Day One - The Beach
We've really had quite a few exciting weeks! We headed to Texas for Thanksgiving, and shortly after, we flew out to California to meet up with our awesome friends, Brooklyn and Caleb. We were really good friends with them in college, but we live across the country from each other, so we decided to meet up in California! We arrived in the afternoon, and headed to the beach. It was WAY too cold to swim, but it doesn't make it any less beauitful! Mcks loves the water. She kept trying to walk all the way into the water. I think she would have quickly changed her mind once she felt the temperature.
We got caught in LA traffic driving from the airport to Aniheim. Mcks was asleep for the first little bit, but woke up half way through. She was still obviously really, really tired!!
Day Two - Disneyland!
We found an awesome hotel to stay at! We only had about a 10-15 minute walk each morning. We decided to go to the Disneyland side of the park first. I found the cutest little Disney dresses on black Friday. I was obsessed. Jake, on the other hand, thought I was totally ridiculous. But, I put Mckee in them any way. Day one was Minnie Mouse! Let the fun begin!
We spent a lot of time going on "big-kid" rides, but I also really wanted to take Mcks on rides too. The first one we took her on was It's a Small World. Can you say success?!?
It was dark in Small World and Mcks was jumping and dancing and clapping the entire time, so getting a good picture was rather difficult. But it was so fun to watch Mckynlee on the ride! She absolutely LOVED it. The trip was completley worth it because I got to see Mcks so excited about everything. Everything was new and everything was fun. She made the trip for me. It was like Disney had a whole new sense of magic to it.
After Small World, we took Mcks to meet Minnie Mouse. She has a lot of Minnie toys (we call her Mckee [Mickey] so Minnie Mouse toys only make sense. Get it?? Minnie and Mckee??) She was just ennamored. Once she saw Minnie, she started trying her hardest to get to her. She just kept patting her face and reaching for her. It was so cute.
Of course we had to take advantage of taking some pictures in front of the castle!
Child swap at Disney worked so well! We could even use it when using a Fast Pass. By the end of the week, we really knew how to work the system. Haha. We felt pretty clever.
I was surprised when I found out Mcks could ride on the Tea Cups. Of course we had to! She loved them!
It got pretty cold, so unfortunately, we had to change Mckynlee into warmer clothes. Her hat was a pretty big hit around the park though!
It got pretty cold, so unfortunately, we had to change Mckynlee into warmer clothes. Her hat was a pretty big hit around the park though!
Jake and I are pretty relaxed when it comes to schedules for naps and bed time. For the entirety of the trip, Mcks typically fell alseep in the stroller and would transfer to her bed when we got back to the hotel. Luckily for us, it worked pretty flawlessly. She did great! Anyway, we stayed pretty late the first night in the park. We watched an AWESOME parade. It was called "Paint the Night." Man, Disney sure does know how to entertain.
I was super bummed that Mckynlee was asleep during this parade because she would have loved it! On a side note, she stayed alseep during the ENTIRE parade. And parades are not quiet. It was probably good that she was asleep because it was freezing. We all had sweatshirts, coats, hats, blankets, etc. We were so cold we had to get hot chocolate and warm sandwiches afterword for dinner. It was a great day! We had so much fun.
Day Three -- Universal Studios
Universal is about 45 mintues away from Disney. It was worth the drive though.
Jake and I love Harry Potter. A lot. Meaning, we've read and listened to the books multiple times. The main reason we wanted to go to Universal Studios was to go to Hogwarts. It didn't disappoint! We used child swap for the castle ride. It was sweet! They had a room to the right of the ride. We had to wait through the line once, then we could pretty much switch on and off the ride as many times as we wanted. Sweet!
I'm one of those people who likes to have matching shirts. I know, it's silly. But I love it. Anyway, we made bleach shirts for Universal. Caleb, Brooklyn, Jake and I had shirts that said, "The Muggle Struggle is Real." Mcks, on the otherhand, said "9 3/4 Months". Jake came up with that one. Isn't it clever?? I loved it. She was just shy of 9 3/4 months, but it was close enough.
