disneyland & california adventure {afternoon/evening}

Wardrobe change!

People always comment about Kerigan's multiple outfits a day when we are at Disney.  And I can only plead crazy.  That's just how we roll.  I try to always have her wear a fancy dress that matches the princess of the castle we will be seeing (Cinderella at DW and Aurora at DL).  Then for her princess brunch, we dress as the princess featured at the lunch.

This year it was Ariel's Grotto!

So Ariel it was!

My mom had found this beautiful Ariel dress from the Disney store for her at a garage sale before we left!  Score!

So excited for her princess brunch Under the Sea!

These moments are still magical.  Memories I will cherish forever.

This dining experience was really fun!  They announced the characters and a couple of them were surprises.  Tiana was a hit!

I even got Andrew to jump in here!  He loves the Princess and the Frog, although he doesn't like to admit it!  Ha!

We always love meeting Belle

She's Kerigan's favorite princess, which is why we named our kitty after her!

Rapunzel was another fun surprise.  At Disneyworld, she isn't part of the character dining so this was a treat!

We love Rapunzel!  Pssst... Don't you love Craig and Andrew's shirts?  I lost count how many times we were stopped to ask about them!  I ordered them from Etsy.  So fun!

And last but not least, Cinderella!  It was a fun group of princesses and we all had a great time!  We loved the food, too!

Yummy little dessert plate!

Andrew loved the octopus hot dog!

My sweet girl

We headed out to explore a bit of California Adventure after our brunch.  We love the Paradise Pier area.  And that roller coaster in the background is called California Screamin, and it's a favorite!  

We took the road that led to Cars Land, one of our favorite places at Disney!  I timed it just perfect to get the Radiator Springs Racers coming over the hill in the background!  Our favorite ride ever!  And just look at that backdrop!

One of the things I love most about Disney is the artistry.  I just can't get over it.  How they make you feel like you are right there, in the middle of your favorite Disney movies with all your favorite characters.  Pure magic.

Walking down Route 66!

In front of the Stanley statue, just like in the movie!

We love the tractors!  There's a fun ride on them that we ride later in the week.

While we're in Cars Land we might as well hitch a ride on our favorite racers!

At this point you may remember that we had been going on about 5 hours of sleep after a nightmare airplane delay the day before.  We all enjoyed the fact that our Disney hotel was just a short walk away so we headed back in the afternoon for a nice nap!  This princess slept so hard!  It was a nice break for all of us!

We knew we wanted to spend the evening at the electrical parade, so here we are up and at'em!  And yes, it's her 3rd outfit of the day.  I just can't help it!

We're here!

Walking down Main Street

We secured a spot for the parade and I went to grab us dinner so we could eat while we waited.

Something about this parade gets me in tears every.single.time.

I think it's the music that takes me back to my childhood...

I can still remember watching this parade as a child and being so fascinated.

And it is just an honor to be able to experience it with my own children and give them those same memories.

Pictures don't do it justice.  But the memories are engrained in my mind.

It is so amazing how the characters have lighted outfits too!

After the parade there was no line at Buzz Lightyear so we hopped on!

This is one of Andrew's favorite rides

These two getting serious about capturing the evil Zurg!

I had to take a couple of night pics of the castle, which didn't turn out the best.

It was such a beautiful evening- cool enough for jackets.  We love California weather!

Posing in the hallway with our treasures from the day, waiting for Daddy to get our room key reset.  Because everything can't go smoothly ALL the time.  Ha!

The night before we hadn't been there in time to see the beautiful lights from our hotel window.  It was truly the most amazing view we could have ever imagined.

This was the World of Color water show at California Adventure.  Simply stunning.  Check out Cars Land all lit up.

The TV even had the music programmed so you could listen and watch the show from the window.  Incredible.

This little princess had a very busy day.  We were so happy to be settled into the happiest place on Earth.  Sweet dreams, sweet girl!

disneyland {magical morning}

After a short night we woke up to a beautiful morning in California!

