Disneyland!

We had quite the adventure last month when we went to Disneyland!  We had a lot of great experiences and the girls especially had a great time.  Andy was sick for the first few days so I didn't get much rest, then BethAnne was sick the last few days, but she was still able to enjoy most of the trip.  

 One of our favorite rides was a great big Ferris wheel at Disney California Adventure.  We could all go on it and it was fun to do a ride together.  

 I loved all the beautiful flowers and landscaping at Disneyland. 

 The kids were often quite worn out by the end of the day.  These pictures were from the last day.  We stayed late, in the rain, to wait for Fireworks, but sadly they cancelled the fireworks.  Joy fell asleep waiting to go to the bus to the parking lot, then she fell asleep on the bus, then she fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel.  By the time we got to the hotel, she was deep asleep and we almost couldn't wake her up to get her in the hotel.

 Grace was my hero the whole week.  She walked and walked and walked without complaining.  I was so proud of her. 

 We got to California on a Saturday and we went to Church on Sunday and then we thought we would take a nice, reverent stroll on the beach.  We found that a reverent stroll is kind of impossible with children who have never been to the beach.  We had fun, but we'll have to go on a Saturday next time. 

 Pretty BethAnne and Grace found lots of shells.

 Joy ended up going for a spin in the waves.  Luckily Daddy was right there to pull her out.  I certainly didn't imagine our reverent stroll would create such a wet and sandy girl :)

 We bought the girls some autograph books and they were able to wait in line and get some autographs every once in awhile. 

 Here they are with Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie

 Here they are with Donald Duck.  They also met Daisy, Mickey and Chip (from Chip and Dale).

 We liked the Carousel because it didn't usually have a long line.  We also spent a lot of time on the teacups for the same reason.  

 We all got hats on the first day because it was a hot sunny day.  I love Grace's hat.

 Here are the girls with Belle.  They also met Merida (she was very fun).

 One day, Grace and Joy wore princess dresses we brought from home and I bought them some accessories to go with their dresses at Disneyland.  They looked so pretty and the workers at Disneyland would call them "Princess" if they talked to them.  Very fun.

 Here is my adorable Andy.  He was such a trooper also.  He was pretty happy most of the time, even though he had a cold.  Disneyland with a baby is not ideal (as people warned us), but I'm not sure I would have wanted it any other way.  I would have missed him too much if we left him with a babysitter.

 Here are Grace and Joy at Toon Town.  It's quite a fun place that seems to transport you to a different, cartoony world.  

 Here's Joy in front of the castle on our last night.  It rained hard all day (the rainiest day in years there).  That was good and bad.  Good because the lines were short, bad because it got pretty wet and cold.  At least we were able to do lots of fun rides that day.

 We took these pictures by the Tiki room.  I love my beautiful girls and I'm glad we could give them this experience.  It was quite challenging at times, especially for Mark and I, but the kids really had a great time most of the time and we made some great memories and that's all that matters.

We love you all.  Have a great week!  

Love, Aubrey