Disney PART 1

I LOVE Disneyland. Living in California, I grew up going there nearly every year. So many of my childhood memories are tied in that magical park. I can still remember our character breakfasts, thinking the monorail was totally awesome, and nearly every souvenir I chose there! Naturally, I'm constantly dreaming of taking my own little family to the land of Disney. It's so neat re-walking (and riding) through so many fond memories that take me back in time while simultaneously creating new ones with my own children!

I've always wanted to go to Disneyland while its decorated for Halloween (we've already established how much I love Halloween), but never knew that Disneyland hosted a "Halloween Party". I was thrilled when I read about it and found out about the special Halloween parades, fireworks, trick or treating, costume wearing, and villain meet-and-greets. I decided there was no better celebration to honor my 29th birthday, and quickly began my "Disneyland Jar" (a high-tech money saving account stashed in my drawer where I stashed all money from photo shoots, selling old things etc). Another perk of AZ living is a mere 5 hour drive from Disney! Wahoo!!

A couple months later we were on our way and I could not be more excited!! It was our first official vacation as a family and my sister Kirsten was going to fly into CA and meet us. We swung by the airport, picked up Kris, and headed to our hotel to prepare for an early start the following!  I was amazed we got up, packed, prepared our days snacks and kid necessities, loaded into the car, parked, and over to the gates a few mins EARLIER than planned! Success! Getting there in time on the morning is crucial to the flow of the whole rest of the day!

We headed into California Adventure first, where we had zero wait to meet the man himself - Mickey Mouse.

Then of course straight over to get our Fast Passes for Radiator Springs Racers! While waiting for our passes to be up we able to walk right on to a lot of rides and meet some of Emmett's favorite characters. Nothing like morning in Disney.

I've been anxiously waiting to visit Cars land for years now, and it was everything I dreamed it would be. The attention to detail was impeccable and just like everyone says, it truly feels like you walk right into the movie. The Cars characters were also a lot cooler than I thought they would be! They're not just statues - they actually drive, and talk too! Radiator Springs Racers is gorgeous and they replicated Ornament Valley so well. It really feels like you're driving route 66 in the desert. As it should; I read the ride cost over 200 millions dollars, being the most expensive in the park and one of the most expensive in the world! Emmett was lucky enough to be in the drivers seat every time we rode and had the biggest smile of pure joy on his face. He was convinced he was actually driving and took it very seriously! You do a simulated race with a car next to you at the end of the ride over some hills and turns. It's so much fun! Definitely my favorite this trip. Jared took a priceless video of Emmett's reactions during the ride.

That face is his expression the first time Lightning McQueen pulled up for him to get in, and in the right pic you can see his little hands up, furiously driving.

In CA Adventure he also was chosen first to talk with Crush from Finding Nemo at Turtle Talk. Crush coined him "Epppppiiic Emmett".  He also rode Tower of Terror for the first time and loved it!

  

I've always been a "Disneyland" girl, and preferred its classic rides to the modern California Adventure. However, this trip I loved our experience at C.A. It may have been Cars Land, or the fact that our time at that park was less congested and generally more pleasant. But whatever the reason, CA took the cake this trip.

Mid afternoon we headed over to finish our day out at DL. I love the Halloween Decorations.

Marvel was recently purchased by Disneyland, so many of the Avengers have taken up residence in the Innoventions building. Obviously Emmett was beside himself to meet his real life heroes.

Thor chooses one person out of his meet and greet group of about 50 people to try and lift his mighty hammer. Guess who he chose? Yep, Emmett :) It was awesome. Turns out it was too heavy for him to lift alone, but when Thor and him tried together they got it!

He was super excited to meet "Cap" and the first thing he said to him was, "Can I touch your shield?"

We headed to Frontierland and Fantasyland and hit up a few "must not miss" rides.

 We met up with Kirsten's boyfriend's sister's family. haha that's a mouthful, and rode the teacups together! Hence all the hands! We were the fullest teacup I've ever seen!

We finished out the day strong and miraculously made it til closing time!! Well the adults did - by the last hour we had two sleeping littles in the stroller :) It was a fabulous, perfect day and it was not near as exhausting and hard as I anticipated. I think that was largely thanks to having Kirsten there to be an extra set of hands. Every time I look at these pictures I just start thinking about when I can plan our next trip!

This ended up being far more detailed than I intended, so the rest of the trip will have to be in separate installments! More to come!

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!