The Happiest Place on Earth

WARNING...THIS IS A VERY LONG POST WITH A LOT OF PICTURES!!!

For Cammy's 3rd birthday we decided to take a family trip to Disneyland right after Labor Day (Sept. 2nd-6th).  We read that right after Labor Day is one of the best times to go to Disneyland because all the big kids are back in school.  This proved to be very true...we were impressed!  We got both sets of grandparents on board to come with us, so that was a bonus (thanks Grams, Gramps, G-ma and Grandpa Scott)!  We got a 3 day park hopper pass and boy was it a BUSY 3 days for all of us!!

We arrived on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd in the afternoon.  Once we got to the hotel we decided to relax by taking the girls in the pool and then grabbing some dinner in Downtown Disney.  It sure was fun to be surrounded by all things Disney and get us pumped up for the next 3 days at the parks!

The girls swimming with Grams at the hotel

Hailey splashing around with Gramps

Dinner in Downtown Disney

Our first day at the parks was Wed, Sept. 3rd.  We thought we had planned it all out perfectly and went bright and early this morning for our "Magic Morning" extra hour in Disneyland.  Once we arrived we found out that we can only do that on Thursday.  First major vacation fail.  So now we had over an hour to kill with a very impatient toddler and a sleeping baby (not a problem).  Luckily my dad likes to talk to random people and he started asking questions to a random Disneyland worker outside the gates.  After a while of them talking she walked us over to the California Adventure gate and told us she was letting us in an hour early there with all the Disney hotel guests.  This made our day not having to kill an hour wandering around outside of the parks!!!  And everything seemed to happen for a reason because we were scheduled to have lunch with the princesses in CA Adventures in the afternoon, which meant that IF we would have been in Disneyland first, we would have had to leave that park and come over to the other for lunch.  This worked out so we could stay in one park the entire day.  We had an awesome non-crowded day in CA Adventure!  First stop was Cars Land...so fun!!!  Cammy was definitely unsure of all the rides the first day, but still seemed to enjoy herself on the more mild rides.

First day at California Adventure

Cars Land!!!

First ride...Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

Such a fun ride!!

Cammy was NOT a fan of the Radiator Springs Racer...but we loved it!

(she said they were too fast and there were too many tunnels)

Riding Luigi's Flying Tires with daddy and Gramps

We got to meet Mater!!!

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train with Grams and Gramps

Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies with Grams

Riding the Silly Symphony Swings (one of her favs)

While I stayed back with sleeping kids, the big kids went on the Grizzly River Run

The carousel is always a favorite of Cammy's

Apparently Hailey loves it too!

Mickey's Fun Wheel with the girls

Jumpin' Jellyfish with daddy

Waiting for the parade to come our way

We got to meet Mickey Mouse!!!

For a special birthday treat my parents stayed with Hailey while Jason and I took just Cammy to Ariel's Grotto for a lunch with the princesses!  This was such a special lunch all about Cammy (with no little sister to distract us).  We got to meet 5 different princesses...Ariel, Rapunzel, Belle, Tiana and Cinderella.

First princess...Ariel!

Rapunzel

Belle

Tiana

Cinderella

Our second day was spent at Disneyland and this time we got it right and got to use our "Magic Morning" extra hour.  Jason's parents came in late the night before, so they were able to join us in the fun.  This day was a lot of fun because Cammy was warming up a lot more to the idea of rides and becoming a little more adventurous.  We had one very lucky moment on this day.  Glenda just happened to start talking to a random park goer that was waiting in line for something involving Frozen.  She was told she better get a Fast Pass for this now or they will run out in about 30 mins. Not knowing exactly what it was, Jason jumped in line and was successful!  This happened to be a pretty special meet and greet with Anna and Elsa from Frozen and it was a highlight of Cammy's day. Paid to be at the right place at the right time!!!  Being at the right place at the right time and having hardly any lines on most rides made this feel like a pretty magical and fun day!

Ready for our day at Disneyland

The grandparents are ready with the girls!

First ride of the morning was Dumbo and she waited so patiently for it!

Riding Dumbo with mommy

Tea Cups!!!

It's a Small World was a favorite for both girls

While waiting to meet Elsa and Anna, Alice walked out right by us

Meeting Elsa and Anna from Frozen

The whole group with Elsa and Anna

Princess Aurora...Sleeping Beauty

Meeting Iridessa, one of the Disney Fairies

One of Cammy's favorites...Tinkerbell!!!

Jason hanging out with Hailey while Cammy rode Winnie the Pooh over and over again

This might have been our third ride in a row on Winnie the Pooh

Minnie Mouse

Disneyland parade!!

Our third and final day at the parks was spent going between both parks.  We started back in Disneyland to finish up things we didn't get to the day before and then ended the day in CA Adventure so Jason's parents could spend a little time in there.  This was the day that made me wish we had ONE MORE day (I know what you're thinking...they already did 3 days and that still isn't enough?!).  By this final day Cammy was a whole new kid.  She wasn't hesitant to go on anything really and by the end of the day was begging to come with us on Tower of Terror (she was tall enough to go, but there is no way I would ever take her on that at this age!).  We didn't rush right into the park this time and learned that if you hang around about 5 mins after they open the gates that all of the characters come out and take pictures and sign autographs.  We could have gotten a lot more pictures, but Ariel and Mickey were Cammy's choices.  We also had another lucky moment today. We were just standing around near Peter Pan wondering what to do next and feeling a little bummed that the Peter Pan line never really got shorter than 45 mins, so we were just going to have to skip it. A random Disneyland worker walked over to us and asked us if we had been on the Peter Pan ride yet and we told him no.  He told us to come with him and he got us in the front of the line and called this a "Magic Moment."  We felt pretty darn special getting to do this!!!

We got to see Ariel on our last day and Cammy ASKED to take her picture with her!

Had to get one more picture with Mickey

The whole group at the castle

Cammy taking her sister for a wild ride!

Cammy wanted to do it all by herself this time

Hailey and Gramps watching us on the tea cups

Cammy drove the car in Autopia with G-ma

Wild shenanigans in Toon Town

Visiting Minnie's house

Last day and we finally got both girls napping at the same time...WIN!

After a long last day at the parks we got to end our day with dinner in Downtown Disney with a special visit from Jason's brother, Brian, and his wife Bree.  Couldn't have asked for a better end to our trip!!

Cammy loves her aunt Bree and uncle Brian!

And clearly Hailey loves her mexican food!

I'm not totally sure what we were thinking with such an early morning flight the day after 3 BUSY days at Disneyland, but we made it on our flight and got ready to head to our next destination...Lake Tahoe.  That's right...the best way to end a vacation is to always follow it up with another :)