The Ricks Family: Disneyland!

Sean and I had been trying to plan a trip to Cancun with Vivint, but it wasn't working out, so we decided to head to California/Disneyland instead. I am so glad we did! It was such a fun trip and our kids have talked about it pretty much every day since we got back.

I have to say, going this time was awesome in the fact that I wasn't pregnant or nursing a baby! Pretty much all of our previous trips I was in one of those situations. All of our kids are old enough that none are confined to a stroller, which was huge! The kids did so great. For sure they got tired at times, but they were so much fun and their excitement was contagious. Davis was really young when we went last time, so it was basically all new to both he and Molly.

Our friends, the Carrolls were also heading to Disneyland the same time, so we sort of made it into a joint family trip. It was awesome being there with friends. Our kids loved having buddies there and I swear it kept everyone happy. The great thing about our families is our kids are similar ages, so no one was left out!

After our day at the beach, we walked around Downtown Disney. Everyone besides Jackson and I were wiped out so they headed back to the hotel and Jackson and I walked around a little longer and were excited to try Salt & Straw. We both got the sea salt caramel and LOVED it. I loved having a little one-on-one time with him. It's rare these days!

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which proved to be a very good decision. We've stayed at the Grand Californian before, and it was nice, but we actually much preferred the Disneyland Hotel. I about died when we saw the headboard light up and play music when we hit the button on the lamp. It was pretty magical. :)

The next morning we had a magic morning pass for California Adventure so we ended up spending our entire first day there. We started off with a bang and went straight to Guardians of the Galaxy. Jackson and Bode loved it, Sean and I missed Tower of Terror, and despite Davis riding it twice in a row, he later told us he HATED it. haha!

I couldn't believe how uncrowded it was. We also bought the Max Pass, which also proved to be one of the best decisions ever. I don't think I could do Disney without it now! By 10:30 am we had ridden pretty much everything in California Adventure, a few things multiple times. It was crazy! With all of our fast passes through our phones, we really didn't wait more than 10 minutes for anything. It was also fun seeing the re-done Pixar Pier.

Molly was VERY excited when she saw Daisy Duck.

Molly is really into the movie Coco and was excited to see the Coco section in the park and the cute little parade/performance.

Davis LOVED Radiator Springs Racers. It was a lot of fun riding with him.

Meeting Black Panther

I loved that with the Max Pass, all pictures were included! It made it possible to get a few family pictures that were decent!

I had heard of a 24-layer chocolate cake sold at the restaurant at our hotel and I thought that was a fitting way to end day one!

The second day at Disney, we were actually going to Mickey's Halloween party in the afternoon/evening, so we decided to sleep in and let the kids go swimming in the morning. The pool at the hotel was one of the main reasons we chose to stay there. The kids loved the slides and swimming with their friends.

View of the pool from our room

That afternoon we got ready for the party and headed into Disneyland! Disneyland at Halloween is my favorite-- they really know how to do it right with all of their cute decorations, and it is just such a fun atmosphere.

All dressed up as the party begins! The boys all dressed up as Star Wars characters and Molly and I went with the classic Minnie Mouse.

The party was SO much fun. The ambiance is amazing and the kids loved the trick or treating. This is our second time doing the Halloween party, but it has been several years. Ridiculous amounts of candy were collected and we loved the villain parade and fireworks at the end of the night.

We spent our final day in Disneyland again. Jackson and I headed straight to the Jolly Holiday Bakery for our favorite Matterhorn Macaroons.

I also had a fun little lunch date with Molly and my friend Joeli and her son Hayes. I finally tried the infamous Monte Cristo and it didn't disappoint!

We were all laughing at Molly because she loved all of the Pooh characters, but for some reason she hated Tigger and wouldn't go near him. She keeps telling us, "I don't like Tigger!" but, "I like Eeyore. He's sad." haha!

I think the most anticipated part of the entire trip for Molly and I was having her meet Minnie Mouse. She talked about it for weeks before we left. She loved going through Minnie's house in Toon Town and this is what she talks about the most. We had never even been in Minnie's house before because our boys never had interest!

Time for the big moment!

I wasn't sure how she would react when the moment actually came, but she literally ran straight for her and gave her the biggest hug. It was about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She even gave her a kiss on the nose.

This is one of my very favorite photos from the entire trip.

More Molly and Hayes cuteness.

My Prince Charming!

It just so happened the castle was pink-- Molly's favorite color

Davis's face! :)

Davis let us know what he thought after each ride by giving it a thumbs up or thumbs down. He was a big fan of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

On the way out of the park we bought Molly a Minnie Mouse on Main Street. When she picked it up and I told her she could have it, her whole face just lit up. She's being carrying it around and playing with it constantly.

We stopped and took a couple of family pictures on our way out of the park and did a little pin trading on that last night. It is always a little bittersweet. We really had such an amazing trip and I am so glad we went.