Monday, January 18, 2016

California Adventure MAGIC

We took Mia to see Disney on Ice last week and it was seriously magical! Mia dressed up like Elsa (and she was so proud to be walking around in her Elsa dress, we could tell by her strut, ha ha!) then she sang and danced her heart out almost the whole show. Oh my gosh, it was the cutest thing and it was all I could do to keep my heart from bursting with "girl mom" joy, ha! Of course we had to scroll through our Disneyland photos and reminisce about the time that we met Anna, Elsa and Olaf... and that's when I remembered that I never finished recapping our vacation! Shame on me! So excuse me while I relive our trip to the happiest place on earth ;)


Our second day at Disneyland was spent at California Adventure and Eric and I were on parent highs like the whole day! It was such a fun, magical experience with Mia! Our only plans that morning (because we thought it would take all morning) were to meet Anna and Elsa, then Olaf! We were there right when California Adventure opened so we were part of the first group to go see Anna and Elsa! We had no idea what to expect, but they take a small group into a room where you get to have a few minutes of "one on one" with the sisters. When it was our turn, they seriously spent a solid 5 minutes or so talking with Mia! She was so shy at first, maybe even star struck, but she warmed up to the sisters! She loved showing off her new baby brother (James was only 7 weeks old at the time!) and we all got pictures together.


Next, we booked it over to see Olaf and again, had no line to wait in, score! Mia was excited to meet Olaf until she saw the winter wonderland he was in... all she wanted to do was play in the snow! Just seconds before this picture was taken, Mia was yelling, "no, no, no!" because she just wanted to play. (Of course all she wanted to do at Disney on Ice was take a picture of Olaf... girlfriend missed out at Disneyland, HA!) After snapping a few quick pictures she finally got to go in the snow area. Just as we walked in, the lights dimmed and they started blasting music and it SNOWED! It was perfect timing and Mia kept switching between being in total awe, and smiling hugely while frolicking in the snow. I kid you not, there's just no other way to explain it. I remember my heart feeling like it was going to burst from happiness over her happiness! It's so cheesy being a parent sometimes :)


I was really expecting Mia to be in love with the princesses and wanting to hug on them, etc, but she had no interest in physical contact other than giving high five's. But when we met Lightning McQueen and Mater? Mia didn't stop hugging them :) She seriously LOVED meeting them! She is so excited in our photo with McQueen that she's reaching behind and squeezing the heck out of my neck, ha ha!


I couldn't wait to take Mia on the Ariel ride and the anticipation of experiencing that with her was not a let down! She loved it so much! She was spoiled rotten with all of the rides in California Adventure (there are so many for little kids!) and took turns riding them with my parents, Eric and me. I feel like I got to do the least fun with her because of our darling James who still needed to nurse often, so I'm grateful that my parents were there to trade off with Eric and keep her busy! I also can't wait to go back and not have to spend my time nursing ;)
Of course we stuffed our faces with good food, gorged ourselves at the Ghirardelli shop and rode the famous cars ride multiple times! The perks of having kids is that we were able to get fast passes AND parent swap passes, so we worked the system and were able to ride a lot of rides with minimal waiting ;) We ended the night with their seasonal water show. It was fun to see but I wish we'd had more nights to be able to watch the other water show... I remember loving that so much when we went 3 summers ago (Mia was just 6 months old at the time)!


One of my favorite parts of the day (because there were truly so many "favorite" moments of that day!) was going on rides with Eric, just the two of us! I loved sneaking away from the kids and having those few minutes of alone time and fun with my man! We so desperately need that time so it was fun to enjoy it multiple times throughout the day! Man, now I'm really craving another trip to Disney (apparently I've already forgotten just how exhausting this whole trip was.... the fun definitely outweighs the exhaustion when I look back on it ;)) Can't wait to recap our final day!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Love these pics! I'm so excited to take Odette this spring!!

Leslie @ This is For Keeps said...

So glad Frozen on Ice was a hit with Mia! We're taking Mila to Disney on Ice in March and I'm hoping she'll love it just as much! I love that it actually snowed when you guys met Olaf at Disneyland. We did Disney World in November and they had absolutely nothing Frozen related at Magic Kingdom. I was really surprised! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!!

P!nky said...

Sounds like such a perfect Disney vacation. So awesome you didn't have to deal with long lines and that Mia was so star struck. That's the cutest thing in the world in my opinion!

Pamela {Sequins and Sea Breezes} said...

Oh my goodness! Look at how teensy James was! So precious! Glad you guys had such a great trip to Disneyland! You're making me want to go! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes

Erin LFF said...

SO awesome! You know I love any post that includes some Disney magic!!! ;) I can't wait to go to Cars land some day with our kids hehe!

Amanda Elizabeth - Meet @ the Barre said...

That sounds like you had a really special time with your family with memories that you will remember for a lifetime!

Evelina said...

How awesome that you got to skip a bunch of lines! And I love that she got to see snow!

Courtney [Sweet Turtle Soup] said...

Meeting the princesses is so fun! But Aria just goes totally clam when we do. I love that the Cars were her fave. I wish we had those here!

BLovedBoston said...

I love that Mia really understands who she's seeing and what she's doing - makes the experience that much more fun! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

Our Pretty Little Girls said...

Anna, Elsa, Olaf an Disney... every kids wish come true. What an amazing trip and such fun memories!

Liesl said...

So FUN, Courtney, loving these and it looks like you had a great time at California Adventure...there is always something so magical about Disney places. Just wanted to stop by now that I'm fully back to blogging and thank you for your continued support over the years, it has meant so much to me! BIG hugs!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Haha I feel cheesy sometimes too because I get so giddy but seeing their reactions and happiness/excitement is the best! Looks like the best time!

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