Rewind: Disneyland...A Very Long Post :)

Whew! I've been MIA lately... life has been busy; lots going on with our family! So, now I'm backing up and catching up...

Thanks to budget cuts... we now have a Thanksgiving Break. (Fortunately or unfortunately?) We decided to take advantage of the time and take the girls to Disneyland. Merilyn was the perfect age for the adventure! Everything was so magical - it was delightful watching her.

Flying to California - That was a big part of the adventure! Especially since Trav forgot to take his pocket knives (yes... more than one!) out of his backpack...

Day 1: We actually didn't go to Disney this day. It was raining, so we walked down to a theater near our condo. We watched Puss in Boots in 3D. Later that night we made a spaghetti dinner and had everyone join us in our room.

Day 2: We hit the park today! It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Ali and Natalie needed a little convincing that they weren't too old, nor too cool, to get on the carousel ride. Thank you, Gramma, for that little nudge. I'm sure they ended up enjoying it after all... :)

After lunch, Ali and Natalie went with the Daddies on the "big kid" rides, while Casey and I took Meri and Johnna on Dumbo, the Casey Jr. train, and more carousel time.

That night we came back for the Holiday parade. So cool!

The next day we took a break from the park and went putt putt golfing. It was another beautiful day! We enjoyed playing, and pizza after. Then it was back to the room for naps before hitting the park for the evening.

Disney California
One of the days (I've lost track of which one) we spent time over on the California side. We took the girls on the Tower of Terror... Ali loved it, (which makes Travis happy!) however, Merilyn asked if we could go home as soon as we got off... and please promise that we won't be doing it again!

Here I am showing Mer how much "fun" we were having!

We stood in line for.ever for the new Buzz and Woody 3D lazer-blaster ride. The girls loved it though, so I guess it was worth the wait.

Thanksgiving Day

Our family went into the park early hoping to get on The Pirates of the Caribbean ride. (It still wasn't open!) But, we got to meet Minnie Mouse and Pinocchio, so the girls were happy. :)

From there we met everyone over at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. It was such good food! :) Although, the girls were more interested in meeting all of the characters.

After breakfast, we went back in and hit Autotopia. Ali was thrilled to have her own license! :) I rode with Mer... and I think I still have a little whiplash!

We went to Mike's daughter's house for Thanksgiving dinner and football, of course! We had a great time. Thank you, Helen!

After dinner we went back to Disney - again. We were set to make the most out of our 3-day pass! We took several more turns on the rides, and snuggled in for the Fantasia water+lazer-light show. It was awesome! By this time The Pirates ride was finally open, so we jumped on that! Then on to the Jungle Cruise, (at night, all by ourselves... it was so cool!) and finally to the Tiki Room. We closed down the park! :)

It was an amazing, fun... memorable trip.