Cherry Blossoms

Spring is always the most refreshing season! After a long, cold winter, seeing colors and growth emerge from the trees and flowers stirs my affections for Jesus. Plus, the air smells heavenly and we can finally spend all day outside! The other day, I took the girls to the park and brought my camera. I bribed them with yogurt covered raisins and playground time if we took some photos first. They're such good sports and I LOVE this mini session with my girls! The best Mother's Day gift is getting photos of them all smiling!

60th Anniversary: Disneyland

Disneyland opened it's gate for the first time 60 years ago today on July 17, 1955. It truly is one of the happiest places on earth! It's full of so many memories that we hold precious and dear! We flew down to CA for my Aunt's funeral, and we were blessed to be able to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday and also be in LA on the very last day on my parents Disneyland pass. Disneyland holds some very fond memories from my childhood and I am so glad that I now does for the girls as well! We remember with fondness the different rides, shows, and parades from our visits to Disneyland. We LOVE it! The highlight of this trip by far was all of the Frozen-ness haha. Both girls are enamored by Anna and Elsa and all things Frozen. Viv likes to pretend she is Elsa and loves blond hair and blue eyes they both share. Lulu is partial to Anna. We went to a Frozen sing-a-long, a mini Frozen musical, and the icing on the cake was meeting Elsa and Anna in person! I was a pregnant hormonal mess watching that dream come true. It was adorable! Lulu was fearful and timid of the characters all day until she met Anna. She ran to her and hugged her and wouldn't let her go. Seriously sweet! Viv went straight to Elsa and hugged her. Then she proceeded to tell her, "I have white hair just like you! And blue eyes too!" They got to talk to Elsa and Anna for several minutes. It was adorable! Definitely a highlight of the day and maybe even their young lives!

 Viv was amazed. My normally gregarious extrovert was silently awestruck!

 "I have white hair like you!"

Disneyland

Disneyland is easily one of my favorite places on earth! It all just makes me smile. And the best part about it is going with the girls! Seeing how excited they get about the rides and the lights and the decorations and the characters... it really is magical! With my parents on the verge of a potential move, this may be the last time we get to Disneyland for quite some time. So we really treasured our time and made some awesome memories! It was a great day!

 Vivi LOVES the Little Mermaid. So she had a great time on the Ariel ride and also on the "Sea Horse Carousel". Lulu... not so much haha.

 

Disneyland!

I am very aware that we are so blessed to have gotten to visit Disneyland as much as we have. I never ever dreamed I would get to bring my babies to Disneyland this much! Especially living half way across the country! So, thank you Grammie & Grampa for always being up for a Disney adventure and to Caitlin for letting us in each time and hanging out with us! Our girls love you!

This was the best trip yet! Viv is obsessed OBSESSED with almost all things Disney! Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Her favorite movie is Frozen. And her favorite thing to do is dress up like a princess. So Disneyland was by far the happiest place on earth to her. We basically saw the back of a little polka dot clad Minnie Vivi gleefully running ahead of us all day. The Ariel ride was first and it set the tone for the day.... awesome! Viv still talks about when she waved to Ariel and then she rode a sea horse on the under the sea carousal. Lulu was a trouper and rode all the rides too. I didn't know what her reaction would be since she's hit or miss with her comfort level on new things but she was in awe of the lights, colors and music.

We've all been to Disneyland before. A lot. So there's not too many things we haven't done. But on this trip, we went to a new show. And I got chocked up. I could have hysterically laughed/sobbed if I really let myself haha. There is a Disney Junior Puppet show in California Adventure. As I mentioned, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is one of Viv's favorite shows. She also loves Sofia the First, Doc McStuffin's, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. ALL of these shows and characters were included in this interactive puppet show. Picture a room filled with toddlers seeing their favorite characters LIVE IN PERSON! Viv was standing and clapping and dancing and singing along with the theme songs. She pointed out every character and waved hi. She collected all the confetti that fell during the show. She was so excited! My Mama heart was soaking up all her joy and it made me laugh and cry haha. She was so cute!

The girls took a pretty awesome nap in their mobile bunk bed (aka our stroller) as we sat by the fireplace in the dark lobby of the Grand California Hotel. We grabbed a special treat from Starbucks (love that Disneyland has these now!) and put up our feet as we rocked in rocking chairs by the fireplace. A perfect break.

This is Lulu's "I'm done with photos, Mama!" face haha.

Another favorite ride was It's a Small World ride. It was the last ride of the night. Right after we watched the Parade (where Vivi also waved and yelled hi to every character). Viv sang along to Small World the whole time. And Lulu danced and flapped her arms as she stared in awe. Pretty adorable end to an awesome day. The only thing that would have made it better would be if Papa was able to come with and see it all as well.