It's Not Always Bon Bons: Disney

Hello all! I'm a little tardy with this post, but it has taken us a while to get back into our groove. Within 24 hours of being home, our house looked like a bomb went off! How does this happen? It was clean when we left and after two days of being home, Randy and I just looked at each other and laughed. I'd like to say that the house has since been cleaned, which is true...kinda. :)

So...without further ado, here Disneyland adventure!

I've got my Minnie bow on...I'm ready!

Once we pulled into the parking lot, the kiddos were ready to see the happiest place on Earth; Disneyland!!

We didn't schedule breakfast with the characters because Dylan isn't so sure he likes them. He wanted to see Mickey, Goofy, Donald, etc., but had no desire to get close to them. :) So after a casual breakfast, we got our fast passes for Autopia and headed to Fantasyland.

After much discussion and analysis of the lines, we decided on Peter Pan as our first ride because Dylan likes watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Now we had to learn how to keep the kiddos occupied in line for 20-30 minutes. :)

Dylan was not interested in having his picture taken. :)

We're off! The fun begins!

Dylan loved it! Ava didn't like that the ride was so dark. I didn't remember it being so dark. Disneyland is so different as a parent! We see things completely different now. :)

Back to Autopia for a little driving. I think the fast pass line took longer than the regular line because there was car trouble. Oh well, all was forgotten once it was our turn. Randy was in the lead car, followed by Dylan and I, then Opa finishing it off. Randy took many pictures trying to get one of Dylan.

The first two attempts looked like this. :) Dylan and I were laughing at him.

There were quite a few like this where you could see me and the top of Dylan's head. :) There's Opa in the yellow car. :)

We had lunch in Tomorrowland where the stage rises from the ground. The show is a Star Wars theme, which was a hit with our group. A Jedi chooses about 25 little kids, gives them lightsabers then trains the kids to be Jedi's. Then Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers showed up for a battle. This is what Dylan thought of the show.

He told us not to talk so he could listen. Again, didn't want to get too close, but very interested.

And this is what Ava thought of it. :)

Next...off to Toontown! Ava was out before we even got there. :)

Oma babysat while Randy and I took Dylan on Roger Rabbit. It was fun to be able to just hang out with Dylan for awhile. :)

I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of so Randy gave me this. LOL!

He's so serious! :)

By the time we were done, Ava was up and ready to party. We had fun exploring Toon Town! Dylan loved the idea of visiting the homes of all of his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters.

Ava and I followed Dylan and we all watched as he played in the treehouse.

Ava decided it was time to walk and Oma walked at a toddler pace out of Toon Town.

I don't know why it's uploading like this!!

We did hit an adult and kid favorite (wink wink), It's a Small World. They both loved this one! I guess we will be revisiting the singing dolls in the future. :)

Here is our castle picture! I don't think this one is the ideal picture, but it cracks me up!

The last ride Dylan tried out was the rockets. He hadn't napped yet and it was almost 5pm so the look on his face is pure exhaustion because he did love the ride. Ava, was her bubbly smiley self running around and making friends.

This is one of my favorites!

We set off for dinner and by the time the food was ready, the kids were DONE!

They woke up for the parade and loved it!!

Again, it won't upload right!! But, this is too cute!

I held onto Ava as she bounced around clapping her hands to the music.

We got home around 9pm and the kiddos did a great job all day! It was a great time! I asked Dylan if he wanted to go again the next day and he said that he was too tired and wanted to sleep. :) This meant a day date for Randy and I...Awesome!!!

We went on all the roller coasters, some of them twice as well as doing some shopping.

It was a great first trip as the Krekeler family! We'll be back again and hopefully tackle more of the park. :)

We've been having such a great time in Anaheim! If the first two days are an indication of how Disneyland will go tomorrow, then we are going to have a fantastic day!

Sleeping:
Now you may be thinking, "Why start here?" Well, as many of you know that have/had young kiddos, sleep runs our lives at this point. Whether it is sleeping at night or managing naps, it must be considered at all times. So, the first step was to figure out where Ava's playard would be going. The choices were either with Randy and I or with Dylan. We tried putting her in Dylan's room the first night and he was so excited about it! The plan...put her down first then have him sneak in about 30 minutes later. Well, she didn't go down so easy the first night because bedtime was later than usual and she was just feeling out of sorts.

