Day One of Magic

 For Christmas this year I got a trip to Disneyland!

I mean we gave the girls a trip to Disneyland... =) It was truly magical. Every thing about the trip was just about perfect - the weather, the company, and the excitement of the girls. 

I wouldn't change a thing...

Except for the super shady place where we bought our tickets. I'm still not convinced it was legal.

 We spent New Year's with our dear friends the Hada's, then they joined us for our Disneyland adventure. This is a shot of the girls as we were riding the shuttle from the parking garage to the park. First sighting of a "Disneyland House" as Serelle called it - it was the ticket kiosk. You can imagine the excitement when we actually got into the park!

 We started at California Adventure and went straight to the Buzz Lightyear ride. As we approached the end of the line we were happily surprised to see Buzz himself right in front of us! Unfortunately he had places to be and couldn't stop for a picture, but Serelle's screech of excitement, "Buzz!!!" just about made the day!

 

We had greatly underestimated the crowds and were greeted with a 45 minute line at the Toy Story Mania ride. Luckily, with a three adults to four kids ratio, we were able to divide and conquer in order to keep the girls entertained during the long lines. 

Woody!

 

Jessie! 

Poor Remi Hada is terrified of the characters, so she will not be featured in any of the character shots!

  Distraction #2 during the never-ending Buzz Lightyear line - King Triton's Carousel. The girls love riding on the "up down up down horsies", or in this case, fish!

 These four girls are such cute little friends! They had a great time together and somehow having friends there with us made Disneyland even better than we thought it would be!

 

  The Ariel ride. Clearly a hit. The only ride we did three times.

We rode every single ride in the Bug's Life area then had to cool down at the splash pad. Chocolate milk, juice boxes, and a splash pad. It was a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees!

 Aimee was so sweet and kept the girls for us so Kylan and I could go on a couple of the big kid rides. We LOVED California Screamin and would have gone on it again if we didn't feel too bad about leaving Aimee alone with all four girls!

 Tower of Terror

 The "official" picture. What you don't see in this picture are Kylan's sunglasses. Somehow they flew off the seat and were lost...luckily by the time Kylan remembered them and raced back to find them, some kind soul had found them and set them aside. Bless honest people!

 Our little Monster's at Monster's Inc. This was a really cute ride and probably one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip!

  Disneyland!!!

Main Street USA. The biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen. Although the crowds were absurd (when aren't they?) visiting Disneyland at Christmas with the lights and the decorations was pretty magical. We entered Disneyland around 3:30 and the girls were pretty exhausted. We had spent the day before at the beach, which meant no naps and a late bed time. Then, after a busy morning at California Adventure, we hit a lull. The key that brought us back to life...with two piping hot churros in hand, Kylan saves the day!

 

 Sleeping Beauty's Castle

A quick note on the fanny pack - yes I am sporting a fanny pack. It was seriously life changing. I absolutely LOVED wearing it. I never had to worry about losing my purse, I never had to take it off or on, I had instant access to cash, chapstick, phone and hand sanitizer. The fanny pack is back.

Not the best picture, but one worth remembering. We were standing in line for It's a Small World when we heard a countdown come on over a loud speaker. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 then the entire facade of the ride lit up with millions of Christmas lights. It was such a fun moment, and I would be lying if I said I didn't get just a little bit choked up. Just a little bit. This ride was one of my absolute favorites. The entire ride had been redone to reflect Christmas traditions around the world and the regular song was combined with Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls. The girls were singing along at the top of their lungs and it was just perfect. 

 

We closed out the night with the Christmas parade, the firework show, then the Fantasmic show one right after the other. The absolute highlight of the night was the firework show. The fireworks were incredible and they were beautifully choreographed to the music. The finale was extraordinary then we were all surprised to feel "snow" falling on our heads! 

  

It's funny how just a couple of days before this we were in Brianhead enjoying a real snow storm, and this "Disney" snow was somehow still so exciting! 

Snow at Disneyland, the perfect way to end our first day.