Where Dreams Come True!

Disneyland!!!
Chris' family flew over from England this month for a family vacation. We had been looking forward to this trip for months and couldn't have been more excited to see everyone! Chris' younger brother James just returned home from his mission several months ago and so it was the first time that Chris and I had seen him since before he left. It was also Stella's first time to meet her English grandparents and Uncles and Aunt and cousins, and we got to meet Andew and Kiera's new addition, Jared, as well. They arrived in Orem and we spent a few days doing Utah things, then off we went to California to spend three days and four nights at Disneyland!

Before they arrived we had matching shirts made for the whole family, and it turned out to be a great idea! It made it much easier to spot each other at the very crowded Disneyland, and we even got a few compliments from strangers!

As soon as we got through the gates into the park Seth and Arthur got down to business studying the map!

Arthur already knew what ride he wanted to go on first- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. In his excitement Chris had been showing Arthur pictures of the rides on Disney's website for weeks before we left and once Arthur decided that he wanted to ride on the submarine he reminded us everyday that that had to be the first ride when we arrived!

We stayed at a hotel just down the road from the park and so these guys got to relax all the way there as we trudged in each morning!

You just can't beat a good baby carrier- and I wouldn't trade our Ergo for the world!

After Finding Nemo, we hopped over to Autopia and Arthur quickly decided this was his other favorite ride. So he got to go on it with Daddy...

And then we switched and I got to ride it with him!

It was a lot of fun and I have a feeling that I may look back on it when Arthur gets in to a real driver's seat for the first time!

Our map man extraordinaire!

Arthur and I caught up with the Mary Poppins show as we walked through Disney one day.

Some of the fun Disney fare!

Relaxing for a moment in our Davey shirts!

The teacup outside of the Mad Hatter's hat shop.
I had already planned on taking Arthur into the hat store that first day to let him choose a Disneyland hat. The last time we went Arthur was 9 months old and we bought him a Mickey Mouse baseball cap that he still squeezes onto his head somehow. I wanted him to be able to choose one that fits him now and that he could wear all summer. So I steered him toward the baseball hats and even showed him some Lighting Mcqueen hats. He didn't seem too interested, apparently after walking around the park all morning he had decided that at Disney bigger is better and so when he spotted this enormous Donald Duck hat he was adamant that this was the one he wanted! He wore it the whole time at Disneyland and loved it, and to be honest it did make him easier to keep track of- there was no missing that hat!- but I am definitely going to rethink this being his summer hat!

My favorite part of our matching shirts- on the back of everyone's it said: I'M GOOFY!
Hehehe!

On the Jungle raft ride. I think this was one of my favorite rides!
It was closed down last time and so this was my first time to ride it.

Arthur on King Arthur's Carousel.

Stella- just hanging around!

Arthur saw a commercial for Disneyland where a boy actually pulls the sword out several inches and so he was really upset when it didn't budge at all.

Still trying at that sword!

Our second day was full of more Disney food and fun!

We headed over to California Adventure and got to visit the Cars display.

Arthur was really excited!

Among other firsts, Arthur had his first taste of cotton candy that day!

Sharing some of the stash with Grandad. There was no way I was going to have this be the cotton candy that lasted all day, so I encouraged Arthur to share it around until it was all gone.

Silly Grandad!

Riding the carousel with Grandma.

Stella is not walking on her own yet, but she loves to hold onto your fingers and take you for a walk! It was actually really nice to know that she couldn't get away on her own, and it helped break the ice with Grandma and Grandad a bit because while she can be quite shy about who holds her she would grab just about anyone's hand as long as it meant she could go exploring!

Our last day at Disney and we had to retire our green shirts. By this point they were pretty smelly!

But we still managed to look cute!

Toon Town fun!

Our last supper at Disneyland we all ate together at the Mexican restaurant in Frontierland.

It was yummy!

We had such a great time there and made so many nice memories! I think that the next time we go I would like to not have any babies- maybe when our youngest is at least nearly 4. Arthur seemed just old enough to really enjoy himself without it all just being overwhelming!
We watched the fireworks each night from our hotel balcony and spent lots of time enjoying being there together as a family. Chris and I even got to sneak back into the park after the kids were in bed each night since it doesn't close until midnight!
Thanks Disney for making our dreams come true!