There's no crying in Disneyland!!!

Ha ha ha ha..... no crying in Disneyland....

Isn't it the happiest place on earth????

Okay there may have been a couple of meltdowns... I am not just talking about the kids...

BUT if I of all people, with 4 kids 5 and under, taking a million bathroom breaks (it is in the kid rule book that they must not go at the same time as anyone else, heaven forbid), witnessing a few tantrums complete with screaming and flailing, holding onto two toddler leashes for dear life, ignoring looks from other people, NOT TO MENTION paying for grossly overpriced food, can say that right this second I'd go back with all my kids all over again, in fact I'm getting homesick for it right now... then you can definitely say that YES Disneyland is the happiest place on earth!!!!! 

It is magical!!!!  I LOVE LOVE Disneyland and for a few months now we have been talking about taking the kids.  I was like we HAVE to go now, while they are little and believe in magic and princesses and Disney characters and while we only have to pay for two kids and before I have another baby...  The window came between our tax return and Logan's third birthday (so we didn't have to pay for him) and WE DID IT!  We wanted to surprise the kids, so we've been building it up little by little.  We had a Disneyland jar that we put in all our extra change and the kids could earn money to put in it.  We filled it almost all the way to the top (with a total of like $37 or something :) ) and the kids knew it was coming, but not when.  WELL I told Jenna's teacher we'd be gone and she kind of spilled the beans to Jenna... she came home from school saying "Mom, teacher said I was going to Disneyland tomorrow.  Am i???  Am I going to Disneyland?"  It was kind of cute, her hopes all up, wondering if it could be true.  I acted all mysterious like, "Oh she did??  Hmmm I don't know!  But maybe soon daddy and I need to tell you guys something..." I could hear her telling Carter excitedly, "My teacher says I am going to Disneyland, and I asked mommy, but she won't tell me!"  It was way fun to finally tell them the day before.  They were so excited!!!!!

I was a little nervous for the drive, not only about the kids but our van, and both did beautifully!  Seriously we only had to break out the laptop for a DVD the last couple hours, for Kaitlyn mostly.  They were amazing little travelers!!!!  I did buy new coloring books and work books and crayola dry erase board and those crayola color wonder books and that kept Jenna and Carter entertained.  Logan and Kaitlyn colored a little, slept, looked at books and danced to music.  AND of course lots of snacks. 

WE MADE IT in just under 12 hours and here they are chilling in th motel after a bath, my little family.

Jenna, Carter, and Logan all shared a bed and Kaitlyn slept in the pack and play.  They all went right to sleep.  SWEET!  THEN at midnight Jenna woke up saying her tummy hurt and moaned while curled up at the end of our bed, poor girl.  She then went potty and threw up, waking up Kaitlyn who wouldn't go back to sleep and played in between Nate and I while we tried to sleep, then Logan got up saying he was scared and came to lay with us, and I am like, dude there are 3 kids in my bed... it was a nightmare!!!!  Sleeping the rest of the week went 10 times better than that first night.  Somehow we slept and woke up ready for Disneyland...

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!  YES YES!  Day 1 was pretty cloudy and windy and cold and it even ended up pouring rain later in the day.  So much for me packing shorts for everyone, the kids ended up wearing jackets and their ONE pair of pants I had packed for them every single day... come on California why'd you do that to us??  sigh. So here are some pics from the first day... oh and we took like a billion so I will do my best to limit them:

Jenna's EXCITED face!

Carter's EXCITED face!

Logan and Kaitlyn are excited on the inside.

I didn't think this picture turned out very good and wanted a better one later, buuuuut we never got one, so here is the classic family portrait in front of the castle.

The very first ride we hit was Buzz Lightyear, the kids LOVED it!!!!  Then we hit other fantasy land rides.... which, by the way, are kinda FREAKY!  Aren't they????  Snow White???  Really?  Kids didn't want to do that one again.   Carousel.... ahhh happier times.

So like I said later it started raining and raining and Nate took Jenna on Splash Mountain (the thing she wanted to do the most!) and they got soaked and she was just FREEZING after (and decided she didn't like Splash Mountain after all...) so here we are soaked... waiting for the tram to go to the hotel and get warm and change and hopefully come back later that night.

We did go back later after it stopped raining to see the parade, and as soon as we got there it started raining again and the parade got canceled... BUT we saw Mickey and Pluto with hardly any line!

I just think Logan's face is funny in this picture.

All the pictures I tried taking at night without the flash so I could capture the magical feel of the castle and lights turned out blurry and it makes me mad... but this one is kinda cool... we didn't even have to go to the haunted mansion to see ghosts, ha ha.  

So Kaitlyn fell asleep in the stroller that night, didn't wake up on the tram, didn't wake up when we put her on the bed, as seen here...

Didn't wake up when I took off her shoes and took off her sweatshirt and jacket or laid her in the pack and play.  She didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning.  ONE TIRED GIRL!

