***Disneyland***

Our first family vacation!  Near the end of March we made our long awaited drive to California.  We agreed back in December to make a trip to Disneyland as part of Christmas and finally took a break from the freezing cold and headed to LA.  Jason's friend was so awesome to let us take over his apartment in the super hip area of Silver Lake for the week and stay with some of his friends that lived nearby.  We were only about 30 minutes from Disneyland and a quick 10 minutes from downtown Hollywood!  Jason hadn't ever been to Disneyland and Bridger and I haven't gone for a few years.  I was ecstatic that we were able to make this trip happen on our own!  I was slightly concerned since no one else would be with us and we'd have to switch back and forth for the rides that Ellie couldn't go on but with the "Switchpass" that the rides offer, it was so easy and B got to ride everything twice!  The first day we spent most of the day at Disneyland and only hopped over to California Adventure for a couple baby rides and Tower of Terror...B HATED that ride and even tried faking that he was going to pee his pants so he could exit early...being the mean mother I am, I didn't let him leave me alone on that ride!  His favorite ride ended up being the roller coaster at California Adventure.  Ellie's favorite was definitely the parade.  A few of the dancers even came up to admire how adorable she was!  We waited about 30 minutes to have the spot we did for the parade and it was soooo worth it!  We were able to get some great video of that.  As far as the characters go, Ellie loved Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.  They were the most interactive with her and were so cute trying to coax her over to them.  The other characters were classics to get photos with but you felt a lot more pressure to get the picture and go b/c there were so many people waiting.  Day 2 at the parks went a lot more smoothly.  We knew what rides we needed to get our "Fast passes" for and what we were willing to wait in line for.  

All in all our first trip was a success and I can't wait to do it again!

Somehow we lucked out and only waited 5 or 10 mins to see Mickey!  

This was the first pic we got right inside the park.  Ellie was pretty creeped out by Goofy.

It's a Small World.  Jason never wants to hear that song again!

Roger Rabbit was the first ride we took Ellie on...I don't recommend it for babies!  She was pretty scared.  I guess I forgot how dark that ride is!

The super fun and friendly Pooh and Tigger!  They were so cute with Ellie and B.

Bridger and Mom on Splash Mountain.

No trip to Disneyland would be complete without a ride on the TEACUPS!

Ellie fell asleep at one point and Daddy decided she needed her face painted!  It turned out so cute!

The Buzz Lightyear ride.  B even got a higher score than Jason!

The parade!  Don't miss this if you go!

Jason and B on his favorite ride!

The ferris wheel is so high and swings over water.  Every time it would swing B would hold on for dear life!  Why as parents do we enjoy torturing our kids just a little??

Monsters Inc.  This ride is a fun one!  It's the last ride we went on before heading back to Silver Lake.

I now know why parents want a vacation from the vacation!  It was such a busy week but I'm so glad we were able to take our kids to Disneyland as our own little family.  I'm lucky to have such a hard working husband who made it possible!!  Thank Jason/Dad...WE LOVE YOU!