M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Yep, we took a vacation to see The Mouse. At the end of April we loaded up the van and headed to Disneyland with Chris' sister Jen and her hub Jer. Our first stop was Vegas. We left at like, 3am and got into Vegas by 9am and spent the day there poolside and relaxing to break up the drive. We ate and swam and ate and swam. Can I just tell you how nice it is to leave behind 50 degree weather knowing that day you will be in 80 degree weather by the pool. It was delightful! Dawson was a fish and had no fear of the water slide. Emerson swam and napped pool side. Vacation suits my kids. Here are the pics to prove:




The next day we loaded up again and headed to the sunny state. We arrived in the afternoon and explored Downtown Disney, did some shopping, and ate at ESPN Zone that evening.



Monday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Disneyland...which we did Tuesday and Thursday as well (yay for 3 day park hoppers!) Our days were filled with rides, characters, and parades and shows. Dawson loved seeing the characters and we got him an autograph book so every time we saw one he asked if he could write their name for them. One of the mornings we did a character breakfast and the kiddos couldn't take their eyes off of them. Here are some facts about the trip:

Dawson's Favorite Rides: Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World
Emerson's Favorite Rides: It's a Small World (she would point and yap away) and Pirates of the Caribbean (a slow dark boat ride that would put her right to sleep!)
Chris' Favorite Rides: Tower of Terror, Indian Jones, and Space Mountain
Sarah's Favorite Rides: Indian Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean

*The boys (Chris and Jer) were obsessed with finding the hidden Mickey's on all the rides and would ask the workers were they could find it.
*Emerson did great and would fall asleep in her stroller or our arms at her nap times (score!)
*Jen is prego and could ride a ton of rides actually and was a total trooper thru it all!!
*They had the cutest parade that stopped in fron of you and they would sing and dance and the kids got to go dance with the characters in the street.
*After 3 days you get sick of park food.





On Wednesday we had a beach day. We went to Huntington Beach and it was about a 70 degree dayand really windy so it wasn't ideal but the boys still played in the waves while the girls laid on the beach.



PS I am done for now...did you make it to the end of the looooong post?? But I may be posting some more pictures because we have a ton!!