity-Bobbity Boutique.

She got the works.  Hair, Nails, Make-up, Dress, Wand, gloves, purse.

You get to select the hair.  You can have an adorable princess bun, or you can select the bouffant blonde hair with braids, and glitter and beads.  Hmmmmm Which do you think MY daughter chose.
She also chose a dress we already own.
Awesome.
Money well spent.
Oh well....

The look on her face when she was "revealed" was worth the whole experience. 

She was in Heaven.

And Don't worry.

Jack had the royal Knight treatment as well. 

Color Mohawk and all.

He was just as excited as Maddie to sit in that chair and get made up.

Love the Mickey on the back.
He was also excited about his new sword and shield.
And everyone kept calling him Sir Jack.
He loved it.

After their transformation they were photographed in the Royal Carriage, and escorted to the Princesses where they were announced as Princess Madeline and Sir Jack to the Royal Court.

I thought Madeline was going to explode.

She had so much to say to Princess Aurora

Who taught her how Princesses should stand.

Princess Cinderella was very sweet.

And Princess Ariel taught Jack how to stand like a Knight.


After our Makeover and a couple rides. We wanted to head to the pool.  We also refused to take off our new hair.  So off we went to the pool Pamela Anderson style, complete with sequined boots.

This totally happened. 

We played pool games.

And decided the hair got in the way of her Hula Hooping skills.

Jack loved the outdoorsy things to do in California Adventure. The explorer part of the park was just outside the entrance to our hotel.  

Madeline had to try everything her brother did.
Even in her Princess gown.

Late night shooting with Dad in Frontierland.

And we got to meet Mickey.
Maddie wouldn't go near him, but she did blow him a kiss from across the room.  Mickey caught the kiss and put it on his heart.
Adorable.

The Matterhorn has always been one of my favorite rides.

I was thrilled that Madeline wanted to ride it and was tall enough to do it!
(thank god for those Kirby genes!)

She immediately put her hands in the air.
(I love that kid! She is Fearless! *unless you are a 6 foot walking plush animal, then she screams like a baby*)

Love the Ferris wheel at California Adventure.

And The Toy Story Ride!

We booked our trip through Costco.  Because we did, we received a free character meal for the family. We picked Ariels Grotto. We had the first seating and were the first people in line to get up close and personal with Ariel. 

We also had the best table in the house.  It wasn't just Ariels Lunch. All the other Princesses were there too.  Our table was their first stop. The Princesses were announced one at a time about 10 minutes a part.  They come to your table, talk with everyone, pose for a picture, sign autographs and then move on to the next table.  

Madeline was so excited, she refused to eat.

Don't let Jack fool you, he was the first one up to get his hug from the Princesses.

So, So sweet.
And FREE.
The bill came to the table. It was $140. I gave them our coupons from Costco and the man looked at me and said, we're all settled up. Have a magical day!
Thank you Sir I will! Tip and Tax was included!
Thank you Costco!

We made it to Radiator Springs!
Cars land is awesome. And Packed!  We used our Magic Morning entry and headed straight to the ride.  We still waited 40 minutes.  The ride is fantastic.  I loved it! As soon as we were off the ride, there were  some problems and the ride closed.  I was so glad that we went early!

Jack-man rode my favorite ride with me.
California Screamin.
Love. That. Ride.
This is a perfect example of why I loved that it was just the 4 of us.
If my Brother or Brit had come with us, there is no way Jack would pick his boring old Mom over Cool Uncle Ben. This way, I was his only option. :) Which was fine by me!
After we got off the ride, Jack hugged me and said "Thanks Mom! That was Awesome! You weren't even scared!"
Cool to my 7 year old.
My work here is done.

Mr. Daredevil. 

The kids held hands. 

Without being prompted.

Thank you Vacation Gods.

Thank you.

Ears are a must. 

We had the best time.
I can't wait to go back.

One thing's for sure

Disney's still got it.
The magic's still there.
And
It's still
The Happiest Place on Earth.