BJ's parents were generous enough to fly the whole family to California (accomodations included). We had a ton of fun, though I didn't get enough pics because my camera situation is still meager. Disneyland was ridiculously busy on Christmas day and we actually got gridlocked a couple of times trying to walk through the park.
It was pure craziness. To give you an idea, on a typical day, they have 10,000 visitors, but this year on Christmas day they had 70,000. It was C-R-A-Z-Y!!! I have to give big kudo's to the park employees. They were extremely patient and accomodating while a lot of the patrons were ridiculously rude and mean.
(BJ strikes a pose while taking Livi's second ride on the carousel--yes it's quite the pose)
Some highlights for me,
The Tower of Terror--not too scary, not too big of a drop, but long enough to be fun. Just enough of a thrill for me.
Watching my kids have so much fun~ BJ and I really wanted to make it their time because, that's why we were there in the first place and, of course, we love them.
We took the kids to California Adventure and did all of the rides at "a bugs life" (Both kids like almost all of them). Then we were able to catch the pixar parade. Livi's favorite ride was "Monster's Inc." (ride through the story).
Both loved the "Small world ride", they had it all Christmassy with jingle bells and deck the halls intertwined in the regular song so it wasn't so bad as far as getting stuck in your head.
As you can see, Livi met 3 of the princesses. She didn't understand why we were waiting in line, but I knew she'd be so sad if we didn't do it and I wasn't about to pay $40 a plate to go see them at a burger joint.
As soon as we rounded the corner and saw Belle she was awestruck. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She loves to take my phone and scroll back and forth through the pics of it all. She looked terrible, but how do you keep a 3 year old cute for a whole hot day at an amusement park? If anyone has the answer I'm dying to know!
We did Christmas Day on Christmas Eve. We figured, the kids weren't going to know the difference this year, so it worked out nicely. Our kids got sick the week before we left and Ethan decided that morning would be a nice day to wrap it up with a few rounds of vomit. He was okay shortly after.
Grandparents are the bomb. Here's my mother in-law on a walk with the girls. E bear is the only grandson--for now.
Here's Grandpa playing in the fountain at the condos with the girls. I'm so glad the kids had so much fun with grandparents and cousins while we were there. My husband was so wonderful helping me with everything in and out of the park.
Here he is
carefully trying to get rid of the cheesecake (keeping it away from Ethan and anything that could touch him). He'll hate that I put this one on here. He took care of the kids while I had to shop and make food for everyone. As long as I can cook for everyone I can keep Ethan from feeling left out, you know? He's starting to wonder why he can't eat the same thing other people eat. Thank heaven's we don't have to deal with it very often, though.
(Of course we had to stop at the beach in L.A. Livi couldn't get enough of the sand. She was perfectly content.)
Every time I think of our trip I think of how much I love BJ. He really is the best. I love everything about him, but most of all I love how much he loves me. He is always so willing to lend a helping hand and a word of validation and comfort. I'm the luckiest woman alive. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great one.
My mom and I collectively filled their cute little baskets and set them on the table for them in the morning. So cute. I love grandma's. They are so good at making holidays fun. Comes from years of experience. 
