Disneyland 2016

Sometimes my blogging is motivated by my fear that we'll randomly loose all our photos, (cuz I'm sooo bad at systematically backing up!) so a having bunch on here makes me feel better.


We love Disneyland.

The first time we went with just Aaron was ...magically.  (And much better written than this will be:)

It was sooo Good that we went back that same year, this time with all 3 boys.
(Which I'm also gonna try and blog today...ya know 4 years later!!!!)
I thought about doing a then and now cu z there's lots of cute similar pictures,  man made me realize how much my boys have grown!!! I miss their little toddler smiles!
 (I totally have pictures of little 3 year old Levi looking at the map in guest services while we got Aaron's special needs pass.)

We have talked about going back constantly since.
I was a little busy having two more babies. But when your non-verbal son, pretty much weekly finds pictures in your printed out blog books (not small) and points at Cars land, practically pleading to go back and not understanding why we haven't??? Man we just really wanted to take him back sooooo badly.

We booked our trip almost a whole year in advance, so I could thoroughly enjoy the anticipation. (My favorite part). Isn't Benny's folder he made adorable....he is such a good planner and keeps everything so organized:)

We hot up classic Fantasy land rides first, Peter Pan , Dumbo....

Aaron knew we were close to Carsland...so close but yet so far....

 I totally have awesome pictures of 3 year old Levi just givin' her on the sword on the stone. it's funny how even though they grow and change so much, their personalities are totally intact from the get go!

Just soooo Levi

 If we'd gone home that first day without going to California Adventures Aaron would of lost it.

We debated bringing Hadley, but in the end decided we could invite my mom along, we'd already planned on bringing Jaci, and that we could keep the adult kid ratio all good.

The first day we did a good job of wearing everyone out. We had to learn that a larger group can't move quite as fast. The park was waaay busier than past times we'd gone (sadly, I think that just may be the new normal) and trying to heard everyone, meant I almost didn't get my big camera out at all.

Our boys really wanted to try Legoland this time, so the second day Grandma and Hadley hung out at the house we rented (rested up) and Jaci Ben and I took just "the boys" (Enoch stayed home, having a blast with his favorite family in the whole world, and we look forward to taking him for his "first trip" next time)
















It wasn't quite as "epic" as Disney, but man were our boys just the right age for it.

Driving a lego car????? Ya they ate it up.

 Again most of the pictures where just on my phone and already saved on Instagram.
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I was soooo excited to take photos this trip, but I really didn't.

Oh well.


Day 3... back to California Adventures!!!! (We had hopper passes, but lines were long going into each park, so we pretty much stayed in one or the other most days)

All those rides and she'd still rather ride her brother!

Our boys  have really gotten into Star Wars these past few years, so we did the Jedi training. And they loved it.

On the Sunday we took a break to go to church, watch Disney movies and play board games (our cute house rental had a whole cupboard full of Disney games, it was awesome.

And some swimming.

Aaron ended up hurting his ankle really bad during the last few minutes in the pool. After he barely made it limping to the park we decided a wheel chair was probably our best bet. He was a fan. (The last times we'd come he could still fit in a stroller...it can be overwhelming for him to walk with the crowds, so this let him relax and just go along for the ride)

Grandma wasn't a big fan of Radiator Spring racers (lil too fast for her) so her & Hadley did the Luigi's dancing cars quite a bit waiting for us. 

Hadley was sure glad to have her grandma to hang out with.

Lei trying to act surprised they got soaked at the bugs life Spray park. 

I, however, was not surprised at all.

I was a littel surprised Levi lost a tooth (in line at Disneyland, what a way to go)

I wasn't very impressed with my photo taking skills this trip, but this one I love. It's a little fuzzy, but his face!!!!! Man If I could take Aaron to Disneyland everyday, I totally would just to get his face to light up like this. 

The last day....

I had packed Hadley's Tinkerbell stuff everyday....and finally on the last day we used it!


It was too cute.

It was fun having a girl along.
She's fun.

She was so excited about all the characters.
Surprisingly she didn't play shy for the most part....she was totally star struck of Anya and Elsa (but then not intimidated at all by Darth Vadar, who was tryign to be pretty scary)

She was convinced Minnie Mouse is her best friend and wanted to play in her kitchen forever.
It's a challenging age, cuz they get tired but it's also so fun cuz they really buy into the magic.

My mom went on her honeymoon in Disneyland, and while I didn't grow up going to Disneyland I sure "grew up on Disney"...so it was pretty special to be there with my mom and my daughter.

I think she had fun.

One of the, hands down, fav rides this trip was Grizzly Rapids. 

Aaron liked it, but he almost liked watching the tubes splash just as much form the sidelines. 

And I enjoyed watching him watch.

And watching Ben watch him too.

Once we got soaked, the boys just kept saying, "Let's go again!!!" and we'd think, why not?!?!?

The record was 5 in a row

It was special having Jaci along. Our kids are so close to her, they loved sharing everything with her. 

She had the best reactions to all the rides, she'd get off and just be astounded. 

I loved having her along.

Along with the family we bring with us, it's always a treat to see Alli. 

It sucks that she lives so far away, but there could be lots worst places to visit than California. 

Between Aaron's unmitigated joy and the chance to hang out with Alli, it's a wonder we don't go every month!

We'll be back....next time with Enoch.