a few technical difficulties

So, I'm having some issues with my computer.  We are basically maxed out on storage so getting all of our pics and video on the computer has been difficult.  I will post what I have and when I'm able to add more, I'll post the updates.
The exciting this is that for my birthday Jeremy and his mom got me a bigger hard drive and another technical thing that will add storage and make our computer faster.  Now it just needs to be installed...

Day 2 of Vacation, 1st Day at Parks, Part 2

We headed back to the parks around 4:15.  The rest of the family had started saving seats for the Pixar Play Parade.  We met up and left our stuff with them while we rode The Little Mermaid.  After the ride when we were waiting for the parade to start, Jeremy and Hunter bought a bubble gun.  These things were everywhere!  We have one at home but this one was way cooler.  It has flashing lights and the bubble container is connected making it easy to have continuous bubbles.  The one we have has to be dipped into bubbles and doesn't have neon lights.  This made for lots of fun for Hunter.  While waiting we also took more photos.

Hunter with his bubble gun

Ready for the parade

Poor Eva, she watched from the stroller.

The Pixar Play Parade was great and Hunter even had interaction with the performers.  He got to throw a basketball to a Monster Inc performer and give Slinky from Toy Story a high five.  Hunter and Eva both danced along to the music.  We took video of the parade but it's on our camcorder and for now, the clips stay on there.

Here comes the parade!

After the parade we weren't ready to eat just yet b/c we had some snacks before returning to the parks, so we went to ride rides.  We went on Mickey's Fun Wheel.  That is one big farris wheel!  It has two options for the gondolas; stationary or swinging.  We chose stationary.  As we were waiting there was a little girl a swinging one and she was not happy!  Even the stationary one has some swing to it but we can't imagine the others.  The kids did great on it, but Jeremy and I were happy to be on the ground at the end.  Great views.  We tried not to look down.

Here we go!

Jeremy made sure to hold onto Hunter...and that meant no pictures of Eva and me;-)

Look Dad!

We continued to walk around the Boardwalk at Paradise Pier and Hunter spotted the carnival type games.  So we played there for awhile.  While we were there, we put Eva on my back and it didn't take her long to fall asleep.  She then slept for a couple hours on my back.  (yes, I was sore the next day).

Hunter enjoyed throwing the baseballs but it was a good thing no one else was
playing because he was a little wild with his pitches:-)

Hunter won the horse race!

And of course he had to fish.

We then headed to Cars Land to eat dinner.  We ate at Flo's V8 Cafe.  I had a great veggie bake and the boys had mac n cheese.  We ordered for Eva but she stayed asleep.  Next it was time to check out the rest of Cars Land and ride rides.  The weather gets cool at night so Hunter put his jacket on and I put my jacket over Eva.

Throughout the night we kept checking on the wait time for Radiator Springs Racers but it was always over an hour so we didn't ride that night.  We took pictures and Jeremy and Hunter went on all other rides in Cars Land and in A Bugs Land.

Watching the cars race from Radiator Springs Racers and of course Eva is out

In the center of Cars Land and again, Eva is out

We finally took Eva off my back after a few hours and all rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train together.  We got the front car so that was cool.  We had a few more hours until World of Color so we continued to walk around and Hunter and I road Soarin' Over California together while Jeremy and Eva got something to eat.  Hunter and I waited in line for about 25 minutes or so and he was getting tired.  The groups of people in front of us and behind us were playing a game on their phones called Heads Up.  So that was entertaining.  But once we got on the ride, Hunter got hyped up!  The nice girl next to him was telling him he was going to love it.  She loved how Hunter kept talking with excitement through the ride.

I brought along glow sticks/necklaces for night activities.  Hunter liked having them.

Waiting in line for Soarin'

After Soarin, we met up with Jeremy and Eva and made our way to the seating area for World of Color.  We asked a cast member where we needed to go and she was super nice and told us to wait just a minute.  She then put us in a great section where the kids could see the show from the stroller.  While waiting we all had snacks and reminisced about the days events.  The show was amazing!  So neat to see all the lights, water, fire and animation all come together.  I've watched the show on YouTube before and after going and nothing compares to seeing it in person.  Feeling the fire blasts was a nice treat b/c of the chilling evening air.  We even could feel a mist from the water where we were standing.  Glad we weren't any closer to get really wet.  Hunter enjoyed most of the show from Jeremy's shoulders and his eyes were so big the whole time.  Eva slept.

Before the show starts, there is a game you can play from your phone that changes the color of Mickey's Fun Wheel.

After the show and for the rest of the trip (and even today) Hunter commented that the farris wheel was on fire but not anymore.  So funny that he was concerned about that.  (and no, it wasn't on fire, just lots of fire around it.)

The smoke ring in the sky that happens after World of Color - Celebrate.
I had seen a picture like this posted on Instagram and sure enough we saw it in person.  