I just look at this picture and can't help but think magical... and relieved.  Ha!  We were exhausted and probably could have slept another 6 hours but we couldn't miss this special day!  Every time we go to Disney I learn something new.  And this time I made note not to schedule important appointments and dining experiences on Day 1.  Just in case of plane delays.  #noted

We were about 20 minutes late for this, because everything at Disney always takes about 20 minutes longer than you think.  Getting there, going through security, etc is no exception.  We only made it because I was almost in tears at the gate when the line was about a mile long and I begged the lady to have mercy on me and let us in the early entry line for dining only.  She happily let us through with a "Have a magical day!"  Thank you Disney magic.

This was one happy princess right here.

Finally we could relax!

They just doted over her!  Hair, nails, make up!

I loved this picture of her face!  The anticipation!  Ha!

The experience was complete with a spray guard!  Ha!

Daddy and Andrew rode rides while my girl and I indulged.

We just had the best time.  I loved nothing more than watching my princess get all dolled up for her day at Disney.

Again, one of those things I dreamed about before she was born.  Having a little girl to do these things with.  I do not take it for granted.

It was appropriate that she was "Sleeping Beauty" that day! 

She did amazing for being up for over 20 hours the day before!  I look at these now and see she was just a little tired!  Ha!

Just like everything at Disney, they made the experience so magical.  The curtains remained closed the whole time, until they spun her around and the little birds opened them...

When she saw herself for the first time the mirror sparkled and music played.  It was so sweet and special.

My beautiful princess

Getting her goodies in her sack pack

A lot of these pictures are similar, I just love her facial expressions and want to remember these moments.

Every single one of them.

She loved her glittery nail polish

We stepped outside and had to take a picture by Sleeping Beauty's castle!

My sweet baby on her first trip to Disneyland when she was 11 months old!

Time needs to slow down...

She and I did the Sleeping Beauty castle walk-through.  It told the story and had different scenes.  It was fun to be able to go inside the castle, she loved it!

We took our time and checked out the little window displays around the castle

She was just mesmerized.

Then meeting up with her Princes was pretty fun!

Andrew saw her and did this!  Ha!  I don't think he could believe how pretty she was!

Going down into Nemo's submarine!

Just for fun!  A picture of Andrew on our last trip heading down the same submarine when he was 5!

Here they were actually laughing at me because water was dripping down on me from the top of the submarine!  I wasn't complaining but actually got a fast pass out of the deal so that was a plus!  I was pretty soaked at the end of the ride!  Ha! #wrongseat

We found Dory!

Two thumbs up!

We found Moana strolling through Adventureland!  This is one of the things I love about Disneyland that you don't see at Disney World.  Characters out strolling and interacting with guests.  There's no lines and you can just walk with them!

Andrew remembered Tarzan's Treehouse from the last time we were here.

This was always his favorite movie when he was little so it was so nostalgic for me to see my big boy next to all these things!

Here he is in the same spot five years ago!!

It was fun to bring Kerigan here at the same age that he was the last time.  Time flies!

He always wants me to take a picture of all the characters in the treehouse!

Kerigan playing the drums from the "trashin the camp" part of the movie!

He's always been our monkey!

And who says princesses can't swing from a rope?

A little higher with some help from Daddy!

We split up briefly again so Daddy and Andrew could go on a ride.  So my girl and I checked out the Jolly Holiday bakery!  Please note her glittery nails!

Yum!

Then she found this bubble wand that entertained us a good portion of the day!

I loved this of Daddy and Andrew trying to pull the sword out of the stone!  Ha!

Just me and my kids in a teacup

We love the parts of Disneyland that make it unique!  Like Monstro the whale!

On one of our favorite rides, Peter Pan!

One of the things I had read about and learned from previous trips, is to just try to not rush through the parks.  Especially Disneyland.  There are just so many authentic things to see and you miss things if you rush.  My kids loved finding these little statues around the circle near Walt and Mickey.

They wanted a picture by all of them!  Ha!

This ends our morning at Disneyland.

We are about to have this princess do a wardrobe change for our afternoon princess lunch!

More to come soon from Day 1....