Disneyland 2016

A few weeks ago, we planned a somewhat spontaneous trip to Disneyland. I always feel like I need an escape from the long, gray days of winter by the end of January. After checking online and seeing that almost all of the rides were open, we decided to go for it. Last time we were there (about a year and a half ago) we talked about how fun it would be to stay in the park. We chose the Grand Californian for convenience and we were so glad with our decision! The boys oooh'd and ahhhh'd when we got to the hotel and they thought the little chairs in the lobby in front of the tv playing old cartoons was amazing.

 The boys were so excited to have their own bunk beds in our room. There was a trundle that pulled out from the bottom also, which was perfect for Davis. It was such a great set up for our family.

We got to the hotel in the afternoon on the first day and the boys immediately wanted to go swimming. Thankfully the pools are heated since they are outdoors.

It was still a bit chilly that first day, so they opted for the hot tub after awhile!

That evening we hung out in Downtown Disney, which was sort of fun to see since Sean and I hadn't been there in years. We didn't stay too long because everyone was pretty wiped out, but the boys did love the Lego store.

We spent our first park day in Disneyland. It seems like a lot of times we will go from park to park, but we didn't this time and it was really nice. We met Mickey right as we walked in. Davis was REALLY excited and had such a big grin on his face when he saw him. He got nervous or star struck or something though whenever he was right up next to the characters for pictures. It was so funny. He would not smile for anything! But the second Sean or I grabbed him and would start to walk away, he'd be waving and smiling and yelling, "Bye-bye!"

First ride was a family favorite-- Splash Mountain. Even I broke the rules and rode it :)

The boys were pretty excited about the Star Wars stuff they had in Tomorrow Land. We signed Bode and Jackson up for Jedi training and they both loved it. 

Davis's face cracks me up in this one. He knows evil when he sees it.

Cruising around Disneyland like he owns the place ;)

We were all excited about the new "Paint the Night" parade. It was awesome because we had friends who were also in Disneyland at the same time and we got to watch the parade together!

And in case you're wondering, the parade was awesome. We all loved it and the fireworks after!
It was sort of fun too because Disneyland was celebrating its 60th anniversary, which they were calling the "Diamond celebration," so the castle was all blinged out.

View from our hotel room at the end of the night.

We spent day 2 in California Adventure, where Jackson wanted to start the day off with a bang with California Screamin' (they are in the middle).

Always a good time on Midway Mania

Davis REALLY loved the carousel between California Screamin' and Midway Mania. He'd get so upset when the ride was over.

Our boys also really loved the Wilderness Explorer Camp. It was a good place to let them run free.

Davis just rode this slide over and over.

Another favorite. Davis's first time riding it and he was grinning from ear to ear.

While the big boys were on Radiator Springs Racers, Davis and I got to meet Lighting. It was fun because he is just starting to get into Cars.

The nice thing about staying in the park was that we could go back to the hotel for a break mid-day. It was a really nice day, so the boys wanted to go swimming.

 Davis and I enjoyed lounging and napping by the pool.

I was obsessed with the lemon trees around the pool! 

More rides after our break:

Front row this time!

Riding Mickey's Fun Wheel for the first time. I don't know why we've never done it before, but it was one of my very favorite parts of the day, if not trip. It was fun riding it at night and being all together.

Jackson decided to spend his money on a new RC car he got to build at one of the stores in Downtown Disney at the end of the night.

On day 3 we headed back to Disneyland. One of our first rides was Astro Blasters. The ride got stuck a few times and we were so excited because we were racking up points like crazy! I was over 1 million points the last time I checked, but unfortunately, the last time the ride stopped, they shut it down and we all lost our scores. They weren't legit scores anyway, but it would have been pretty awesome :)

While we were waiting to be escorted out of the ride, we took a few pictures with Zurg since we figured we'd probably never get that chance again!

More carousel rides for this guy in his new set of ears.

My favorite new Disney treat-- the Matterhorn Macaroon

A very blurry family pic from Pirates

I told the boys to make silly faces this time!

We really had a great time and lucked out with great weather and short lines. I'm so glad we went!

Jackson turns 7!

Our New Year's boy is now 7 years old! We had a great day celebrating him. 

When we woke up, we were excited to look out the window and see a bunch of hot air balloons flying behind our house. We see them once in awhile during the summer, but hadn't seen them in a long time, and never five at once (even though there are only three in this picture).  

What was even more cool was when one of the balloons landed in the field right behind our house! They landed close enough that we could wave and yell "Happy New Year!" to each other. It felt like it was a special birthday surprise just for Jackson. His birthday balloons this year were the hot air kind, I guess :)

I was one grateful mama when Jackson decided he wanted his birthday party to be at Lowe's Airports. I think throwing a birthday party for a bunch of rowdy 6 and 7 year olds might have done me in. He and his friends had a great time jumping around and they all seemed to really love the ninja warrior course.

After the party, we went to dinner as a family to Jackson's choice, Tucano's. The boys all love that place and it was so nice having a night off from cooking. We surprised Jackson after dinner by taking him to Build-A-Bear (we told him Sean had to grab something at the mall really quick). We've always told him how he got a gift card to Build-A-Bear when he was born, but somehow it got lost and we've never found it. This was redemption I guess :) He loved it and picked out Chewbacca.

Then it was back to home for presents and cake and ice cream! 

He got some great gifts this year, including a model engine he is building with his dad, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", which he has already finished reading, a basketball from his grandparents, Legos from nana and papa, and a bunch of Nike gear he is pretty excited about. 

I'll forever be grateful for this boy. He truly is such a good kid and such a blessing in our home. I honestly think he is one of the very best people I know (young or old).