Disneyland

What an amazing time we had in Disneyland!!
Our drive there was about 6 hours and it seemed that time flew by and we were there. So we checked in to our hotel, room wasn't ready, but they gave us our keys, the bellhop had our bags and we headed to lunch, since we hadn't had a really good meal that day. We headed into the park after lunch and arrived just in time to get primo seats on Main Street to watch the Christmas Parade. I loved watching the reactions on the boys faces, more than watching the parade itself. It was everything I had imagined and it was just the very beginning!!
After the parade, our room was ready so we went to our very convienently located hotel at the Grand Californian, and rested for a bit. We decided it would be best to order in for dinner and let Riordan and Teagan go to bed, and Caden and Daddy went back out to explore Disneyland together at night. They rode Dumbo, Teacups, and It's a Small World. Soon they were watching the Fireworks while it 'snowed' on them. The Park was so beautifully decorated for Christmas.
Our first morning we had Breakfast with the Chip and Dale and Friends at the Storyteller Cafe, in our hotel (where we actually had lunch the day before) It was so cute to watch all the characters, mostly from Over the Hedge, come up to the kids and actually get chased down by Riordan. He wanted to hug them all. We had Mickey waffles, tons of bacon and juice and got our first autographs! Teagan was so adorable as she took it all in with such curiosity.
We went back to Disneyland and rode rides together as a family. We rode the Carousel, Dumbo, Storyland, It's a Small World, I watched the Malloy boys on the Teacups, and then made our way into Mickey's Toon Town to meet Mickey in his house! But not before we sat with Santa Goofy and took a picture ;-) We then met up with our friends, The German's, at Casey Jr.'s train ride for a bit to say hello and catch up. Had some yummy cheeseburgers and headed back to the hotel for naps.
We were here for 4 nights and 5 days and it was absolutely perfect. We never felt rushed and if we didn't get to something one day we could always get it the next day. Caden had a birthday dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and a cake decorating party at The Plaza Inn with Mickey and Minnie. We laughed so much and walked so much. Teagan did develop a fever while we were there and some not so fun diapers, but she was such a trooper. I held her mostly in the baby carrier and she slept a lot.
The last night, Riordan got sick, in Caden's bed none the less and he, Caden, slept right through it!
But before that, there's so much!, we had a famliy photo with Santa in the downstairs lobby that night. We then put the children in their pj's and headed to The Craftsman's Guild Room (Concierge luxury room) and sang some Christmas songs, and then Santa came in and read ' Twas the Night Before Christmas' !! This Santa was so amazing and he sounded identical to my dad. I wasn't going to say it, but Mike actually did first! We are so blessed to have taken the children on this amazing family vacation. We had such an incredible time that we booked before we left for the next year at the same time.
Oh and before I forget, I know I'm all over the place, we met Pastor Joel Osteen. For those who know us well, we have been watching him on TV for almost our entire relationship. We have always wanted to see him in person when he tours but never were able to match up to his dates. Well we were walking back to our hotel on the second night through Downtown Disney and Mike goes, that was Joel Osteen we just passed. I practically turned the double stoller back around on two wheels and said 'Oh we are so meeting him!' He was with his daughter, just strolling along so I called out to him and he turned to us with that wonderful warm smile, shook our hands, had a small conversation and he was just so wonderful. We realize he was on vacation and felt so special that not only did we see him while we were there, but he didn't seem to mind the slight intrusion on his family time with his daughter. We did keep it short, and it is one of Mike and my favorite memories.
So it took me a long time to post this because my Sony Vaio is freaking out, yet another virus. So I'm now working from my brand new MacPro! I love it, so back to Disneyland.
We got a long special time with Captain Hook! He was just so awesome and played with the boys and was so sweet with Teagan. I haven't heard the boys laugh like that in a few months. He really got them going. We never made it to Peter Pan or Buzz Lightyear rides, but we will next year. Caden and I did go out by ourselves at night, but because of wind we didn't get to see fireworks. We did however ride Autotopia together and he loved it, as did I. But his most favorite ride is It's a Small World. I can't even remember how many times we rode it. Riordan loved every ride and would always cry when we got off of them and bang his head. He would get so mad it was over. Mike and he rode the Matterhorn Bobsled ride. It went pretty well until it went through the water at the end and he did not like that part. Teagan got to ride most of the rides with us and again she was just incredible. Big smiles, cuddles, having the time of her life at her young age of 9 months!
So the following link is to over 300 pics. View at your own risk and when you have time. I hope they are pretty much self descriptive!

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