one of the happiest families on earth

Holy Hannah! We were so excited to get to this place. We started planning this trip early on last year. I didn't want to buy the kids loads of things for Christmas, toys and more clothes and all the other stuff they don't really need. It all just ends up under their beds or pushed into closets anyways. I wanted to take that moula and put it towards a fun trip to Disneyland instead. I'd much rather have great memories than more things. Luckily, I got Ryan on board with the idea. And then it was easy peasy to convince the kiddos. 

But we didn't want to go at Christmas time because it would be way tooooo busy. So, we went at the end of January instead. 

And, boy, did we have fun!

Molly didn't remember our last trip, so this was like her first time! She was over-the-moon, bouncing-off-the-walls excited.

First up, Space Mountain!!! Yes. We were slightly thrilled about this prospect. Oh my. This is our very favorite ride! Sadly, Molly was still too small for it. And since Ryan gets motion sickness, he held Rory (although we got him on it later on in the vacation and it didn't make him sick! Although...he didn't want to go on it again). 

We must have jumped on the Haunted Mansion, at least, a thousand times. Seriously! I have no idea how many times we rode this. The kids love it. And it's one we could all go on, Rory included. Although I'm 

not so sure how much he loved it. 

Especially when we got stuck on it for about 15 minutes. Ack! We were right near a ghost jumping up from behind a grave, too. Molly just stared at it. It was totally freaking her out! I didn't want to go on that thing again. And I didn't think she'd ever want to, either. But she did! The very next day we were back on it again. 

It was so great going at this time of year! We walked onto most of the rides. There were hardly any lines. It was awesome!

The kids got into a bit of pin trading. That was something new for us and totally fun. 

Grizzley Rapids. Weston's favorite ride at California Adventure. He went on this with a lot...with his brothers, with everyone and even running off to go do it by himself a few times! 

Molly wasn't tall enough though. So, we watched for them. And, of course, I took pictures of her....

I asked each of the girls what kind of princess dress they wanted me to make for them. Molly chose Ariel's pink dress. 

This little girl was (mostly) so good and patient about the rides she couldn't go on. I think it helped that we prepared her for it. I showed her pictures of the rides she could ride and we talked about them. And I warned her there were some she couldn't do. 

The Ladybug ride was the one she was most excited to try! And look at that face! Yes. She was definitely loving it.

Zoe asked me to make her Sleeping Beauty's dress. So, our girls were very very pink for one of the days. 

Oh! I love this family of mine. I love that we were able to take this crazy fun trip together. And I love the memories we built.

We splurged and took the family to Ariel's Grotto for lunch one day. The girls loved meeting so many princesses at once. They chatted with each of them and got their autographs and pictures taken with them. It was great!

Although Rory wasn't too impressed with those sparkly-dressed ladies. 

Maybe it's crazy to bring a baby along to Disneyland, but I think he had fun! In other news, I have no idea what Ryan was looking at. 

California Screamin' Oh my! Zoe was really looking forward to this. She was finally tall enough for this ride and she could. not. wait. And her brothers were pretty excited, too. 

And I think the next picture speaks for itself about whether or not they enjoyed the ride...

We even managed to convince Ryan to go on that one later. And he loved it! It didn't even make him sick! So, he went on it again. I was so happy he could ride it! 

I love this blurry shot of my little princess. This was her for almost the whole entire trip. She practically danced everywhere! I have this lovely, snapshot of a memory of her walking down the Disneyland Main Street toward the exit on our first night. All the bright lights were shining. We'd had a great day. And we were definitely under that magical Disney spell. Molly danced and twirled down that twinkle lit street, parading along, happy as a lark. Everything was completely perfect and wonderful in her life. It was the best.

These boys went on the Grizzley Rapids quite a bit together. I love that they were able to spend time together, laughing and having fun. 

Family trips are the very very best.