October Part 2

Through a lot of bribery on many different fronts, we promised our kids a trip to the beach.

 What we didn't tell them, was that we were secretly planning a trip to Disneyland.

We had a hard time deciding if we should go in the first place.

With three young children, we didn't know if it would be worth it yet.

But after going, I will say, it was perfect. It was magical. And I am SO glad we didn't wait.

We packed up the car and left at 4 a.m. on a Friday. 

We had to pull Kathryn out of school for six days, but it was worth it. She's only in first grade.

We were on the road for about 14 hours the first day (including stops, meals and potty breaks).

The kids were awesome! They only started having meltdowns about the last hour of the first day.

We stayed in a town about an hour from Anaheim the first night. 

Honestly, we wished we would've driven the extra hour and stayed in our hotel next to Disneyland, 

but we didn't know how the kids would do in the car for so long.

So, we woke up bright and early and drove to Anaheim. 

We dropped our car off at the hotel and hopped on the bus headed to Disneyland.

At this point, the kids still had no idea where we were going. 

When the bus driver announced that the next stop was Disneyland, Kathryn got so excited.

She asked, "can we go to Disneyland?" Everyone around us got a good laugh at our surprise.

We bought four-day park hopper tickets for Disneyland and California Adventure.

We wanted to be able to do everything without feeling rushed.

Michael had never been to Disneyland and the last time I had been was 16 years ago.

We didn't really know what to expect, especially with three kids in tow. 

To be honest, our first day was hot, overwhelming and a little disappointing.

It was a Saturday before Halloween, so it was extra crowded, and we felt like fish out of water.

We didn't know how to work the fast pass or stroller swap system and we were stressed.

We did the best we could, but promised each other we'd figure it out.

One thing that we loved were all the parades and shows. 

We were able to watch all the big shows that were available over the four days we were there.

One of my all-time favorites was Mickey's Soundsational Parade in Disneyland.  

We actually watched it both days we were there.

We spent a lovely and relaxing day at the beach. 

It was a nice break from our first day at Disneyland. 

We knew we would never want to go back if we didn't take a break. 

After all, going to the beach was why the kids were so excited to go to California.

On Monday, we woke up bright and early and went to California Adventure.

Oh my goodness, it was amazing!!! It was practically dead compared to our Saturday in Disneyland.

We figured out how to use the fast pass and stroller swap system and we had a real plan.

We had so much fun. The kids loved all the rides and meeting the characters.

We've never really pushed a lot of Disney on our kids.

They hadn't seen a lot of the older Disney movies before this trip, and didn't know a lot of the characters, but we made sure to prepare them before we got there.

Oh my goodness, Max loved Donald Duck. He was just over the moon about him.

And Sammy loved Mickey Mouse. He got so excited every time he saw Mickey. It made us so happy.

When we booked our trip, we also scheduled a premium character dining package.

We decided to go to Ariel's Grotto so Kathryn could meet the princesses.

It was such a fun experience. We got to meet Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Even the boys loved it. Sammy flirted with all those beautiful princesses. 

We bought the kids special shirts for the trip.

And Michael, my sweetheart, bought one for me too! He loves to make things fun.

We enjoyed the Pixar Parade in California Adventure (not as energetic as the Soundsational Parade).

It was so fun seeing all those characters in real life.

(Firework show from our hotel window one evening)