the happiest place on earth

I have an uncle who lives in Los Angeles.  Ever since we've been married he has been asking us to come visit him so we could go to Disneyland.  After we started having kids, his invitations became more frequent.  After he heard Wayne was working for Delta and we were flying for free, he insisted we bring the kiddies.  Who were we to say no?  Haha. So last week, we packed up the family and went to Disneyland! Seriously-  it was SO. FUN.  Wayne had never been to Disneyland and I'd only been there once on a high school orchestra trip.  We stayed at my Uncle Lafi's house, used his beautiful new Honda CR-V and got a big hook-up on two-day Disneyland tickets from my cousin, Scirocco.  Not only did we enjoy the obvious entertainment that was provided, but we LOVED spending time together as our little family.  It was wonderful.

Our first day in L.A. was our free day - we had nothing planned, so we visited Venice beach, the mall and Downtown Disney.  Our next two days were our Disneyland days and, to get the most out of our tickets, we got there when the park opened and stayed till it was closed (10 AM - 8 PM).  We got to go back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure which is right next door.  We packed lunches, dinners and snacks so we wouldn't have to buy any of the expensive Disneyland food (. . . though we DID splurge on hand-dipped corn dogs once.  They were SOO good!)  We rode some rides together as a family and on others Wayne and I would take turns staying out with baby Tali.  When the girls got tired they took naps in their strollers.  The weather was gorgeous and the park wasn't too crowded.  For most of the rides we were able to walk right up to the front.  Some of the old school rides were scary for Malia and Kina (you know the ones I mean?), but they loved the others.  Their favorites were the Buzz Lightyear ride, the rockets, Autopia, and the Dumbo train.  And they LOVED meeting all the princesses and characters - their favorites were Buzz, Jessie, Jasmin and Mickey Mouse.  I feel so happy we created such lasting memories for the girls and had special quality time for our family.  What can I say?  It IS the happiest place on earth!

I know this is a lot of pictures . . . but it's only about a fourth of all the ones we took. Haha!

We love Disneyland! Special thanks to Papa Limhi, Uncle Lafi, and cousin Scirocco who made it all possible.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip and we are so grateful.  Thank you!