DISNEYLAND!

My Dad plans a trip every year with my whole family, and this year he planned a trip to Disneyland! With such a big family it's sometimes hard to get everyone to be able to go, this year Terra's, Tawnya's, and Ty's family were able to, plus us and my mom and dad. Here's is a picture of all the grandkids/cousins that were there.

Chloe, Gwen, Malia, Noah, Sara, Savannah, Amiya, Kasin, Della, Alyvia, Hunter and Lia

Has anyone ever felt like they need a vacation from their vacation? Because man this trip was a lot of work!! It was way fun too! But after, I felt like I almost needed a vacation, even though that was a vacation! I felt like we started as soon as we got there, and didn't stop 'til we got home! When we got to California our rooms weren't ready to check in yet, so- we got all the kids in their swim suits and thought we'd let them go swimming at the pool 'til we could check in. Sara and Della loved it!

 The next day we all woke up bright and early to go to Disneyland! I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids- but I was so excited for them! We got in and went on our first ride "Peter Pan" which me and Della loved, but made Sara a little nervous. She seriously cried on her first ride. Well then we went on "Toads Wild Ride" which Sara didn't cry, but Della did. (this was going to be a long day)

So then of course we had to go on "Dumbo" which they both loved and the first thing you see when you get into "Fantasyland" is the carousel. Della was absolutely dying to go on it the whole time. "Horsey Ride! Horsey Ride!" So, I took the girls on it, and of course, it ended up being their favorite. Nothing like driving all the way to California to go on a ride you can find at Southtowne Mall.

So, "Pinochio's Darling Adventure" was right next to the carousel and I thought we'd hit up that ride next. Well, "Pinochio's Darling Adventure" wasn't so darling. I went on it with my sister Tawnya and her 3 year old, my sister-in-law Whitney and her 3 year old, and I took Della. What a disaster that was. All of the girls were screaming crying practically the whole time! So, ever since that, it took a lot of convincing to get Sara to go on anything! She went on the tea cups fine, and made it through the "Storybook boat ride" fine once we got through the whale's mouth.

But I guess you could say Disneyland didn't quite go like I had planned. LoL Della loved pretty much everything but "Toad's" and "Pinochio" They loved "Casey Jr." and a few others that weren't inside rides. But I felt like I couldn't take them on a bunch that I wanted to. Even Lia got to go on a few rides with us, which was nice so one of us didn't always have to sit out. It's funny 'cause out of all three girls I was most worried about Lia- but she was actually the best out of all of them!

 After a couple more rides, some lunch and a nap in the stroller it was time for our "character dining" where we get to go eat at Goofy's Kitchen and meet some of the Disney characters! Sara was the most excited just 'cause she kind of understood what was going on and who she was meeting.

 And Della didn't know what to do when she met Belle. Della loves Belle. She is probably her all time favorite princess and couldn't believe she was meeting her. She was somewhat in shock and so Belle gave her a hug to try and make her feel more comfortable. So cute!

 Then Lia couldn't really figure out what was going on when this giant chipmunk came and said hi to her. It was hilarious. 

 The next day we started at "Toon Town" to see everyone's houses and meet Minnie!

We did a couple more rides then headed over to the submarines to go on the "Finding Nemo" ride, which was super cute. But, of course- there had to be at least one scary part! Then we went back to the hotel for naps and met back up with Ty and Whit and their fam for some more rides like "The Little Mermaid" at California Adventure.

 Once that park closed we headed back over to Disneyland to watch the fireworks.

 What a great way to end the night. Everyone loved the fireworks, even Lia. It was so cute the whole time we were watching them she'd randomly grab my face and give me kisses. I was loving it- definitely one of the happier moments at the "Happiest Place on Earth"

The next day was Della's birthday! Everyone had a pass for a third day at Disneyland but us, (2 days was plenty) So, they went to Disneyland that morning for a half day and that's when we went to Downtown Disney to do "Build a Bear" for Della's birthday. After we took the girls back to the hotel for a nap a group of us got together to go to Newport Beach.

It was the girls first time ever seeing the ocean...

After walking around with dad and feeling the water on their feet, they didn't waste any time and got straight to playing. Sara was loving the sand! Just building sand castles and whatever else she could think of.

Della just loved running around. She'd play in the sand for a little bit then get up and just run around and around loving life. It wasn't easy trying to get her to stop long enough to take a picture!

I was really glad we took a day to go to the beach 'cause I think it was one of the girls favorite parts of the trip! And one of the most relaxed for us :)

But the fun didn't stop there!! The next morning we woke up, and the same group of us that went to Newport drove to Sea World! I had never been before so it was a first for me and the girls.

We started off by seeing the walrus and the penguins, then met up with the rest of the clan to go see the shamu show.

I thought it was SO awesome! Pretty sure I had a permanent smile on my face the entire show. How do they teach the whales to do all that? I was loving it.

We tried to get it all in! I think we went to every show and only missed one exhibit. We took the girls on a couple rides there and by that time, it was dark and time to go. So we loaded up and headed out.. to Vegas. We thought we'd stop there to spend a night and kind of break up the long drive home.

Now does anyone else see why I feel like I need a vacation? No, I'm kidding. It really was so SO fun! I really loved it! And was so grateful I got to go and spend time with my family as well as extended family. Thanks to all of them and all they did to help us out with the kids when we needed it, and thanks to my dad for planning such a fun family trip! Can't wait for next years!!