Disneyland! (Part 2)

Sorry for the delay in Part 2 / Disneyland pictures! I know you were all sitting on the edge of your seats :)
Getting back into the swing of things took a little longer than I anticipated.  But now on to the fun stuff...

The hotel in Anaheim had a pull out couch that was perfect for the kids.  They loved sleeping on it and honestly, I think they were too tired to care about it anyway.  They pretty much looked like this anytime they sat down.

 Ready for Disneyland!! I love those faces :)

 We got there in plenty of time (Thank you...Anaheim Resort Shuttle, quick customer service people at the stroller area and my family for being morning people!)  The park opened at 8am, so we had a few minutes to take pictures before we headed into the park...and straight to Fantasyland!

 Fall at the park = pumpkins everywhere!! The weather even felt like fall, we had a cool breeze, pumpkins everywhere and thousands of our closest friends. 

 Aren't the pumpkins cute?! Goofy is Brother's favorite :)

 And of course Minnie is Sister's favorite...I love her bow!

 They give you a cute sign to put on your stroller, so you can keep up with it all day.  We never had a problem anywhere and we even checked it back in, left the park, and came back to get it later.  TOTALLY worth the $7.50 I paid (we got 1/2 off with our Disney Rewards Visa...gotta love the perks!)

 They were ready to have some fun!

 Mommy and her favorite little boy.

 Thanks Brother, I love this picture!

 Smile Sister! I promise it will be fun!

 And away we go!  Pumpkins exploded everywhere on Mainstreet!

 Stopping to enjoy the sites at Sleeping Beauty's castle...Disneyworld = Cinderella's castle, Disneyland = Sleeping Beauty's, good to know, right? In case you were looking for them or something...

 Me and my girl.

 Teacup time!! We actually rode Alice in Wonderland 1st then headed straight to the teacups, it became one of our favorites of the day.   It was on our "must do" list when we came back to the park later for fireworks.

 Daddy is so talented, he got all 4 of us in the picture!

 Notice the colors...blue teacup for us, pink for Sister and Hubby :)

 She LOVED the rides...I was so proud of them for everything they did all day :)

 Next onto Dumbo, another favorite of the day!

 Pink elephant...this became a theme for the day, she got lucky we were able to make it work!

 She was cracking me up b/c she kept getting really tickled every time we went up and Brother and Daddy disappeared.

 The carousel was our next stop...Sister was such a big girl and even rode by herself! (She opted for pink AND purple on this one... )

 Strong Brother!!

 We rode a few other rides in Fantasyland...Pinocchio & The Wild Toad Ride were NOT favorites, but the CaseyJR train was a big hit.  On our way to breakfast with Minnie we ran into Aunt L and Uncle R with the kids waiting for Dumbo.   We went to grab a fast pass and then headed to eat some yummy food!

I had NO idea what characters would be at breakfast with us.  The only one they "promise" is Minnie, everyone else is a surprise.   It actually worked out great and the kids had a lot of fun.  It wasn't as organized as Disneyworld, but we did enjoy it.  One big difference is no waiters, so you just get your food and wait for characters.  The characters also didn't really have "handlers" with them, so you had to grab them if you thought they might skip you. That was a BIG difference than Disneyworld...the workers there always made sure everyone was taken care of.  I still think a couple didn't even come in the room we were eating in, but characters were everywhere, so we still got to see a good bit.

 The Fairy Godmother came by to see us 1st.  The kids were not really sure who she was, but thought she was very nice :)

 Next Brother got to meet Captain Hook which he thought was awesome!  (Sister decided to stay back on that one. )

 The mouse from Cinderella was very sweet, the kids were not sure who she was either, but they always love hugs!

 Yay!  We know this one for sure!  Sister was thrilled to see Minnie and get some hugs.

 BFFs

 Another one we recognized and loved....any Pooh characters are always fun!

 This one is from Lion King, right? See even I started getting confused!  Brother thought he was cool though.

 Tigger! I think by the end of the day we saw almost the whole Pooh Bear gang!

 After breakfast Brother and Hubby went to ride Big Thunder Mountain while the girl's made a pit stop and waited to watch them ride (they had fast passes, so it was really quick).

