Christmas Disney Style

Robyn, Richelle & I got to spend 48 hours in California...no kids, no husbands, no working...it was great. We planned a couple fun filled days, bought the $25 airline tickets and were on our way. We spent one of our days at Disneyland (all decorated for Christmas...including snow on Main Street) and our second day was spent mostly in the car...thanks to California traffic. Not that it mattered...we laughed non-stop and had an awesome two days. Our trip started off, of course, with the cat gift to our cat-loving (or hating) sister...



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Disneyland all decorated for Christmas was awesome!! The tree was HUGE (including the ornaments on the tree), the castle was covered in lights and snow...all the decorations were amazing. Each little thing topped the next...it is of course Disneyland!!



My most magical Disneyland experience was 3 1/2 years ago...I went as Richelle's nanny. Jake was only 6 weeks old, so I kept him the entire time (unless he needed to eat) so Richelle could take the older boys on the rides. Unfortunately, Carsen wasn't quite tall enough for most of the rides, so I kept Carsen & Jake while the others went on the rides. Regina's family was there too...and Michelle brought the girls for most of one of the days. Some of my favorite memories in my entire life are from that trip. Watching those little faces light up when they saw all the characters come to life...priceless. There is something so special and so incredible about a child's face believing. (picture is from that trip in 2006)



This was my second most magical Disneyland experience. It was so much fun to be there with my two closest friends...and no kiddos this time. We laughed ALL day...we were all just as excited by the cool decoration, rides, food, etc. We didn't eat nearly as much as we thought we would...or should have. Although our calorie intake for the day was way above what it should be...two corn dogs, one churro, two dole whips, a shared kabob of meat and veggies...is not enough food.





One of the best parts of the trip- Disneyland was the emptiest I had ever seen it. I couldn't believe we walked on to rides without waiting more than a few minutes. We only had to get a fast pass for rides with lines longer the 15-20 minutes. We found the Jedi Training Academy...and all wanted to participate, but they only choose kids.





I love the new Space Mountain...of course Thunder Railroad is one of my all time favorites...the Buzz Lightyear ride is always fun (especially because I won). We walked through all the shops, enjoyed the Peter Pan ride, saw a few hidden secrets of Disneyland...





...we avoided having to ride the teacups by showing Robyn a teacup set aside just for pictures...whew!! We searched high and low for a Gus Gus gift for Sydney...and finally found it at the very end of our day.





We watched the parade...









...and then we found a spot to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were of course fabulous, followed by it snowing on Main Street. It was SO cool!! It was freezing (not because of the fake snow), but we each found a way to keep warm...







The castle is amazing all lit up...and it was fun to be in the middle of such a great crowd pf people. Everyone was polite, peaceful and just enjoying the beauty of it all. When we turned around to look down Main Street, it was fun to see ALL the people, the snow falling and all the little ones sitting on their dad's shoulders to get a glimpse of the magic.




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The next day, we slept in a bit, packed our bags and headed to the closest Coach Factory Store. It's a tradition now...with each California trip with the sisters, we must find a Coach Factory Store. After that, we headed for the one other fun stop we had to make. It was only about 20 miles from where we were, but about 2+ hours later, we arrived at 843 E El Molino in Pasadena. Otherwise known as the Father of the Bride house.


The three of us LOVE that movie and LOVE that house...so we thought we'd do a drive by to take a picture or two. The neighborhood is just as beautiful as the movie portrays...the trees are beautiful, people out jogging...the houses are gorgeous. We were most excited by the addition. In the second movie, Frank creates the babies wing...and does an addition to the house. Well...they really did an addition to the house!! We thought the whole thing was a fun waste of time...definitely something fun to do once in your lifetime...without your hubby.

As usual, we laughed so hard, so much...our stomachs hurt and I think we each came close to peeing our pants at least twice. I love my sisters so much!! They truly are my best friends...I couldn't live without any of them...I'm lucky to have to darn many!!