The Happiest Place on Earth- Disneyland

The weekend before Thanksgiving we packed up our suitcases, loaded up the car, and with park hopper tickets in hand, we headed to Disneyland.  We left our house at 9pm and finally arrived in Anaheim around 4am.  That may sound like a terrible time to travel, but with kids who get car sick, bicker, and need to pee every 20 miles, driving at night while they are asleep is a wonderful idea!

 

This time of year Disneyland is all decked out for the Christmas holiday and was a fun way to try to get into the Christmas spirit. 

Holly was all buckled in and ready for the carousel, but at the last second, it wasn't working and we all had to get off and move on to something else.

Tate was all ready too! He favored these more mellow rides during his visit and decided to save those like Space Mountain for another time.

It's A Small World is not always everybody's favorite song, but it sure was pretty all lit up in lights. 

The kids liked the ride too, especially because it too had been changed to follow a Christmas theme inside also.

 

RahRah and Papa were good shots on the Buzz Lightyear laser shooting ride with Holly!

Tate and Carson did bravely try Splash Mountain.  Carson loved it so much that he talked Papa into taking him again.  Tate thought it was ok, so decided to pass on it the second time.





 

Here are Carson and Papa on their turn together.  Papa is in the very back with Carson right in front of him.  Carson said that it was "AWESOME"!

Holly loves Tigger and Pooh right now as much as Ariel.  She was so excited to meet both characters in Pooh Corner.  She went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (you ride in a giant bee skep) 5 times in a row.  Luckily RahRah was a really good sport to go all those times and was an even better sport when she later went with Holly 8 times on the Little Mermaid ride!

 

Cars Land was fun, but the best ride there had a 2 1/2 hour wait, yikes.  The town of Radiator Springs really did look like it was right out of the movie.....very cool!

The Toy Story ride was probably the biggest hit of all.  The boys loved shooting at all of the targets and kept close watch on their score.  Eric and Tate were quite pleased with themselves because they had the highest score for their "car" so far that day!

While in San Diego, we took the boys to the movies to see Wreck It Ralph, so it was only fitting since they had their picture with Ralph at Disneyland.  The boys had saved some money ahead of time for Disneyland so that they could pick out a toy there that they were just dying to have when the time came.  They both chose the same thing and both spent their money on a really big stuffed Wreck It Ralph toy.

Although only Carson and Holly braved the haunted mansion, both boys wanted their photo taken with Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

After 2 days at Disneyland, we drove to San Diego and spent the rest of Thanksgiving week at a condo in Carlsbad.  They all loved being able to swim in November and spent a few afternoons in the pool!

Carson looks like a man of leisure on vacation

Right next door to our condo was a great Mexican food restaurant.  It had a great outdoor patio and pretty fountains.

 

The kids sweetly posed in the garden area of the condo's courtyard.  It was a great area that had lounge chairs, fire pits and a great view of the ocean.

 

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, two of my best friends live in San Diego.  My friend Jen who I've known since high school lives there with her husband and 3 girls.  I met Jen and her girls at Balboa Park and the kid spent the morning playing together while she and I spent the morning chit-chatting.

My other best friend Kate lives in Coronado with her husband Bo and son Wilson.  They invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them and join them at her in-law's house.  We were so lucky to spend the day with our friends and enjoy kind hospitality, a beautiful Coronado home, and an excellent Thanksgiving dinner! 

 

On Thanksgiving, I asked Bo to take us to the beach near the Hotle Del Coronado for a family photo.  At 4pm the lighting wasn't very good and with squirley kids, I didn't think any of our family photos taken would be "keepers".  But...much to my suprise, Bo was able to take one photo in which we were all looking at the camera and all smiling! Yay!