This meant she was with us. I didn't think it would be a problem, but she is the noisiest sleeper!! She kept waking me up! Of course Randy slept right through everything and felt great. Even Dylan slept later than usual. So, the next night I decided we were going to attempt the kids' room once again. This time it worked and we're trying again tonight. Cross your fingers. :)

In regards to naps...Ava got a morning nap the first two days, but the afternoon ones have been challenging because we have been on the go! Thankfully she is such a happy girl! We haven't had an issue with her missing the 2nd nap. Yay!!! Dylan hasn't napped since we've been here, but with all of the excitement, he's been good. This has been huge!

Day One: Hockey Giant and Downtown Disney:
Because we were visiting Randy's family, we are very much surrounded by hockey. Playoff hockey has been on ALL THE TIME! Great for everyone, but me. :) We did go to Hockey Giant which is a big store to buy hockey gear. Dylan and Randy were in heaven! Since Oma and Opa were there, it was like an extended birthday for both Randy and Dylan. ;) Dylan got his first pair of hockey skates and he was SO excited! I don't have a picture because I ran around chasing Ava through the racks, making sure she didn't trip other customers and/or run out the door. Ava was little miss friendly and made friends with 3 grown women buying skates. :) I guess we weren't there for that long, but it felt like forever to me!

Next up...Downtown Disney! I was looking forward to this, but had no idea how big it was!
The last time I went there, it was brand new and there were some stores, but not like it is now! WOW! Oma has talked about how much she enjoys DD and how excited she has been to take us. After going, now I know why. :) After scouring the menus to find a place for lunch that Dylan would eat at, we went to Ride Makerz.

Ride Makerz is such a great place for anyone that loves cars! Dylan got to build his own remote control car! He chose Lightning McQueen,

but there were SO many bodies to choose from and not all were from the movie Cars. After choosing the body you then go to the tire area and choose the tires,

then the accessories like a spoiler, motor on the hood, decals, voicebox in the car, etc. Then...you get to help put it together!

Dylan was in awe. It was so cute. Randy even wants one now. :)

Next up...Build-a-Bear. Originally, we thought this would be Ava's thing, but we couldn't leave Dylan out! Once he saw he could dress his bear like Darth Vader including the lightsaber, he was sold. This was our first time at Build-a-Bear so I just loved everything about it. :) Dylan got the Downtown Disney bear with Mickey Mouse on the foot and Mickey ears on the inside part of the bear ears.

Ava got a purple Hello Kitty that she snuggled even before it was stuffed. :)

Ava got the giggle sound in her kitty and Dylan got the song, "I Want Candy" from the movie Hop in his bear. I tried to get more pictures, but all of these were taken with my phone and Ava wanted the phone. :) Here they are!

We weren't done yet! The Quicksilver/Roxy store was next. Guess who that was for...me and Randy. :) As I was casually looking around, Oma told me to choose some items since I hadn't gotten anything yet. So fun! I got the most wonderful long teal Hawaiian flower dress,

a new swimsuit,

cover-up shorts and a tee. I said thank you over and over. After over 3 hours of fun, we headed home. Despite the tiredness of the kiddos, everyone was in great spirits. I did see a Minnie Mouse red and white polka-dotted skirt/tutu that I want to get for Ava tomorrow when we actually go to Disneyland.

Day Two: Ice Skating!
Today we went to an ice rink to try out the new skates. Dylan insisted on wearing all of his gear and boy was he cute!

The hockey skates are different from the rentals (figure skates) so he had to get used to them. He was slipping all over the place, which kind of surprised him at first. Eventhough Randy warned him that it was going to be different, I don't think Dylan really believed him. :) He did a good job and even stayed positive. He kept reassuring himself by asking Randy, "Hockey players wear these skates?"

I thought it was so cute when he fell because being so padded up, he couldn't get up on his own. Kinda like one of those sumo suits! :)

I even got to skate this time! I had Randy's dad take a picture. :) I haven't ice skated since Randy and I were dating and it was at the same rink. :) I didn't do too bad! I figure if the fam is going to spend a lot of time at ice rink, I need to take my opportunities to practice. Oma chased Ava around while the rest of strutted our stuff.

She had Ava peeking through the glass waving at us.

Once open skate was over, Dylan looked like a hockey player...SWEATY!

We sat for a little while watching the zamboni then hockey practice. He wouldn't take his eyes off the ice for anything.

Opa was making faces at Ava. LOL!

For an after-skate treat, we went to Yogurtland. Yummy!

You'd think we'd be tired right? Well yes, but you know we don't get to rest. Here we are hanging around the house. :)