CA trip part II - Disneyland

As I mentioned in "part I," on Monday after we got to Cali, we picked up our friends Tim, Stacy and Ashlynne at the airport. They were so kind to invite us to come stay with them in their timeshare. After Janice and I picked them up from the airport, we took them to the condo and then she and I headed back to pick up David and the kids. Then David, the kids and I went back to get Tim, Stacy and AJ (a lot of driving back and forth for a bit, but its the only way we could work it) and we headed to find an In-N-Out burger joint and a Costco for groceries. Can't go to Cali and not get In-N-Out! :) Later that evening we finally got our dinner, groceries and all settled in at the condo and then headed to bed for our first day at Disneyland on Tues, with lots of prayers for sunshine and no rain. Monday it had rained like it rains here in Oregon and we were wondering what we were getting into!

Tuesday dawned with clear skies and sunshine, but a bit cool, so sweatshirts were needed. However by the time we walked the 15 min walk to the park, we had rid ourselves of the sweatshirts and t-shirts worked for us. It was about 60 degrees - could have been a bit warmer but we weren't complaining because it wasn't raining! It was funny however, because apparently the Californians thought it to be cold, because they were in warm winter coats, scarves and knit hats! (I know, I was in a scarf in the USC pic, but it was pretty chilly and breezy that day, and just sitting made it cool). David even got asked if he was from Canada one day because he was in a t-shirt. We went to Disneyland and California adventures Tuesday - Friday and David took Hannah for a couple hours on Saturday (we had a 5 day pass). It was so much fun to go and see the parks decorated for Christmas, see the Christmas parades, the fireworks and even the "fake" snow after the fireworks. Hannah is a brave little one - she loved the rides and even went on Splash Mtn, Matterhorn and Thunder Mtn railroad. We didn't plan to take her on Thunder Mtn but when we started to go, she insisted she come along too! Our favorite part of the whole trip was when we got to see the Disney princesses - it was mine and David's favorite because of being able to share in the excitement with Hannah and seeing her face just light up when talking to them. It was so cute, because the princesses would get down on their knees and talk to the girls and give them hugs. It was Hannah's favorite, because that's what she had been looking forward too, and still since we've been home, she's said everyday "I want to go back to see the princesses and Disneyland." Of course she loved seeing all the other characters too. I wasn't sure how she would react, because she didn't care much for Santa, but she ran right up and gave them all hugs!

We had beautiful, sunny weather Tues to Thurs, overcast with a couple light drizzles (not enough to make us run indoors) on Friday. Saturday was raining more, but David and Hannah ran down to the park to see the princesses one last time and try to meet Snow White and Cinderella (whom she had not met the days before). Just her luck, they were there. Since it was raining, it was quite slick and when she was going from on princess to another, she slipped and fell really hard and was crying. David asked her if she wanted to see Snow White to make it better and she said she did. So Snow White gave her hugs and talked with her, making her a happy camper again. Stacy told me later, they went back on Sunday (they didn't go to the park w/ us on Fri and stayed longer than us, so had Sunday at the park) and Snow White asked Ashlynne if her sister was ok from her fall. So sweet that she remembered!!

As for Isaiah, even though he is too young to remember this trip, we could tell he thoroughly enjoyed his time. He LOVED the characters, and especially flirted with Minnie Mouse. :) He was in awe of the sights, sounds and lights and seemed to really like Small World and also the fireworks.

Saturday afternoon, just after lunch, Janice came to pick the 4 of us up and take us to the airport. We would have loved to stay a couple more days with Tim, Stacy and AJ, and go to the park again, but unfortunately weren't able too. Luckily we were able to get home alright, with no delays, which we were worried about since they were predicting freezing rain and snow here in Oregon! All in all, it was a wonderful trip and thoroughly enjoyed our time! Here's pics to share with you all. Sorry about the long post and long slide show, but it was hard to narrow down all to share! However, this isn't all the pics, so if you want to see more, you can just come on over and we'll show you the rest. :)