Disneyland Christmas!

On Friday, we loaded up our own sleigh (the minivan) and headed to Disneyland!  It's become a little tradition to go to Disneyland in December to see all the Christmas lights and decorations. 

We surprised Paprika when we picked her up from school.  She had no idea we were going, and when we told her, she started jumping up and down in excitement.  The look in her eyes was priceless!

Ginger was just as excited as Paprika!  Violet was so excited that she napped in the car.  In other words, she had no idea where we were headed!  Haha.





Friday (December 7th) was World TTTS Awareness Day...a day which I actually can't stand.  The whole day just depresses me and makes me feel like a Big Loser.  It makes me so sad, and reminds me of what we have lost since Vivian and Annemarie died. 

The day focuses on prevention and on the children who survived and thrived despite TTTS, and I don't know.  I did everything I could do, and they still died.  I don't like it when Awareness Days make it seem like if you are 1) Aware and 2) Take Action, that everything will be fine.  I was aware...and I took action.  And they BOTH died.  It is very hard to be reminded of that fact, espeically since the TTTS Society (in my opinion) ignores/minimizes all the babies who have died. 

Bah Humbug.  ;-)

So anyway, we went to Disneyland.  Because well, if you can't be happy at Disneyland, where can you be happy?!  We stopped by the bricks, of course.

Hi girls!  :-)





Disneyland was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  There was a candlelight concert setting up when we arrived, and so the crowd was INSANE!  I had low expectations for the trip - I figured it would be crowded, but we could look at lights and drink hot chocolate, and just enjoy the festivities.

The girls loved riding in the stroller (and Violet in the Ergo) and just looking at the lights and decorations.  Here is the Christmas tree at the center of Main Street:



We tried to go on a few rides, but many of them were closed or the lines were wayyyy too long.  We finally ended up at the Carousel, which never has much of a line!  It's great because it's simple, and the girls love it.  It also has a great view of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, which was decorated for Christmas.  Magical!




We all rode the ponies.  Even Mr. M!  He took this picture, which is why you can't see him!  :-)

Violet had a great time on all the rides!  She was squealing with excitement, and so happy to be in the middle of everything.  I don't think she could have been any happier.




We went to ToonTown, and spent a lot of time at Goofy's House, Donald Duck's House, and then Minnie's House and finally Mickey's House!  That's a lot of house hopping.  ;-)

Here are the three girls at Minnie's House.  I didn't use my flash which is why it's a little blurry:




The Small World ride does an amazing light display.  Isn't it beautiful?!



After a few hours, we headed over to Disneyland's sister park, California Adventure.  It's been completely remodeled, and it is gorgeous.  It has the feeling of 1940s California - everything about it is very classic and stylish.  California Adventure was practically empty (compared to Disneyland).  We were able to ride A LOT of rides at CA Adventure. 

We even rode the new Ariel ride.  We sort of stumbled upon it, and there was no line at all.  So, we rode it over and over again.  All three girls loved the ride.  We rode it 5 times, and then realized that World of Color was starting (it's a light/water show).  So, we went to World of Color next.  Paprika was mesmerized by World of Color, but Ginger didn't want to watch it.

So...I took Ginger and Violet back to the Ariel ride while Mr. M stayed at the show with Paprika. I rode the Ariel ride with Ginger and Violet 6 more times.   I know the Ariel ride very very well now.  Haha.



We ended up riding almost every ride at CA Adventure at least once, and we stayed until the park closed (11pm).  By the time we got home, it was after one o'clock in the morning!  The girls were tired, but it was so worth it.  I love our little December Disneyland tradition.  Just one more little memory to add to the Christmas list - it might just be my favorite one so far!