Off to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Thank goodness for one more kid turning 3 because that meant another Disneyland trip!!! We started this third birthday tradition with Cammy (mostly because after 3 years old kids start costing money to get into the parks) and have kept it going for all of the kids. And luckily they have all made the 40 inch height requirement so they could do the "bigger" rides...all except Brielle, who I frequently refer to as our runt. No matter how thick of shoe soles I found I still couldn't get this girl to reach past 38 inches!! So go figure our wild and most adventurous child was the one that couldn't do the "wild" rides, which did make the trip a little more challenging since she did want to be on them with her sisters. Thankfully her bigger sisters are slower to warm up to more wild rides, so it wasn't as big of an issue as it could have been.

Every other trip we always just did a 3 day hopper pass. But by the end of the 3 days I was always wishing I had one more day because the kids were finally warming up to rides and characters. This time I actually succeeded and talked Jason into going for 4 days!! They were definitely tiring and long days with not as many naps as I thought we would get, but it was so worth it!! I'm not sure I would go back to 3 days again.

We did the same time of the year as we did for Hailey's 3rd birthday two years ago. We went right after Thanksgiving, Nov. 24-29th, with hopes that everyone would be back in school from the Thanksgiving holiday. Well two years ago seemed a lot less crowded! This time we were very surprised that the Sunday after Thanksgiving was actually the least crowded and then it stayed more busy the next 3 days.

On the day we arrived we met up with my mom, who had driven from Santa Barbara to spend 2 days in the parks with us! We then cruised around Downtown Disney, where we had to get Brielle her first pair of personalized ears (just like her sisters and her mom when I was her age). After some shopping we hopped on a shuttle over to the RV park where Jason's parents were staying so we could have dinner with them.

Everyone has their personalized ears!!

Brielle got hers!

Officially a Disney girl!

Dinner with Jason's parents at their RV

(apparently those are silly faces for Hailey and Cammy)

Roasting marshmallows

Catching up around the firepit

Sunday, the 25th was our first day in the parks. My aunt Kathy, uncle Don, cousin Olivia and her fiance (as of 2 days prior) Noah joined us from Santa Barbara! We kicked off our park hopping in Disneyland and then midday made it over to CA Adventures. We then finished our day in Disneyland. The girls absolutely loved having the LeSages with us all day! And of course we loved it because we had so many extra hands to take kids on rides and swap with. It was sad to say goodbye, as they all had to get back to work and school the next day, but we were so thankful they were able to join us!!

Ready for day 1

Welcome to SUNNY Disneyland!

First character and Cammy was the only one not scared

Finding Nemo ride

Captain Hook

Peter Pan

Cars Land in CA Adventures

Riding the rocket with the whole family!

These girls love having Noah and Olivia with us!

Last ride of the day was Winnie the Pooh

A group picture before we part ways

On Monday we had my mom and Jason's parents with us. We started our day off in CA Adventures and ended it with a train ride around all of Disneyland. After we finished up at the parks we met up with some good friends from Stroller Strides...Jami Ray and her two kiddos, Carli and Caden and Jami's mom. They recently moved to SoCal from WA and are only about an hour drive to Disneyland from their house, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see each other!

Toy Story Mania ride

Riding the Great Wheel with my triplets

We were the non-swinging cages

These two wanted to do the swinging cages

I guess she just couldn't stay awake in the line before the ride

Radiator Springs with Cammy

Ice cream treats with the grandmas

A visit with Mater

A train ride around Disneyland to end our day

Dinner with some good friends

Caden, Brielle, Cammy, Carli and Hailey 

(we sure miss these guys living in WA!)

Picking out a matching stuffed animal with Carli

Tuesday was our day with no grandparents, just the 5 of us. So we took it a little slower and did more pictures with princesses and characters and also saw the new-to-us Frozen Live show in CA Adventures. Hailey refused to be in any pictures with princesses or characters (this shocked us as Elsa and Anna and Ariel are some of her favorites!) which is why it will look like she was almost not even with us this day. For some odd reason the Fairy Godmother was the only person she felt comfortable enough to get near AND take a picture with!!

Snow White

Cinderella

Ariel

Jasmine and Aladdin

Mr. Toads Wild Ride

Flying on Dumbo

Dole Whip float

Fairy Godmother

Brielle really wanted to see the horses but since they weren't out today we took her to where they stay

Gaston (Cammy wasn't too sure about him)

Storybook boat ride

Just chillin' in line

Mickey Mouses' house

Mickey Mouse

(Hailey was hiding behind the camera)

Toon Town

Meeting Elsa and Anna

Elsa and Anna

Hailey was too nervous to take a picture with them but Anna was nice enough to chat with her from afar

Wednesday was our last day and we had Jason's parents with us again. In addition, we met up with some of Jason's extended family...second cousins Liz and Josh, their 4 kids and Liz's parents. We saw them 2 years ago and kind of planned to be there at the same time again this year so we could see each other. The kids love hanging out, so it made for a fun day! We bounced between parks again today and ended our day in Disneyland with the Christmas parade. It was a great way to end our long but fun 4 days!!

Cammy and daddy

Happiest Place on Earth!

Of course Hailey wasn't feeling picture taking in the sun

Carousel riding

Mary Poppins

Family photo at the tea cups

Lunch with the Pilorins

Rollercoaster riding with the littles

Tea party at Minnie's house

Brielle was the only one who wanted to meet Minnie

Tinkerbell

Cammy and Sophia

Big Thunder Mountain for the first time for the girls

Splash Mountain

(poor Hailey was SOAKED head to toe)

All of the extended family

The Pilorin 4 and our Lumsden 3

Brielle's new ears

Cammy's new ears

Exploring Tom Sawyer's Island

Riding the raft back

Attempting a castle family photo amidst all the crowds

When did they become old enough to ride without an adult?!

Parade time

Hailey's new ears

A late night tea cup ride

Goofy was our last character of the trip and the one and only picture with Hailey in it!

This about sums up our 4 days!

Now I don't have any more kids to turn 3, so I'm not sure when we will make it back to Disneyland. If it was up to Jason it wouldn't be for at least 5 or more years. If it were up to me we would be back in 2 more years. Plans are in the works between Liz (Jason's second cousin) and myself that we are going to meet up again in 3 years, but at Disney World this time!! We'll see if that actually happens. This really is the most magical place and I will forever be a Disney kid at heart!!