Disneyland!!

Have you ever woken your kids up at 5:00am and given them three chances to guess why? It's a favorite pastime around here... keeps 'em on their toes. :) Just kidding. But a couple weeks ago, we did just that, and handed the girls mickey mouse t shirts as a clue.

Eva's first guess was "new underpants?"

what..?

good guess... -but no cigar. (I'd love to blame her silly answer on early morning grogginess, but anyone acquainted with Eva would see right through that! :)

Before the third guess, we told them we were going somewhere. That's when the light came on and Eva said "DISNEYLAND??" what a great guess! When we answered in the affirmative, Molly squealed "you're so NICE!!" All day long, I'd overhear them saying "I can't believe we're going to Disneyland!" and "this is the best day of my life!" etc.. Exactly what we were hoping for.

So, they put on their shirts, we passed out the breakfast of champions (pop tarts) and headed to the airport.

My sister Shannon lives in California, not too far from D-land (that's gangster slang), which was such a bonus! We got to visit them for the first time ever as a family. The kids were equally excited about that, and they had a lot of fun, slumber-partying with their cousins for a week.

We have looked forward to this vacation for two years and it was AWESOME! I have always had the impression that I went to Disneyland as a kid, but all I actually remember is being left with a babysitter... hm. My mom warned me that the girls wouldn't remember either, so I was sure to take LOTS of pictures as proof!

First day we were there, the cousins played and I got to meet my new niece, Sydney. She is so sweet.

The next day, the kids played in the backyard.

Levi contemplating his next move..

I love the grim look of determination as he soared through the air...

And here he is hanging on the rim.

On Wednesday it was warm and sunny enough to actually go to Disneyland!!

So, we did.

It's a Small World! It was a favorite for all of us.

This was Tom Sawyer's Island. Pretty fun when I wasn't worried about losing the kids.

Levi was so good.. He was better behaved than I was! He even took an afternoon nap!

The parade/dance party was so much fun! We almost didn't go, because -a parade?? lame. But this was no ordinary parade. We loved it!

The girls even got suckers to finish the night off with a sugar high.

and the inevitable sugar low. :)

The next day we went to Laguna Beach. It was as beautiful as it could possibly be.

Eva learns a valuable lesson about sand.

"not to put it on our eyes... it stings."

That apple fell in the sand over and over, but Levi wasn't concerned.

Next day: Back to Disneyland!

All that drinking really wore her out!

Little Miss Grateful must've thanked us 40 times while we were there. Really sweet.

Disneyland reality check:

Molly was exhausted that second day and she fell asleep on the ground while we waited for the fireworks.

The day after Disneyland, we went to visit Ryan's cousins in Fountain Valley. We've wanted to get our kids together for some time now, and it was awesome how well they all got along. They were really sad to leave their new friends.

And this is the day we left, the girls were so exhausted, they took a nap before we took off for the airport. Just looking at that picture gives me a cramp in my neck.

and what trip would be complete without the security pat down?

of course, Eva really enjoyed the attention, so it actually was a bonus for her.. :)

And that was our trip!