After what seemed like a LONG drive to get to California, we arrived at our hotel near Disneyland around 11pm. Macie, Presley, and I went straight to bed, but poor Nixon wanted nothing to do with the pack n play in the hotel room. His panic screams echoed through the hallways until Mom took him to the car to calm down. She was grateful that Uncle Will was there to keep an eye on the room, because she was up until almost 2 am waiting for Nixon to pass out enough for her transfer him from the car to the crib.
Despite the fact that we were all working on only a few hours of sleep, everyone made it out the door bright and early that following morning with big smiles!
We stopped at IHOP along the way to eat some Funny Face pancakes, and share some laughs...
After breakfast we tried to contain our excitement while waiting for the parks to open.
Finally inside, we rode a few rides together before us "big kids" split off to ride Space Mountain.
Mom took the little kids to Toon Town where they met some characters and played in their houses.
Nixon loved meeting Daisy, and gave her some sweet snuggles.
The line for Mickey Mouse was so long, that by the time Mom finally got to the front Nixon wasn't amused. All Mickey got was a high five from Nixon.
We took a tour through Minnie's house before meeting her, but Nixon wasn't all that interested...
Presley, on the other hand, was enjoying every moment!
She LOVED Mickey's roller coaster and road it over and over. Her laughter was priceless.
While Presley, Nixon, and Mom visited all the rides in Fantasy Land, Uncle Will took Macie and I to ride the "big kid" rides.
After a full day at Disneyland we were all exhausted! Mom was grateful that we all passed out shortly after returning to the hotel that night.
Early the next morning we took off to California Adventure. Will took Macie and I straight to the Tower of Terror while Mom and the little kids went to Monster's Inc. Macie was nervous about riding the Tower of Terror, but had so much fun that she wanted to go again and again.
We all met up in the late morning and Will took Presley on Mater's Tractor ride. She LOVED it. The look on her face is priceless...
We split up again so that we could ride some coasters, but on the way stopped at the swings. Macie couldn't have had more fun.
We rode the Cars ride a few times,
and then took Macie on California Screamin' for her very first BIG roller coaster ride.
It was so much fun for all of us that we spent the afternoon riding it OVER and OVER and OVER!
Mom kept Presley and Nixon occupied by taking them on The Little Mermaid (about 8 times). She was grateful when a parade came by and distracted Presley. When the drummers passed they stopped to let her get in on the action.
While still distracted from The Little Mermaid, Mom suggested they walk around and play at the Grizzly Forest.
It was a good call; they stayed there for hours!!!
We all met up for a ride on Astro Blaster's. Nixon loved the 3D glasses!
As our day was coming to an end, Will took Presley and Nixon around Bug's Land so that Mom could take one ride on Tower of Terror with Macie and I!
Mom was grateful for the time she got to spend with Macie and I riding her FAVORITE ride at Disney.
We arrived back in Las Vegas a few days before Dad's birthday. Mom was glad that she had some time to prepare a birthday surprise for his office.
Mom decorated it with birthday signs and family pictures,
and we helped her design a poster!
Dad said that it made his heart smile when he got to work that day!
When we got home from work that night our family had a big feast together,
and then Dad blew out his birthday candles and we all chowed down on cake!
That evening Mom took Dad out for a special birthday viewing of the BEST MOVIE EVER....
DEADPOOL!!!!
It is Mom's conclusion that the writers of the script must have followed Dad around for material. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not...
Friday was St.Patrick's Day, and to celebrate we ate huge bowls of special edition Lucky Charms. Mom was thrilled that the marshmallows were shaped like gold coins and shamrocks. She even made us green milk!
Macie had made a leprechaun trap the previous evening for a school project and was a tad disappointed that she didn't catch one over night. She had high hopes for the rest of the day...
Mom dressed us up in head to toe green, and even let us use hair chalk!!
Here Macie is posing like a leprechaun!?!
Although I wasn't technically in green, I wore different shades of green and opted for a fancier approach to the holiday.
Presley and Nixon also wore green for their trip to the library that day. Mom didn't want them getting pinched!
It was such a beautiful day that Mom took a detour before going to the library to spend some time at the park.
We welcomed the weekend as we were looking forward to spending time together as a family and continuing Dad's birthday celebration.
Saturday morning Dad took us to soccer. He was so proud of how well we hustled and how great our attitudes were.
Mom almost fell over when Dad showed her the picture of Macie and her after game snack...
In the afternoon he took Presley to the Red Rock Lanes for some bowling. She was so happy that the two of them got to spend some special time together.
This kid is SUCH a ham...
After bowling they ate dinner at Hearthstone and sat next to the waterfalls- Presley was beyond thrilled to be there.
Our family spent the remainder of the weekend at home together. Nixon kept trying to hack into Dad's computer at every chance he got. It was pretty cute...
Everyone is growing up SO fast that it is nice to slow down and enjoy the moments when we can!