Next day: California Adventure!!!!  And a little better weather!

We went on the new Little Mermaid ride and AHHHH it is freakin adorable I LOVED it!!!!!  That's how the fairy tale rides should be... not freaky and then a quick little happily ever after at the end (AHEM SNOW WHITE!) 

Nate and Jenna went on the jumping jellyfish.

Well we weren't there very long when Nate started feeling SUPER queasy... just like what Jenna had... he was feeling awful, so he actually went back to the hotel... I was SOOO BUMMED!!! Don't worry though he didn't just leave me there by myself with 4 kids, cause this day my cousin Jen and her daughers Cydnee and baby Sierra met us there!!!! It was so great to see them and my kids were ecstatic to go on rides with Cydnee. To say they were hyper is an understatement.  They were being pretty silly.

Off to Pixie Hollow!

ANNNNND the hour wait for the princesses!!!!!  ALTHOUGH IT FELT LIKE FIVE HOURS!!!!!!  Okay I was starting to lose it here without Nate.  Logan was being so hyper and being a stinker and not listening to anything I said and hanging on all the chains and generally just out of CONTROL!  I only had limited hands dealing with Kaitlyn who was getting SOOO cranky and whiny and wanting to run around all over and then I'd pull her back on her cute little leash (my friend Hali let us borrow TWO leashes one for logan and one for Kaitlyn... they SAVED me!!!!  seriously why have I NEVER invested in those things????  They were awesome and very necessary) anyway but Kaitlyn really wasn't the biggest fan of me jerking on her leash all the time and would throw these TANTRUMS and I started hating feeling like the center of attention in lines, like I was a crazy mom who couldn't control her kids and why the heck would I be having another when I can't control the ones I have... I really don't know what people thought cause I tried to avoid all eye contact, let us just say I am grateful Disneyland is so huge and I knew i'd never see those people again.  I seriously was digging in my backpack, handing out licorice, which Logan was wrapping around the chains and then eating it, and then I had one apple that all the kids shared and they'd drop it on the ground and I'd let them pick it up and still eat it cause I was that desperate... you see why I avoided eye contact with everyone around me????  That line was pure torture.  I thought we'd never make it.  I am just glad I had Jen to share it with.  :) ha ha good times huh!  AS SOON as we got to the princesses the kids turned into little perfect angels.  Kaitlyn cracked me up, Mickey Mouse and Pluto she clung to me for dear life, but the princesses she walked right up to them, posing for pictures, giving them hugs, it was adorable.  And yes the line was worth it because the kids had been dying to see princesses and the experience was priceless.

After the princesses was kind of a blur, and I am not sure what set me over the edge but let's just say during one of our bathroom breaks I called Nate, poor sick Nate, and asked if he would please come and take Logan and Kaitlyn to the hotel with him, cause I COULDN'T HANDLE IT!  As I am on the phone with him Kaitlyn is throwing a tantrum, SCREAMING, I did NOT know what she wanted, she was just so dang tired and did NOT want to get back in the stroller and that is when I started crying too... I was like, this is NOT how it was supposed to be, Nate is supposed to BE here with me, not sick, the kids are supposed to be happy, I felt like a failure.  As soon as Nate heard I was crying on the phone, AT DISNEYLAND, he said Okay Honey I will come get them, be there in 15 minutes!  SIGH and there you have it, there is crying at Disneyland, mommies AND babies.

I felt a sense of relief as Nate grabbed the two grumpy stinkers and stroller-less went on my way with Jenna and Carter and Jen.  SOOOOO here are some pictures of the rest of the day:

I really really was hoping Nate would feel well enough to come back for the World of Color show and he did!  We had gotten fast passes, but despite that our view was terrible and he held Jenna up and I held Carter up so they could even see anything, and it was WAY cool, but no pictures cause I was holding 35 pounds in my arms for like a half hour.  Here is what Logan and Kaitlyn thought of the show:

Yeah Logan is asleep like that.  Oh man.  Don't get me wrong, I love Disneyland and I LOVE my almost two year old and my almost three year old, and of course I know that age is difficult anywhere... but this pregnant girl could only take so much.  I SO need Nate's reinforcement and presence.  LUCKILY he felt completely better the next day and so we were off to San Diego Zoo!  Annnnnd Kaitlyn threw up in the car on the way there... AHHHH!!!  We bought her nice new zoo T-shirt, lucky her.  She was totally fine the rest of the day.  I was like, oh good, she got her sickness done and over with (YEAH RIGHT more on THAT later.)  SOOOOO ZOO pictures (are you bored yet?!)

OOOOOKAY.  Seeing as how long this is now I shall stop and post the rest of the trip later!!!  Sooo Disneyland part 2 and the beach to come.  And no more crying the rest of the trip either!!!  (for me anyway...)