Disneyland 2011

We had so much fun in Disneyland last year that we thought we would take some of our tax returns and do it again. Even with a newborn. We like the drive there. It only took us about 12 hours including stopping to feed the girls and let Marley get out and walk around. Thank goodness for the DVD player in the car. I keep wondering how we did it when we were little. It is a lifesaver. Marley watched movies and colored the whole way there. She was fantastic!


The only problem we had was that she didn't fall back asleep when we left at 3:00am and only took an hour nap on the drive there. Even though she didn't sleep at all, we still had to fight her to go to sleep that night. It was a struggle.

The first morning there we went and had breakfast with Mickey. Chad and I were so excited to take Marley to this breakfast. She loves "Bickeys" and I knew she would be excited to see him. I knew she wouldn't eat much because she would be too distracted, but I didn't think she would refuse to sit at the table all together. Chad stayed at the table with Ruby and ate his mediocre breakfast while I chased Marley around the room. She got to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Stitch. She loved it. The meal wasn't worth the $30 it cost for each of us, but it was worth it for the pictures and this video.



Marley had a blast and it was so enjoyable to watch her. We were actually able to see lots of characters in the park, so I don't know that we would spend the money again for the breakfast, but it was good to do it once.



The first day at Disneyland was Marley's birthday so I had her wear this shirt that said Happy Birthday to Me. They gave her a button to wear on her shirt that said it was her birthday also, but she wouldn't leave it on.

We had a rough start to the morning with both Chad and I expecting to much from Marley. It was very different going to Disneyland with a 2 year old than it was going last year with a 1 year old who couldn't walk. We finally figured we needed to let her just run around for a while and go on rides with short lines so we spent the afternoon over at California Adventure in Bugs land and Marley played in the water and rode a couple rides. From that point on the trip was fantastic!


I love this picture! I just think I have the cutest kid around.


Marley found out that she loves the carousel. The carousel in California Adventure had practically no line, so when we got off it the first time and she said "gain" we could oblige and we took her on it two more times. She loved it.


Ruby was generally happy the whole time. It was a lot easier having a newborn at Disneyland than I thought it would be. She even got to ride rides with us unless she was asleep and then one of us took Marley and the other stayed with Ruby.



Marley loved seeing the characters but didn't like waiting in line for them. So in lots of our pictures she looks like she's afraid. But really she was just done waiting and was ornery by the time the picture was taken!


We took her to this part of California Adventure called Redwood Challenge Trail where she had a blast. It was a big park with lots of fun things to do, but she was too small for most of them which was ok with her because she could have spent all afternoon on this slide. I went down the slide next to her a couple of times because she wanted me to and lets just say that those slides are not built for moms! It got a good laugh out of Chad and I though.



The slides wore her out. She was zonked out for about an hour. Our double stroller doesn't lay back in the front seat so we had to do our best to make her comfortable. I was sad she fell asleep because while she was sleeping we saw "kitty" from Monsters inc. She would have loved to see him!


A little self portrait while Marley was sleeping!




We stayed late on Friday night and saw the new show at California Adventure called World of Color. We weren't sure how Marley was going to do waiting for an hour for the show to start, but she did great. She was a little afraid of the show in the beginning but I think it was because we were right by a speaker and the music was loud. She ended up loving the show, mostly because it had to do with water.


While we were buying Marley's Mickey ears, Goofy stopped to look at Ruby. I hurried and took this picture, but that man walked right in front of my camera! Made me really mad.



We didn't buy Ruby her own ears this trip, but had to get a picture of her wearing Marley's.





We had such a good time. We are thinking of waiting until September next year to go. Hopefully we will get some warmer weather. It's no fun to have to wear a jacket at Disneyland during the day! Can't wait to go back though.