Disneyland!!!!

This year, Nate's (immediate) family decided to have their first annual reunion.What better place to do that than the Happiest Place on Earth? So we packed our bags and headed cross country to Disneyland!

The drive was an adventure in and of itself. It's about a 23 hour drive, but that doesn't include the many stops you have to make when you have two toddlers and a nursing baby. I was pretty stressed and thought the drive would be pretty miserable, but by some miracle it wasn't! Don't get me wrong, there were miserable moments/hours. But the vast majority of the time we were able to keep the kids entertained, fed, and happy. We listened to music, colored, played with stickers, ate snacks, watched movies, and opened little surprises from Grandma all along the way. Even Adeline did well. She's pretty notorious for screaming her head off while in her car seat but she really started to grow out of that a bit this trip. We took our time and even stopped in Albuquerque so Nate could go to the temple and I could meet up with my old roommate Jayrin.

Our first day there, we were able to go to the beach. This was the first time any of our girls had been in the ocean. They were a little nervous at first but I think they had so much fun playing with their cousins at the beach.

We walked around the the temple ground at Newport Beach before hitting the beach. 

Adeline was not so sure about dipping her toes in the water. 

Sand wrestling 

We had 5 days to visit Disneyland and California Adventure. I thought it might be too many, but we were busy every day. It was a good time to be there as well. The new Frozen show just opened (which we all really LOVED) and the new Soarin' ride was opened while we were there.

My little Anna, Elsa, and Olaf ready for our first day in the park! 

Before our trip, we made sure to do our research and watch lots of Disney movies so the girls would know the characters. That was one of the best parts actually! They loved meeting all their favorite characters from the movies and they just thought it was so magical. 

Anna and Elsa were of course their favorite princesses to meet. Immediately, our two Elsa's ran straight to Elsa and our two Anna's ran to Anna. It was so cute!

The girls (and adults) really enjoyed the rides as well. Both Eden and Lydia conquered their first roller coaster and informed me they were so proud! The nice thing with going with a large group is you get to trade off with who has the kids and get a good mix of adult rides and kiddie rides. 

Tower of Terror

Splash Mountain

Even Adeline enjoyed the rides

Adeline did great on this adventure. I wore her in the carrier a lot and she would sleep or snuggle. When she would wake up I would feed her (sometimes on a ride or during a show; you gotta do what you gotta do!). Then someone would take a turn holding her so I could go on some adult rides. Then when she would get fussy, I'd just put her back in the carrier and she'd go back to sleep. She was relatively easy throughout the trip. 

Adeline is snoozing on the ride in her carrier

Public breastfeeding! How scandalous! 

I love, love, love my carrier. Adeline could face in or out depending on her mood, and it was so comfortable for me to wear. 

 We stayed at a hotel directly across the street from the park which was really convenient for taking a break during the day for naps and swimming.

Papa and Adeline had a grand time together! Lydia crashed before we made it back to the hotel that day

Eden and her Funcle (fun uncle Brady)

What's a family reunion without matching shirts???? I made and embroidered these. Man, it was A LOT of work, but they turned out so cute. It was so much fun to spend time with all the family.