November 2015

We were all excited for November to arrive as that meant our trip to Disneyland! I don't have many pictures from the rest of November but I more than made up for it with how many pictures I took on our trip.

Olivia liked to wear her hat everyday and sometimes left it on inside too. She's big into accessories no matter what they are.

November 10, 2015

Olivia came and found me to show me she had painted her own nails. Thankfully she chose a lighter color and didn't get it on anything. She actually did a pretty good job for doing it all herself!

November 11, 2015

After much anticipation we packed up on November 14th early in the morning and drove to California. The kids always do good on the drive and I usually drive the whole way. If I'm not driving I'm sleeping and that doesn't make me a good driving companion!

We decided to go to Universal Studios since many of us hadn't been there in a long time and I hadn't been there since high school.

 November 15, 2015

Olivia loved the characters and giving them hugs. On the flip side the boys weren't about to stand by Diego.

The backlot tour is always entertaining and Olivia wanted to wear her 3D glasses for most of the tour.

The Waterworld show is always one of our favorites and we actually saw it twice. The boys loved it, Olivia didn't really care one way or the other.

When the sunset it actually got really cold, and it ended up being the coldest day we were there. The wind was blowing which didn't help but luckily we were able to hit every show and ride in the park which was our goal.  Only a couple of minutes after heading home these two were out.

The next day was our first of 5 days in Disneyland! My dad's other brother and his family also came this same week to Disneyland and so it was fun to meet up with them at different times and different rides.

November 16, 2015

Olivia was so excited to meet Minnie Mouse and she was able to meet her first thing that morning. She even had her Minnie Mouse dress on.

The Nemo submarine's were funny because Olivia kept covering her eyes and mouth if she thought something was going to be scary. We're not sure why her mouth had to be covered too but it was funny to watch. Maybe she thought water was going to get in her mouth? It was the only ride she did this on.

I let Olivia drive my car on Autopia so it was definitely a bumpy ride but we loved every minute of it!

Space Mountain and Tower of Terror were the only rides we didn't have Olivia go on, other than the couple that she wasn't tall enough for. They had changed Space Mountain to be a Star Wars theme which was cool to see.

Then Matt took the boys again.

The Genie was hanging out by the Jungle Cruise and Olivia loved playing around with him. The nights are much cooler in November and so I always had an outfit for Olivia to change in to. Plus, I didn't know how long she would want to wear her dress each day. (She picked 4 dresses to bring.)

Next was Star Tours which Olivia liked but the boys especially liked it. Ashton is still obsessed over Star War's and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

We watched the Christmas Parade the first day and Olivia loved waving and blowing kisses to everyone.

This was in line for Indiana Jones. Thankfully the lines weren't too long and we were pretty good about utilizing fast passes for the more popular rides.

Since it was cold at night you could always get right on Splash Mountain so that's what we did but some of us wore poncho's because we didn't want to walk back to the hotel soaking wet. We didn't take Olivia this time since it was cold but she loved going on Winnie the Pooh with those who didn't want to ride Splash.

Day 2 and Olivia was ready to go! We stayed at the Castle Inn and Suites and we love being able to walk to and from the park. We don't have to pay for parking and spend the time getting to and from the parking garage and if someone wants to head back early they can and we don't have to all leave at the same time.

November 17, 2015

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree is always fun.

I don't have a picture of Olivia this time we rode it but I took a video of her another time at night and she loved it and loved screaming "Wahoo" the whole time.

I'm glad they decorate early for Christmas so you can see the decorations because I don't think I'll ever brave Disneyland in December.

Anyone who has little one's knows that 40 inches is the magic mark when kids can ride most of the rides. The months before going I kept measuring Olivia and I knew it would be really close with shoes on. I was desperate to make sure she could go on the rides so I found some boots with a heal for her but they were a couple sizes to big and she just turned 3 so wearing heals wasn't something we had tried yet let alone mastered so we would put them on her right before a ride where she needed that extra half inch and then change out of them after. You can see in the line for Soarin' she isn't the most stable on them so most of the time we would carry her but they always measured her at every marker. My cousin was able to use them a couple times for her daughter who was the same height as Olivia. Soarin' was another favorite of hers so I'm glad she was able to go on it.

They had an indoor Frozen area with snow, music and a small hill to sled on. Olivia enjoyed the sledding.

And playing in the snow but she kept trying to throw it and you aren't supposed to so I had to keep telling her to stop throwing it.

Another ride I was excited she was able to go on because of the boots was Radiator Spring's Racers in Carsland. It's such a fun ride and one we all like.

She looks so little in the seat.

Olivia went on the carousel many times throughout the 5 days we were there.

Day 3 and Olivia wore her Cinderella dress. She was trying to make friends with a duck.

November 18, 2015

Olivia loved It's a Small World but the boys hate it. They were good sports though for the times we rode it.

Olivia picked a pink dumbo to ride.

Kaleb has light up Mickey Ears that he's had for many years but they weren't working this trip so they exchanged them for a new pair (60th Anniversary ones) and Ashton decided to get himself a pair too with his money. They also each bought these paintbrushes that allow you to change the flashing colors on anyone's ears.