 On our way to the Buzz ride we stopped to get pictures with our favorite pumpkins...Brother and Woody (who he happened to run into later....we had never seen him before, but I have to order the pictures from Disney, Hubby didn't have the camera with him, but Brother was thrilled!)

 Sister and Pooh Bear!

 On to the Buzz Lightyear ride!  Easily Brother's favorite of the day...it was also on the "must do" list when we returned later :)

 Helping Buzz defeat Zurg!

 Sister proving she is tall enough to ride the Matterhorn!  It was her 1st roller coaster and I loved that we all got to ride together...SO much fun!

 Hubby held onto her tight!

 After the Matterhorn we headed to Toontown! Always a favorite in our family :)

I bet Hubby would have fun working in this fire station!

 Since we saw Minnie and breakfast our next stop was Mickey's house to make sure we got to see him too!

 Yay for Mickey!

 Family picture time!!

 Driving Mickey's car to our next stop...another roller coaster.  The kids loved it!

 We happened to notice Goofy in a back corner and grabbed a quick picture  before they shut his line down.  Brother was so thrilled and Sister wasn't scared this year!

 Brother driving Donald's boat!

 The roller coaster we all rode, we had a good view from the boat and Hubby was trying to get a picture of Uncle R and Cousin R.

 Playing Goofy's piano.

 Sleeping on Minnie's bed!

 We grabbed a quick snack (pickles & fruit) before we headed out of Toontown and split up for a little bit.  Sister and I went to wait in a long line for Princesses and Brother and Hubby went to ride Space Mountain with their fast passes.  The plan was to meet in Critter Country at 3pm...perfect!

 We had to wait about 30-45 mins to see the Princesses, but it was totally worth it.  They rotate which 3 are in there and we got luckily and got 3 of Sister's favorites (and ones she actually knew).  She kept saying the rest of the day she saw the BIG princesses...ha!

Sister and Snow White

 Sister and Belle

 Sorry my camera was acting up! (On a side note we are getting a new one in a few weeks...yay!!)

 Sister and Tiana!! (Sister LOVES "Princesses and the Frog".  Tiana was the only one she ran right up to. )

 After the princesses we headed to Critter Country where we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride while waiting on Hubby and Brother.  They had perfect timing and got there while we were in line to see Pooh and Rabbit!

 Not sure why they were leaning, but at least it was the same way. ha!

 We decided around 3:30pm we would take our break for the day.  We jumped on our shuttle, headed back to the hotel and chilled our for a little while.  The kids played in the pool with Hubby and I ordered some dinner from an Italian place the hotel recommended...very yummy and free delivery (and cheaper than eating in the park).  Around 6:30pm we put jeans on...it was cool out and headed back to the park to ride a few more rides and catch the fireworks at 9:30pm.  It was crazy late for our kids (12:30am our time), but we figured we only had one day and we really wanted to squeeze it in, plus they could sleep on the plane!

The 1st ride we rode when we got back was Autotophia...Sister even got to drive!

 Buzz again!

 Brother and Hubby rode some boat ride, sorry I can't remember the name, but Brother's job was to watch for whales :)

 Carousel...the park was beautiful with all the lights on the rides, but it felt really dark when we were walking around.

 And onto the fireworks...We got good seats and I went to find a quick snack.  When I got back Sister looked like this...

 Brother feel asleep on Hubby too, but when I went to take a picture he did this...

 It cracked us up that he woke up from the flash and knew to smile!  At least he was awake for the fireworks...they were awesome.

 The next morning was pretty crazy! The kids were out and curled up together.

 And Sister didn't like it when I turned the light on...

 But those sweet faces told me it was totally worth it.

 We packed up, jumped in the car (met a little more CA traffic on the way out) and headed to the airport.

 The flight back was nice and easy.  The whole family (Grandparents / Aunt & Uncle, etc) were on the flight with us, so the kids were entertained.  We got home around 8pm and the kids were exhausted...school the next day was amusing.  I am so glad we were able to make the trip.  It was a memorable weekend that I know meant a lot to Hubby.  Hopefully, it won't be so long before we make our way back.