d to the land

christmas didn't end for us on christmas day, or even the day after that... it spilled right on into 2009. we rang in the new year on a cold foggy night in california in a hotel room right next door to the happiest place on earth.

for christmas, bryce's parents paid for all of us to go to disneyland for two days! so on new years' eve, we packed up and headed out to california. (well, bryce had to work, so he headed up later with his brother trev while i drove up with the girls and his other brother greg.)

we had so much fun. i didn't know what to expect with the girls since this was going to be their first time there and i wasn't sure how it was all going to work out with baby em. but it was seriously the best vacation we've had and the girls were on their best behavior. i guess it truly is the happiest place on earth.

(**warning: there are way too many pictures for one blog post here. and i have an ugly cold sore in every single one... enjoy.)

i was surprised at how many rides emaline was able to go on. with the exception of two, emaline was able to ride on everything that ava was able to.

and i was totally shocked when i realized that ava met the height limit for the matterhorn. am i mean for dragging her on it? she loved it and by loved it i mean, she didn't cry. such a trooper.

speaking of being a trooper, i'm pretty sure i get mom of the year award for toughing out the tea cups for my daughter.

and i'm pretty sure that emaline didn't make a peep the entire time we were there either... at the hotel, however, it was a different story -- she wanted her own room and her own crib... me too, em, me too. honestly though, considering all four of us were sharing a room it went pretty well. i was constantly amazed at how well she would sleep right through all the commotion and even some of the rides, too.

even ava was tuckered out enough by day two to climb into emaline's car seat and take a two hour snooze amidst all of the disneyland buzz.

neither of the days we were there were that bad. the weather was perfect... a little on the chilly side, but in my opinion perfect. i absolutely love disneyland at christmastime.

and it wasn't that crowded... i've been there many times in the middle of the summer so a half hour wait is nothing to me. ava was so patient waiting in the lines, ride after ride. i kept waiting for a huge meltdown, but it never happened, we came close once but other than that, nothing.

bryce and i even had a little time for ourselves, thanks to my in-laws who so graciously took our sleepyheads home for dinner and bedtime so we could get on some of the bigger rides.

my only regrets are that i didn't snap one picture of ava with any of her cousins and that ava never was able to meet any of the characters. we put it off a couple times and when we finally did have a chance, the workers cut off the line before us so that the characters could take a break. i felt so bad when i had to tell ava that she wouldn't be able to give buzz or mickey a hug or that she couldn't meet cinderella. in all honesty, i was probably more heartbroken than she was.
she did get a chance to stand next to a couple of inanimate cars and an inanimate mickey... does that count?
i did however get both of the girls' mickey ears with their names embroidered on the back... something i always wanted but never got despite the fact that i went every single summer for as long as i can possibly remember.

after the two days at disneyland we were able to stay with some of my family that lives nearby for the next few days. again, the girls were great and we had such a fun time visiting and recuperating. you know it's a good vacation when you get home and you're sad that it's over. i'm still in a little post-holiday/post-vacation slump.... i hate that. i'm so greatful for my in-laws for making this happen and helping us make some really fun memories. we can't wait to go back.