We took Mcks to play in the kids area. SHE LOVED IT.
The static in this tunnel was ridiculous! But, on the plus side, you could see Mckee's hair a lot easier!
She just loved playing on the playground. Especially when there were other kids!
In the following pictures, I was trying to get a group shot. It was a lot harder than expected.
In the following pictures, I was trying to get a group shot. It was a lot harder than expected.
The best part of Universal was the wait times. There were hardly any lines! Plus, we got to use Child Swap, which was awesome.
At one point, we were playing with Mckynlee and we noticed a group of people (who did not speak English) gathered, watching us. Then it got a little weirder, they took their phones out and started taking pictures of Mcks! And they weren't discrete either. "Baby! Baby!" Mcks, loving the extra attention, gave them her biggest smiles. They loved it. Jake and I, on the other hand, gave each other confused looks and decided to move on. And this didn't just happen once, it happened multiple times! I know my kid is cute, but....I'm still not sure how I should have reacted.
At one point, we were playing with Mckynlee and we noticed a group of people (who did not speak English) gathered, watching us. Then it got a little weirder, they took their phones out and started taking pictures of Mcks! And they weren't discrete either. "Baby! Baby!" Mcks, loving the extra attention, gave them her biggest smiles. They loved it. Jake and I, on the other hand, gave each other confused looks and decided to move on. And this didn't just happen once, it happened multiple times! I know my kid is cute, but....I'm still not sure how I should have reacted.
Day Four -- California Adventure
Mckynlee fell asleep on our 15 minute walk to the park, so she isn't in this picture.
I found the Belle dress on Black Friday (like four days before we left) and I just couldn't resist. It turned out so cute on her too! Wherever we went, people would just go crazy over Mckynlee. I can't tell you how many people came up to talk to her, or us. Or how many people we saw pointing at her and smiling.
Mckynlee loved the carousel. And, she pretty much rode by herself, which she thought was pretty cool. I was standing right beside her, but it was still a little bit of independence, which she loved. We rode this multiple times as we waited for the boys to get off the roller coaster. Jake wanted to take a turn with her as well. They had a lot of fun!
Mckynlee LOVES to dance. She would hear the music playing and she just couldn't help herself! If she were standing, riding in the stroller, or being held--it didn't matter--she would just start to dance! She loves it!
California has amazing sunsets. I'll give them that.
Do you think Jake has coaster hair? I do!
We finished the night with fireworks. Not wanting to battle the crowds and fight for a spot, we watched the fireworks from just outside the park. While waiting for the show to start, we played "Heads Up". Its a great game for Disney and line-waiting. Mcks, by the way, slept through the entire firework show. I'm amazed. Fireworks won't wake her up, but brushing our teeth at night made her stir. I won't even pretend to say I understand.
Day Five -- Disney again
We assumed this would be our least crowded day. We were wrong. For some reason, it was CrAZy crowded. The first ride we wanted to get on was Cars. It usually had a 2+ hour wait, so we wanted to get on it first thing. Plus, the FastPass line was longer than the normal line. Even though we got there right away, the line was still 40+ minutes. It was the only ride Brooklyn could go on (because of future planning) and she was really wanting to go on it. Jake offered to stay with me and Mcks, but there was really no need for all of us to stay behind. So Mcks and I decided to hang out and have some girl time. I actually really enjoyed my hour with her.
We started out our "girl time" with Moster's Inc. Then wandered around the Tower of Terror, only to end up in the Bug Land kid area. Mcks was loving every bit of it! She mostly just loved all the new things to look at. The Bug's Land was really intreging to her. As if the world didn't already look big enough! Our last ride before joining the others was Little Mermaid. She loved the music and the colors.