Our first day in the parks was done.  We headed back to the hotel around 11:00 and I knew that once we got back the kids would need to be up for a little bit to get some wiggles out and sure enough, once we got to our room, they were both awake and ready to run.  So they played for a little bit, got baths and then were out.  Great first day.

Hunter was out as soon as he laid down.

Day 2 of Vacation; 1st day in the Parks part 1

Our first night went by so fast.  Both kids slept great.  Hunter has been asking for months for Jeremy and/or I to sleep in his room so we kept telling him that on vacation we will sleep in the same room.  The first night he told Jeremy that I was going to sleep in the bed with him.  So I did...the monkey took over the whole bed and that was the only night I slept in his bed.  When I woke Hunter up, I asked him if he was ready for a fun day and of course he said "yes!".  Hunter then woke Jeremy up by asking if he was ready for a fun day.  It was pretty cute. 

Since we were staying on Disney property we were able to enjoy the Extra Magic Hour perk each day.  We headed to the park with our rented double stroller.  That thing was awesome!  Both kids took great naps in it and it really helped us move quickly when we needed to.  We rented it from an off site vendor and it was delivered to the hotel.  We were able to take it to the beach house, though we didn't end up using it.  Then the company picked it up from there.  Once we arrived in the park, there were a lot of photo-ops this first timer wanted to take advantage of and I'm bummed that there are a few I didn't get.  But after we got into the park I was able to get a picture of Hunter in front of the castle.  I purchased Photopass-plus but found out that I couldn't get my pass until the shops on Main Street opened.  Which was fine, I got our pass while others rode It's a Small World.  The pass ended up being so awesome and I'm totally happy that we purchased it.  Not only did we get endless pics taken at both parks (Jeremy was a big trooper and just went along with it), we got a photo package at each character meal.

waiting to enter Disneyland

Hunter in front of the castle 

I will say, I use to be one of those people who thought "why take my baby/toddler, they won't remember".  But in my reading up on Disney many people said if you wait too long then, your child will miss the magic.  I totally agree.  Eva won't remember the trip but we will always have the memories of how she loved riding the rides and watching the parades.  Her expressions and sounds of excitement on the rides and during the parades was priceless.  More on that in later posts.

On to the rides!  We were able to ride most of the rides in Fantasyland with little to no wait.  First up was Dumbo.  Kids loved it.  Hunter kept waving at the rest of the family who was watching from below and Eva just smiled and "wooed".

Waiting in line for Dumbo

Eva watching Dumbo

After the ride

Next was King Arthur Carrousel.  I thought Eva loved Dumbo but then having her on the horse, I couldn't believe how happy she was.  It was so sweet.

Teacups - both kids loved it (we didn't spin it)

Casey Jr. Circus Train - fun ride, most of the family fit in an animal cage.

Pinocchio's and Snow Whites ride were fun slow dark rides and the darkness didn't bother the kids.

Dancing to the music.

After those rides, I took Eva to get our photopass while everyone else rode "it's a small world".  Jeremy said Hunter loved it.  Ok, I've said that about every ride.  Don't think there is a ride he didn't love.

Eva and me 

Eva happy to have her feet touch the ground

The family on it's a small world

On to Toontown!
Pluto was out for pictures and this was Eva's first encounter with a character.  We quickly learned that her position would be wrapping her legs around you and burying her head in your shoulder.  Though she loved looking at the characters from afar and would wave.  Once they were within 3 feet she monkeyed up.

the split second Eva raised her head to see if we were safe

We went through Minnie's House and met her.

Eva wasn't going to look up for anything

We went on Gadget's Go Coaster which was actually really fast.  When looking back at the videos Jeremy took on his phone we found audio from the ride (he didn't know his phone was recording in his pocket).  It was fun listening to Hunter and Nora scream.
Other things we did in Toontown was play at Chip n Dales Treehouse and Goofy's Playhouse.
The last thing we did was the Roger Rabbit's ride.  Jeremy and I got split up from Hunter and the rest of the family so we rode it by ourselves.  It was pretty fun and I'm sure Hunter liked the spinning the car did.

G-ma and Eva walking around Toontown

Eva in her Minnie inspired dress

Cally, Eva and G-ma

yes, Eva wore a leash harness.  The girl loves to run and it really worked out well for us.  The sad thing is when she would be in the stroller and when she saw use get it out, she would get so excited...same way Bow does when he sees his leash...

