California/Disneyland: Day 2

We spent our first day in the parks at California Adventure. We hadn't been to Disneyland in more than three years, so we were really excited! We headed straight for one of our very favorite rides, Radiator Springs Racers. Having everyone old enough and tall enough to ride everything and not having to have anyone sit out was so amazing! Masks were still required for rides that go indoors, but it was very minimal and for the most part we didn't use them much at all. I was so glad!

Molly's friend, Larkyn was also there and she was excited to see her! Larkyn happens to be the daughter of one of my friends, Lachelle, who I went to junior high and high school with. Kind of a fun full-circle moment seeing our daughters together.

Molly barely made the 48" height requirement for all of the big rides and I am so glad! She loves big rides and wasn't scared at all. I am so glad all of our kids love roller coasters. They are so fun at amusement parks.

The Incredicoaster was definitely a favorite for all of the kids and we rode it several times. Molly and Sean even got to sit in the front one of the times. I love how brave Molly is!

We had such an awesome first day. We ended the night with a trip to Salt & Straw for ice cream in Downtown Disney. Jackson and I discovered it last time we were here and have talked about it since! 

California/Disneyland: Day 1

In February we headed to California in search of warmer temps and sunshine. We got both! We had been wanting to take a Disneyland trip for quite awhile and we decided to make it happen. I am learning it is a lot more difficult to plan a trip around everything else as the kids are getting older and more involved in school and sports. We found a little window that would work, so we took it!

Originally our plan was to drive to Las Vegas, stay the night, and then head to California the next day and meet up with the Laytons. We ended up getting to Vegas early enough in the evening that we all decided we'd rather just continue the drive all the way to California that night. I texted Taryn to let her know and she and Grant were nice enough to offer to let us come stay with them for the night! It ended up working out so well and was so much fun to get some extra time with them. The next morning we headed to the beach at Camp Pendleton, which was so nice we could get on base because of Grant being in the military. We ate yummy donuts and enjoyed playing at the beach. It was really warm for February, so I was happy the kids could actually play in the water and enjoy it!

Bode and Bode wearing matching shirts

Our kids were a huge fan of Grant's sweet ride. It was so perfect to hold all of the beach gear!

After the beach, we decided to head to Anaheim and get checked into our hotel. We decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel again because we have loved it so much in the past. The Laytons met us in Downtown Disney and we went to dinner at Black Tap and had fun ordering some of their crazy shakes. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and took the kids swimming in the pool. It was so much fun getting to spend the day with the Layton family and was a great start to our trip!