Disneyland!

Instead of a big birthday party for Keira's birthday this year, we decided to take her to Disneyland.  We haven't been in a few years, and Keira has never really been- The one trip she took when she was 6 months old doesn't really count.  James and I are not the biggest fans of Disneyland- crowds and lines aren't exactly our thing.  However, it was awesome to experience Disneyland with an almost 3 year old. She was SO excited about everything we saw, especially anything having to do with Princesses or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, two of her favorite things.

 We started out with a ride on the Carousel, which thrilled her to pieces.

 I had to get a picture of her trying to get the sword out of the stone, she's trying so hard to get it out.  Maybe next time!  

 We learned a very important lesson during our wait to meet Mickey Mouse.  We will NEVER wait to meet a character again.  We were fooled into waiting!  The sign at the end of the line said '15 minute wait'.  We thought 15 minutes to meet Mickey Mouse was TOTALLY do-able.  Notice, I didn't even bring the Ergo for Tyler to ride in.  However, the sign meant 15 minutes to get into Mickey's HOUSE, then probably 45 more to actually meet the dang mouse.  In that hour, Tyler had was ready for a nap, had a dirty diaper, and completely melted down, and Keira wet her pants and completely melted down.  Naturally, when both meltdowns happened, we were about 5 minutes from meeting Mickey.  James and I both couldn't wait to get out of there, but we were GETTING the picture.  We'll probably never get another one.  :)

 We timed our ride on It's a Small World perfectly!  We watched a high school band perform during our wait, and when we got off, the Main Street Parade was just starting, marching right down the street near the exit of the ride.  Keira got on James' shoulders and loved watching all the characters (from a distance, naturally).  She waved and danced along.  I would love to say we did that on purpose, but it was more of a happy accident. 

After dinner in Downtown Disney, we indulged in a delicious caramel and marshmallow and chocolate apple, and it was so tasty.  Keira even shared a little with mom and dad.  After a long day of waiting in lines and no nap, Keira was wiped.  We missed the fireworks, but we were happy to back to our beds that night.  

 

The next day, we headed over to California Adventure.  We loved it there- the lines were definitely shorter, and they had great shows Keira loved watching. Keira kept consulting her little map they gave her at the entrance, and was so excited when she found the giant Ferris Wheel from the map.  

 

Without a doubt, the best thing we did for the entire trip was the Princess Lunch.  I had made reservations a few weeks before and the entire experience was awesome.  We started by taking meeting and getting pictures with Ariel- We never thought Keira would actually give her a hug, she's usually so shy.  

 You can see from the look on her face, she's excited, but still a little unsure. 

Then, during our meal, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Princess Aurora walked around and we got pictures with them at our table!  This was SO MUCH better than waiting in line (ahem, Mickey Mouse). She was so excited to see them walking around, but would only pose with Snow White, and refused to pose with Belle, so Tyler charmed her instead.  

After a very tasty three course meal, we had a birthday cake brought to the table in a little treasure box and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to our sweet little girl.  Lunch was definitely the highlight of our day.  

 Here she is, telling us that she is "THREE!"

 We also got in plenty of fun on our visit.  I don't think she stopped jumping or running the entire time.  She usually looked like this:

 We also got in lots of rides- usually the ones with the shortest lines.  We absolutely loved A Bug's Land in California Adventure.  The rides were perfect for Keira and the lines were short!

During all the fun, Tyler discovered the frog on his car seat.  He was quite the trooper during the trip, spending most of his time in the Ergo or in his seat.  

Despite our love for A Bug's Land, we learned that when they warn you that something might be scary for children, they really mean it.  We went to watch the 4-D show based on A Bug's Life.  At first, Keira was excited to wear the 3-D glasses, and even tried to "grab" a butterfly coming out of the screen at the beginning of the show.  Then, a few minutes in, a hornet came out and her seat buzzed... and Keira started screaming- loudly.  We couldn't calm her down, so we scooped her up and ran for the exit.  Easier said than done, as I was in the middle of feeding Tyler and had to get myself all tucked back in.  :)  She'll still tell you that the bugs were too scary.  We felt a little better, though, when another mom followed us out with her 8 year old.  The show is definitely too scary for little ones.  

Despite all the fun we had, I think Keira's favorite thing was staying at my friend Joy's mother's house.  She got to play with all Tatum and Ty's toys, and this jewel- the Keira sized house in the backyard.  I was glad we waited until the last day to show her, she would have not wanted to go to Disneyland!  When we got home, she didn't ask to go back to Disneyland, she asked if we could go to Tatum's Grandma's house.  :)  Thank you again!

Since we have a habit of packing a lot into a weekend, we also decided to visit Medieval Times on Sunday.  Aunt Cyndi and James had never been, so we all met up and had a great time!  We were assigned to the valliant Green Knight, and Ben and James didn't hesitate to grab a drink.  Apparently, these giant beers were the ONLY size they had.  Riiiight.

 As always, Cyndi loved the attention from Keira and the snuggles from Tyler.  They even made Tyler his own baby sized green crown.  Too cute.

We went and bought some flags for the show, and even Tyler got in on the spirit, waving his flag before the show.  

 The show was awesome, and Keira was mesmerized by the Knights.  She waved her flag, ate her food (with her hands, which was thrilling to her), and cheered for the Green Knight, who was quite the showman.  Our knight didn't win the tournament, but our side did, and we were happy to cheer the winner on against the bad dark night at the end.  We definitely had a great trip, but we were happy to get home.  Keira is loving the pictures, and I'm sure we'll be back- probably for Tyler's third birthday. :)