Disneyland!

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ebony generously took our whole fam to Disneyland in celebration if Noelle's 3rd birthday.  Part of the fun was watching them anticipate it.  Leah is the only one who had previously been to the tragic kingdom, but I think Noelle and John expressed the most excitement.  When I asked Noelle what Disneyland was like she said, "rides and ice cream!"  True enough.

Two strollers:  check.

Sunblock: check.

Grannie Stannie and Papa Billy: check.

Typical photo op in front of the castle: priceless.

After downloading a special app that gave a plan for seeing the park with young kids we headed to Dumbo for our first ride.  It's still the one that Noelle talks about the most.

The true magic of the Magic Kingdom is that siblings are having so much fun that there is no thought of squabbling, but only of doing stuff like this...

Much thanks to Jeff and Ebony for taking one for the team by doing the teacups with the kids.  'Cause you know I wasn't going to!

The bizarrely-psychedelic-woozle-infested-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-sweet-books Winnie the Pooh Ride was the only 5 minutes of my life that I truly wanted back.



But meeting The Pooh and his friends totally made up for it.  I smilingly warned Noelle that the characters were bigger than in the books so as not to completely freak her out.  But she went up to each one, looked in wonder, and gave them a huge hug like they'd been longtime friends.  I'm usually not into this kinda stuff, but I have to admit that I got a little verklempt.







Classic Jungle Cruise




And though this pregnant lady couldn't go on Space Mountain, Star Tours, or Splash Mountain (so I have no pictures), John and Leah loved these three far above any of the other rides.  John was bouncing off the walls when he came out of them and couldn't stop talking about how AWESOME they were.

Watching a parade...

ICE CREAM BREAK!

One piece of advice:  don't take the kids on Small World right after Splash Mountain.  Those sweet little mechanically moving children are a total buzz kill for this fast-paced generation.

"Mom, this is BORING..."

My personal favorite was that Buzz Lightyear laser shooting thing.  We went twice and Noelle got the most points of all the kids both times.  We still have no idea how.

After some great meals, treats, and TWELVE HOURS of rides, the melt down begins...

Thanks to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ebony for the fun and generosity!

Noelle's 3rd Birthday!

Noelle had her third birthday party last weekend and we had come to an initial consensual decision that it would be a strawberry theme.  (This worked nicely since Grannie Stannie and Papa Billy had already bought her a strawberry dress for Easter...)

So we asked our friends to wear red.  

 

And we had yummy gluten free strawberry cupcakes.

 

After the plans had been made, she switched to wanting a baseball themed party (I wonder who influenced her in that?).  I drew the line, but compromised with a strawberry pinata which I found at the first of 5 recommended Mexican party stores.  We do live in the Santa Barbara barrio after all.  

Cousin Lily gave a demure swing.

Leah cracked it a good one.

And then John pounded it to smithereens.

Teresa came up from Long Beach with Gavin and Daylen for the celebration.

And Uncle Jeff and Aunt(!) Ebony joined us as well.  Next week we are meeting my folks at J & E's to take a family trip to Disneyland!  The kids are thrilled and I love the 6:3 adult to child ratio.  

At a later celebration, Grandy and Poppa Len got her underwear (we are pretty much potty trained!!!)

and her summer bathing suit.  

Seriously can't get enough of this girl.  She is such a joy!  

Happy 3rd Birthday, Noelle!