Sin City

Mark and I knew that we wanted to take a trip just the two of us while he was on sabbatical but we couldn't decide where to go.  He goes to Vegas multiple times a year for work so when I threw out the idea of Vegas, he was a little skeptical.  When we were in business school, we went to Vegas with a bunch of friends and let's just say, that's NOT how I wanted to do Vegas again.  This time, I wanted to lay by the pool, see a show, and leisurely spend the day gambling, eating, etc.  Which is exactly what we did and it was AWESOME. 

Thank you Nanny and Papa for watching Jake and Maddie and letting us have some much needed alone time!  We also loved spending Mother's Day with you and had a great time while you were here!

A Trip to Mickey's House

Mark's sabbatical began on Friday, April 13th and we have been enjoying some serious family time since then.  We all headed to Dallas on Wednesday, April 18th and spent 5 full days with family and friends.  Thanks to Paige, Frank, Tori, Grandma and Grandpa, Mark and I were able to spend a couple of days with our own friends (respectively) while we were there.  I headed to Austin to see my girls and Mark stayed in Dallas to spend time with Jim McCaffrey.  The kids had an awesome time with the family and Mark and I had a great time with our friends.  Thanks guys for taking such great care of them while we were gone!

We've been SO excited about our trip to Disneyland.  The kids have been talking about "going to Mickey's house" for months.  We arrived in Anaheim on Sunday, April 29th, after a mere 7 hour drive (I say this with some sarcasm, because 7 hours in a car with a 5 and 2.5 year old is not at all a 'mere' trip) and they were beyond excited to go inside Disneyland.  We had 3 day passes so we decided to start on Monday morning. It wasn't our intention, but we literally spent 3, 11 hour days there each day.  We arrived when the park opened and didn't leave until early evening.  Maddie took her naps in the stroller and we went non-stop the entire time.  While exhausting, I don't think any of us wanted to miss a moment at this magical place.  I'll let the pictures and videos tell the story because there was SO much to do and see it would take me days to explain it all.  I will sum it up like this -- it really is the happiest place on earth. :)

This is only a fraction of the pictures and videos we took.  To see them all, visit our album online here.  You can also click into any of these pictures and view these larger in a slideshow so you can see them better!

Day 1:  Our very first ride was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.  You ride around in these little cars and shoot the enemy with these guns.  We must have rode this 10 times before our trip ended.  Maddie loved it more than anyone.  And yes, they each did walk away with their very own Astro Blaster purchased on day 3 of our trip! 

 

One of Jacob's very first rides was the "Astro Orbiter".  Maddie was too afraid to get on, so Jacob rode it with Daddy.  Jacob rode every. single. ride. at Disneyland! 

Maddie's favorite ride was the tea cups.  You should have seen her face!

In front of the "it's a small world" ride.  Which they also LOVED.

Then we went to Mickey's house to meet him in person.  Jacob and Maddie RAN up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever!

Would you believe that we ran into my friend Ashlee and her husband, Roger, and little girl, Milla, from Southlake?!  It was so great to see them!!!  They all looked wonderful, as always.  Milla and Jacob look the same, just bigger!

While we were waiting to meet Tigger and Rabbit, Mommy stopped to get a special Mickey snack.

Tigger and Rabbit!

And Eeyore!

And POOH!

Jacob wanted to ride Splash Mountain (Maddie was too little).  This is a pic of them going through the ride in the boat.

And this picture is awesome because you can't even see Jacob.  Mark is COMPLETELY covering him because Jacob was so afraid he'd get wet.  It's called "SPLASH MOUNTAIN" for a reason kiddo!

In front of the castle.  On this particular day, we tried to get a family photo but Maddie was overtired and not having any of it.  So Jacob gladly posed alone.

In the afternoon, we went to the "Jedi Training" where they do a Star Wars show and pick kids from the crowd to train to be a true Jedi.  Of course Jacob was picked!  Poor Maddie was beside herself that she wasn't on stage with him.  Here he is practicing with his light sabor.

Each Jedi then got a chance to "fight" Darth Vader practicing what they learned.  Truth be told, I think Jacob was terrified.  But he did great! 

The new class of Jedis!

The evening parade starts at 7 pm.  To get a good spot up front on the curb, you have to grab a space at least 45 minutes beforehand.  It was my job to get the spot and wait.  That night, we waited (and waited and waited) for the parade to start.  Maddie could care less that everyone was seated on the curb.  She felt it was her time to shine!  She danced happily in the streets.

The parade was my favorite part of the whole weekend.  I loved the music and seeing the performers up close.  All the characters were BIG HITS with the kids!  Here's the Genie from Aladdin giving Jacob and Maddie high fives (also a perk of being front and center at the parade!)

Day 2:  When we first arrived, Minnie was outside taking pictures with everyone.  So we grabbed our chance!

And then there was Chip and Dale

I have no clue who this is

Mommy and Jacob riding the Dumbo ride.  Apparently, Maddie doesn't like anything that goes high up in the air, so she passed.

But she did LOVE the carousel which they happily rode over and over again

This was the longest line we waited in - the "Princess Fantasy Faire".  We waited over an hour to meet TWO princesses.  Yes.  TWO.  The kids were pretty excited to meet them up close.  Here's Ariel:

And Belle:

And Prince Jake and Princess Maddie

We then headed over to California Adventure which is another amusement park for "big kid" rides. They had a "Disney Junior Live on Stage" show that we wanted to check out.  The show featured "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", "Handy Manny", "Little Einsteins" AND "Jake and the Neverland Pirates!"  Our kids couldn't have been more excited!

Bubbles falling from the ceiling is always fun!

This is how they looked the entire time.  IN AWE.

Jacob being silly.

We headed over to "Bugs Land" where they had rides for the smaller kids.  Jake and Maddie drove their first bumper cars!

And we rode a Caterpillar train ride

Back at Disney, we ran into Pluto and took some pics.

Day 3:  When the park opens, these employees are there with Big Mickey hands to welcome you and high five you.  Jacob and Maddie were ALL about it!

We then went to a character breakfast at the park where we could meet all the characters.  Mommy accidentally stole these birthday hats.  Jacob wore his the whole time and everyone kept saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" to him.  He didn't mind.  ha.

The first character we got to meet was Max.

I have no idea who this is.

Then we got to meet Dale.  Or is that Chip?!

Again, I have no idea who this is.

We always love ourselves some Tigger!

And Captain Hook

And Fairy Godmother

And Mouse

We got to see Minnie again!

Waiting in line for the tea cups again.  Clearly Jacob is in distress.

I must say, it was a long, fun-filled 3 days.  And although we are exhausted, I wouldn't change any part of the trip.  I hope we can make this an annual, Broxterman tradition since the kids loved it just as much as we did.  Thank you, Disney, for making our family vacation truly magical!!