After Toontown, we walked through Fantasyland and walked pass the Evil Queen!  She looked perfect and in such character.  I wish I would have stopped her for a picture but I didn't know the protocol on characters just walking around.  (I later texted my go-to and she said, yes to stop them especially if it's the Evil Queen and Cruella De Vil.)  Bummed I didn't see her again.  We went into  Adventure Land to see if we could get a fastpass for the Indiana Jone ride, but the ride was down at that point.  While walking there, we passed one of the Main Street Vehicles (horse drawn trolly).  Hunter really wanted to do that so we rode that and one of the cast members pushed our stroller down the street so we didn't have to fold it up.  So nice!  The ride took us up to the front of the park.  We saw a lot of other characters but we needed to get over to California Adventure for our lunch reservations.

On our ride, having a snack break

Hunter with our horse

getting ready to go down Main Street

While walking over to California Adventure, Eva fell asleep.  Once we found were we were meeting for lunch we walked around and took a few pictures and Hunter and I rode King Triton's Carousel.

Eva was asleep in a lot of photos.

We had lunch at Ariel's Grotto and saw lots of Disney Princesses.  Eva had a great time dancing to the music.  I thought the food was great, but unfortunately Jeremy didn't like it.  Since we were celebrating Jeremy's moms birthday while we were at Disney, Shannon and Larry had a cake made for her at our lunch.

After lunch Jeremy, the kids and I headed back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours.  As we were leaving we were able to see The Green Army Men perform.  Hunter had a great time watching and dancing with them.  As we left the park, we grabbed a seating fastpass for World of Color.  It was for the later show, and that was fine b/c it wouldn't be as crowded.  Our rest time was great.  Eva ran around (she did enough actual resting in the stroller), Hunter rested and Jeremy took a nap.  We all felt great after a few hours and were ready to head back to the parks.  

Watching the Green Army Men perform.  

Day 1 of Vacation

Jeremy's mom turned 60 this year and for her birthday celebration she took the whole family on a California vacation.  First to Disneyland and then to Manhattan Beach.  Thank you so much for a great vacation and memories that will last forever!

Our adventure started on Monday morning as my dad took us to the airport.  Hunter was very excited that we finally completed our Disneyland countdown and it was time to go the airport.  We arrived early which allowed time for Eva to run around a little bit.  We were pushing her past her nap time in hopes that she would sleep on the plane.  After we boarded the plane, Eva was in need of her milk but again, I was trying to hold her off so she could have something to suck on as we took off.  She got very loud but I knew it wouldn't last long.  Once she got her milk, she was fine.  She had her own seat which we were very grateful for (thank you G-ma) and she sat in her carseat.  It took Eva about an hour to fall asleep but then she was out for almost 2 hours.  Hunter was across the aisle with Jeremy and his dad.  They said he loved taking off and landing.  I thought he would sleep on the plane but he didn't.

Once we arrived at LAX and got our luggage we were off to board the Disneyland bus.  Unfortunately, we were a few minutes late (but really that bus was early) for that hours bus and had to wait another hour for the next one.  Hunter loved watching all the buses and cars go by.

The bus ride to the hotel lasted forever...(about 90 mins, maybe longer).  The traffic was bad but we finally made it to the hotel.  By time we checked in and got to our rooms it was time for our dinner reservations at Tortilla Jo's in Downtown Disney.  Dinner was yummy and for entertainment a balloon artist came to the table and made all the kids different characters of their choosing.

After dinner we went to the huge Disney store to look around.  Before the trip, I had done a lot of reading up on Disneyland b/c I had never been and wanted to be in the know on what goes on!  I found a great website a few months ago (only wished I would have found it earlier) but the girl who runs it is totally awesome!  I had emailed her back and forth several times with questions and she was always so prompt in responding.  As the trip got closer I asked if she was going to be in the parks during our stay and the only day she was going to be there was that Monday.  So she met up with me at the Disney store.  So awesome to meet her.  Fun fact about her is that her and her hubby lived in OP for a year and a half.  Anyway, I can't say enough good things about her.  While at the parks, she even let me text her with questions.  So helpful!!

We made our way back to the hotel and got the kids ready for bed.  After they were in bed, the girls (Diane, Shannon and me) headed to Target to get food and diapers for the week.

Upon returning to the hotel, you could see the World of Color show at California Adventure from our floor window.  It looked awesome and I couldn't wait to see it in person.

Kiddos in their shirts I made
(well, bought iron ons and ironed them on;-)

Watching the planes

Waiting for our plane

And more waiting

Sleeping in her signature position.  (arm behind her head)

Hunter enjoying the flight

Everyone and the luggage waiting for the bus

On the bus ride to the hotel.

Hunter cracked me up by going up to give this Goofy a hug in our hotel lobby.

Hold still kids...there will be a lot of these photos taken, just do it for mom.

Dinner entertainment 

Eva in Downtown Disney.

Jeremy and Hunter with his Dusty balloon.
Hard to tell from the picture but it really did look like Dusty!

The kiddos after dinner.

Me and Casey from DLRPrep.  Did I mention how awesome she is?!

View of World of Color from our floor.  Cars Land is in the back of the pic.