I always volunteer to take pictures on the teacups. :) Olivia had been dying to go on the teacups since before we left on our trip and she had a blast.

We decided to take Olivia on Splash Mountain and she didn't like the "big hill" but she loved the rest of it. We kept asking her if she wanted to go again but she said no so we didn't make her.

One of my favorite's is Big Thunder Mountain and Olivia came with me on it. I videoed her through part of it and she just had a straight face most of the time. You could see her looking around and taking it all in but she wasn't sure what to think of it.

My dad asked if we could "drive" the Ferry and they only allow a couple people so Matt took the kids up there while we watched from the top deck. Olivia without Matt realizing reached over and pulled the horn one time when she wasn't supposed to but they had fun "driving" the boat.

We've done this before but this was the first time the kids received a certificate from doing it. It's always fun to get a keepsake, especially a free one!

She had excitement on her face all the time! That's what Disney does to you.

I think every time we go someone has to try knocking on the small door by Alice in Wonderland.

We bought 2 day tickets to Universal since they were the same price as a 1 day pass and the 19th was our day to go back but we had already seen everything and so we had a day off. We did some shopping at Downtown Disney rather than waste our park days shopping, the boys went swimming at the hotel and we ended the day with dinner at a really good chicken place. Unfortunately right before arriving at dinner Kaleb became car sick and lost it all over the car, our rental car. That was fun to clean up. Thankfully he tried to keep everything on him but that meant I needed to run and grab him a different outfit. Luckily a Kohl's was nearby.

November 19, 2015

Funny girl trying on a mask.

Ashton had fun swimming but it was too cold for me to jump in.

Day 4 at Disney and Olivia was able to meet Tiana. There wasn't a line since she was just getting there which is what we like. We had just come from Big Thunder Mountain so she was in her boots so I had to carry her over to Tiana. If you ask Olivia what her favorite princess is 9 times out of 10 she says Tiana. She loves her the most.

November 20, 2015

We don't always make it over to Tom Sawyer's Island every Disney trip but we spent some time running around the island and checking things out. It's good for the kids to be able to run around after waiting in lines.

Olivia enjoyed going through Tarzan's treehouse with Matt.

The canoes are always fun and it's neat to see Disneyland from a different perspective looking at all the people while you're in the water.

Olivia helped paddle which was more that she splashed Matt with her paddle.

Outside of the Haunted Mansion.

It's hard enough to get a picture with all 3 kids looking and smiling but when I have this to contend with it really makes it hard. All 3 of them like to make silly faces for me.

The Haunted Mansion is always fun to see with the Jack Skellington decor and we stopped at this photo backdrop on our way out.

We don't usually wait in any character lines, it's just not a big deal to us but this little girl is just a LITTLE spoiled. So we waited to see Minnie at her house. She's holding up her Minnie Mouse pin by her mailbox.

Ashton and Olivia explored the yard while we waited in line.

The plastic furniture is always deceiving since it always looks soft but it's rock hard and very uncomfortable. But that didn't stop these 3 who took the chance to sit. 

Ashton made use of the other chair.

Thankfully the line wasn't too long and went pretty quick.

We also went to see the Princess's in Fantasyland because the line was super short and we were right there. She loved twirling and talking with the princesses.

The lights on It's a Small World were really pretty.

We went on Splash Mountain twice in a row since there wasn't a line but even if there's just one person waiting there you have to get out and walk around so we did since there were a couple people at the front of the line.

Day 5, our last day. For not being people who wait in line for character's we waited in line again to let Olivia meet Elsa and Anna. If we would have planned it better I would have had her in her Elsa dress but I figured the line would be too long to even attempt to see them. We only waited about 20 minutes and we were able to go back to see them.  They talked with Olivia for awhile and she was being really shy.

November 21, 2015

This video my dad took of Olivia on Flik's Flyer's is a good representation of what Olivia was like on rides. You can hear her say "Wahoo" a couple times and that was what she would do the most on rides, especially Soarin'.

 We decided to go on Radiator Spring's Racer's again with fast passes.

We also didn't have Olivia go on Tower of Terror even though she could have because I know she would get scared so we waited on that one. I didn't want her terrified of a ride so that she wouldn't ever go on it again.

Once was enough for Ashton but we had enough fast passes with people who didn't go that they went a second time.

Good old California Screamin'! I can't ride this without thinking about my not so fun experience on this ride but I still enjoy it. I can only do it once because it makes me sick to my stomach but I still enjoy it. And this was Ashton's first time going on it and he loved it!

That was a bunch of pictures. I actually didn't have my camera out that much because I wanted to enjoy the trip and not worry about every picture opportunity but when you're there 5 days from open to close it still adds up! 

We had a blast on our trip and were sad to see it end. The Paint the Night Parade and Fireworks/Castle show were amazing and so much fun to watch. The joy and excitement in the kids' faces (and who am I kidding, our faces) is what brings us back to Disney over and over again. We love it and there's nothing else like it. Olivia keeps asking to go back so we're going to have to start saving money for another trip since we all know Disney is not cheap!

The last part of the month was Thanksgiving and I didn't take one picture apparently. But we had fun with family and there's always lots of yummy food!

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