Brooklyn, Mcks, and I were standing on the peir waiting for the boys to go on the ride. We got caught up watching Mcks that we almost missed them! Just before they left, Caleb yelled out to Brooklyn. So I was able to whip my phone out and get a quick video. :)
For Christmas, we were given a Disney gift card to spend in the park. Mckynlee has recently started to love stuffed animals. Unfortunately, Disney didn't have a huge selection of stuffed animals. But, Mcks found a stuffed bear that she immediately fell in love with. We bought it while she was sleeping (not that it would have made that much of a difference) and gave it to her when she woke up. It was such a cute exchange.
For Christmas, we were given a Disney gift card to spend in the park. Mckynlee has recently started to love stuffed animals. Unfortunately, Disney didn't have a huge selection of stuffed animals. But, Mcks found a stuffed bear that she immediately fell in love with. We bought it while she was sleeping (not that it would have made that much of a difference) and gave it to her when she woke up. It was such a cute exchange.
We were wondering back to Disneyland (from California Adventure) when we serendipitously ran into Minnie Mouse. Mcks loves Minnie. It really isn't too much of a surprise because she has lots of Minnie stuff. Shirts, Little People, dolls, stuffed animals, etc. Anyway, she totally knows how Minnie Mouse is. We jumped in line and only had to wait for one family. It was a little awkward because as we were taking our picture, another little girl (probably 5ish) saw Minnie and immediately ran up to her, totally bypassing the line. It's understandable because she's 5...ish. And likes Minnie Mouse. It makes sense. But, the Disney worker, following instructions and protocol I'm sure, pulled the girl aside and told her to get in line. Her parents just stood there and watched. She ran up to Minnie again. Again, she was pulled away. She started crying. Hard. Screaming, tantrum hard. The Disney worker, forceful but not rudely, told her parents she needed to wait in line. Her dad was not happy. "What is she supposed to do? She just loves Minnie Mouse!" Then, after a few minutes of heated discussion, the family walked away. All the while, we just stood there. Mcks kept patting Minnie's nose. So, she was happy.
Mckynlee has been changing so much, so quickly! She learned to play peek-a-boo all by herself. So cute!
I really wanted Mcks to see the Christmas parade, so we headed over to Disneyland. We wanted to go on a ride before the parade started, but as I said earlier, it was really crowded. We would have time to ride and get a spot for the parade. So we took a few pictures in front of the castle then found a place sit. We found really good spots! We also treated ourselves to Dole Whips. Delicious!
I really wanted Mcks to see the Christmas parade, so we headed over to Disneyland. We wanted to go on a ride before the parade started, but as I said earlier, it was really crowded. We would have time to ride and get a spot for the parade. So we took a few pictures in front of the castle then found a place sit. We found really good spots! We also treated ourselves to Dole Whips. Delicious!
We had to wait about 40ish minutes for the parade to start. During that time some exciting things happened! Mckynlee took her very first steps! She surprised us all actually. She had just started to stand by herself a few days prior. But I guess she was just ready to move. She took her first steps! My baby is turning into a toddler!! Where is the time going! We were so excited, but also kind of sad. Wasn't she just a little tiny baby?! We enticed her to take more steps with M&M's. She's totally Jake's daughter. I have about 15 videos of Mcks taking steps. But the below video is the best.
I was so happy we waited to watch the parade. And that we had good seats! Mckee was in heaven during the entire parade. She was beyond excited! She kept points and clapping and trying to follow the floats. I really came to appreciate Disney because 90% of the actors in the parade came up and made eye-contact with Mckee. It seems silly, but I know she loved it. She would blow kisses and clap and dance, dance, dance. It was probably my favorite experience of the trip. Having kids really brings a whole new level of magic to Disney...and my kid is only 9 months old!
After the parade, we tried to go on "It's a Small World" again, but the line was about 2 hours long, so we decided against it. We walked around Toon Town and Mckynlee fell asleep. (This was a lot to take in for her!) We got dinner and then finished our trip watching the water show at California Adventure. Everything about the trip was so great. The Shannons are such good friends and we are so sad they live on the opposite side of the country from us! Such fun times! Disney, you certainly know how to show us a good time. We are already looking forward to our next trip. :)