Family Pictures

I took some family pictures in the park in mid-December and used a few of them to create our Christmas cards.  The tripod worked great for the family shots.

Same as previous pic, different crop.

Same as previous pic, different editing.

Halloween 2016

We went to a new pumpkin patch this year.  It was at a church on Parmer Lane but I can't remember the church's name.  They had a good pumpkin selection and we snapped these pics before picking out two large pumpkins and numerous minis.   I edited some on my phone but these are all the unedited version. 

I wasn't very excited about the kids' Halloween costumes this year. Christy as a princess just doesn't seem like a costume when she's constantly dressing up like a princess.  But I was glad she let me put her hair back (and she wanted it loaded up with bows, of course).  Dominic was a great Donatello, but he was Leonardo last year!  And he plans to cycle through Raph and Mikey before changing themes, so we have at least two more years of ninja turtles.  He wore the same costume as last year except with a new mask.

I took them trick-or-treating for almost 1.5 hours while Marcos handed out candy at our house.  They were tired and thirsty by the end.  A few blocks from home, Christy announced "I don't need more candy, I already have a hundred" and she stopped going with Dominic to ring doorbells after that point.  Dominic, who mostly complained of thirst, vowed he was going to just walk straight home.  But he couldn't resist stopping each time we passed a well-lit house.  So he had a ton of candy by the time we got home and Christy's loot wasn't too shabby either.

I carved that pumpkin "mad" per Christy's request.

 

I don't think this costume is going to fit him for the third ninja turtle.

Our Trip to the Happiest Place on Earth

In mid-July I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Anaheim so we planned a trip to Disneyland the day following my event.  I was pretty excited about taking Dominic and Christy to my favorite childhood destination - as a kid I probably would have considered a trip to Disneyland as second only to Christmas morning.

We had a really, really great time.  My Mom drove up from San Diego which was especially cool since she was the one who orchestrated all my childhood Disneyland trips.   We expected the park to be crowded since it was summer and we were right, though it was not miserable.  It was pretty hot - in the low 90s - but we came prepared with spray bottles, including one with a motorized fan.  The bottles saved us in the afternoon heat and provided a lot of entertainment for the kids while we waited in line for various rides.  And Marcos spent a small fortune on cold water bottles but it was well worth it.

We started the day in Fantasyland and I'd say we spent more time there than in any other area of the park.  The lines were really short at the beginning of the day so that's when we were most efficient, as you can see in one of the pictures below.  The only thing I really hoped to do that did not get done was Big Thunder Railroad. 

The Matterhorn was the scariest ride we took Dominic on and he did really well.  It was a lot scarier than I remembered so I kept trying to look behind me to check on him.  Marcos and Dominic went on Star Tours right before we left the park and they said it was really awesome.  I think that was probably Dominic's favorite ride.  Christy loved the teacups (she and I rode them three times) but recently told me that Dumbo was her favorite ride.  The hotel was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip for her.  She has told me many times since that she wishes we could live in that hotel forever.  Funny kid!


Here are the pictures, hopefully close to chronological order:

Austin airport

They had a terribly long travel day because of delays.  This is Christy resting while we tried to eat dinner at the hotel right after they arrived.  Then when we got up to the room she started bouncing off the walls and resisting sleep.

I made notes on my phone for our itinerary throughout the day at the park, knowing I'd have a hard time remembering later:

In line for Dumbo, our first ride.

Dominic often requested YiaYia as his ride companion.

Skeptical at first....

Spray bottle - they loved them.

We were ready for lunch by the time the restaurants opened at 11am.

I would say Autopia was my biggest regret. The ride was OK but the line was way longer than expected and in direct sunlight most the time.  The Disneyland app failed us on this one.  It was pretty accurate in other instances.

The Matterhorn had one of the other longest lines we waited in, but it's kind of a must-do. It moved pretty fast too.

 

Ice cream on Main Street did not disappoint.

Tired, hot kids.  It was a good thing they each had a stroller to sit in.

In line for Pirates of the Caribbean. 

The air conditioning never felt so good.

On our boat - the kids were not terrified but I'm not sure they loved it.  We thought the Haunted Mansion would have been too much.

The next day we went to Newport Beach before my Mom had to head home.  Dominic and Christy enjoyed the sand and waves.  

And then we went to my cousin Mary's ice cream shop in the Anaheim Packing House.  What a cool place!  We should have taken a picture with her.

In the afternoon we tossed the kids around in the hotel pool.

And the next day we headed home.

I hope we can make another trip to Disneyland before too long and stay in the park later.  Marcos was the driving force behind our 5pm departure, though you can tell in some of the pictures below that the kids were totally spent.  Overall, I was pleased Marcos held up as well as he did since experience has taught me that Disneyland is more of a Mom place (love you, Dad!). :) :)