Disneyland!

We surprised the girls with a trip to Disneyland for Lily's 5th birthday! We have gone for Caleb's, we went to Disneyworld for Ellie's, and now it was Lily's turn. We woke them up at 4:30 in the morning and asked them if they wanted to go to Disneyland and when they said yes we said let's go! They couldn't believe we were going "right now"! We went with Papa and Grandma and Lacey, Caleb and Addie. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and spent four days between the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure. The "big" rides were where we spent most of our time this year since all the kids were tall enough. Lily's favorite was Space Mountain, and Ellie and Caleb's favorite was the upside down roller coaster California Screamin'. We met all the characters and had them sign our autograph book and we had Lily's birthday dinner at Ariel's Grotto with all the princesses. We drove to Huntington Beach for a morning and played in the ocean. I told Jamie to wear his swim shorts which he did, but he didn't notice until we got there he was the only adult in swim wear. I told him I was the official photographer so he needed to play lifeguard. He always says he doesn't like the beach but he was still in the ocean jumping waves even after the kids had gotten out! Jalen loved the water and would squeal whenever a wave would come up over his feet. Lily preferred to hang back and cover Daddy with wet sand and Ellie and Daddy liked to be out going under the waves when they came crashing in. There was a High School Musical 2 parade which the girls of course loved and even got to dance in with the cast members. Papa was Jalen's official "babysitter" and Grandma had Addie whenever we all went on a ride. Grandma had a broken foot so she rented a motorized scooter which all the kids loved riding on with her. It was a busy four days but as always so much fun...there is a reason it's called "The Happiest Place On Earth"!