Happiest Place on Earth

I almost forgot to post about our CA vacation! Hel-LO! It's only the biggest vacation we've taken since our honeymoon (not to mention Emmett's first flight, first time at the beach, and first time at Disneyland)!

We had a blast, and Emmett did fantastic with everything! He travelled well, LOVED the beach, LOVED Disneyland, and was his usual, happy self the whole time. I think this baby may have born with some California blood... :-)

Here we are at the beginning of our trip (and by we I just mean Emmett because I'm behind the camera of course). Jared did the drive with his family, but luckily Jareds sister and her husband were on the plane with us. At this point I was feeling much more confident, having checked the carseat, made it through security, and bought Emmett some warmed milk from Starbucks. We timed the flight just right and he ended up sleeping pretty much the whole time.

After flying in, our first stop was the beach. We met up with the rest of the Erickson clan at Newport. Here's some shots our adventures.

The next day we hit up the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was neat, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it with as large a group as we had, or with young children in strollers. The streets are PACKED and people move quickly, so it's hard to stay together (And to get your stroller to move).

 Finally the day arrived that we went to DISNEYLAND!! Jareds sisters put lots of work into making an itinerary for us to follow to accomplish all that we wanted to in the 2 days we had. (There's all kinds of apps, schedulers, and fastpass loopholes out there, so if you're going soon and want the info let me know!) We really appreciate them planning that cause we were able to do pretty much everything (and barely waited for anything) even though it was Memorial Day weekend. We arrived at the park about half an hour before it opened, then made a beeline to fantasyland where we rode every ride in the first 30 mins!

Emmett was in heaven in "It's a Small World" (which turns out was my favorite ride when I was little too. Cute right?) He was bouncing, and dancing, and pointing, and clapping...

He even loved the line!

Don't worry, my camera died soon after this, so there's not too many more pictures!

Emmett Loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I was SO excited to take him through Mickey's house, and see how he reacted when he got to meet him. As luck would have it though... he picked that exact moment  to take a nap. I figured I'd come all that way, we were getting a picture whether he was awake or not! (He can look back when he's older and see how hard his Mom tried!)

 Then of course as soon as we walked out, he woke up.

But at least we got some awake pictures with Minnie!

                              Kisses from Minnie! Aww

                                                        
                                                                        AND Frozone

(That's Uncle Jake, his bud)

 Alright so that brings us to the end of our trip! We had so much fun, I can't wait go back already!  I highly recommend the show World of Color if you get the chance!

I decided a few things on this trip:

1. Disneyland is even MORE fun when you bring your own kids!
2. Disneyland is a lot smaller than I remember it ( I was just there a few years ago!), and it's starting to show its age a little. STILL wonderful and magical however!
3. Contrary to what I believed as a kid, it IS worth it to take a break from rides and watch the parades and shows!
4. Space Mountain is still the best, no matter how many new, hi-tech rides they build.
5. World of Color puts the Bellagio Fountains to shame.
6. California Screamin' was five ten times better when it played Red Hot Chili Peppers . Check it out here! (Give the sound a minute, it gets better)
7. Captain E.O. still rocks

Just throwin those out there!