Disney Ditch Day!

Last year my family and I volunteered to help clean up our 'Rails to Trails" for the Disney Give-A-Day, Get-A-Day" and received free tickets (except for Daniel. Technically he was too young). We did this in the beginning of the year so we had lots of time to take advantage of this free day.

However, we waited until the last minute (or I should say "I" waited to the last minute to organize our day). So when I called in early December, I thougght we would have until the end of the month and could go during Christmas break. Not the case. We had until December 15th and the weekend of the 11th/12th was blacked out. This of course was the only weekend Matt had off. So....

We had a Disney Ditch Day! You have to realize I do not usually let my children stay home unless they are puking or have a fever. Really. So this was a big deal. Even our principal teased me about ditching.

The trip began on a sour note. Miss Katelyn was sick to her stomach that morning and so we waited for her to feel better and stop throwing up. Then she said she was fine so we got in the car and headed for So Cal. She threw up every hour just about for the next twelve hours (car, restaurant, grandmas, etc). You know you are a fabulous mom when you shimmy on the fast food restaurant bathroom floor, to get under the door that your child has locked, so you can help in her while she is sick.

But we finally made it to the "Happiest Place on earth."Here is the proof!

Christmas at Disneyland-Beautiful!

Oh, and here are a few pics from our Christmas Kidz Take Over Church Program last night.

Katelyn and Charity sing and dance. 

My little angel :)

 

New Year

To start off the new year we spent a week down south. It was great to see my mom and step dad and just hang out with my brothers, sisters-in-law and nieces. We finally met our new niece/cousin, Maeli. She was so cute and already such a big girl!

Then we spent 4 days and nights at Disneyland. It was lots of fun! We were so spoiled! We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. With the help of my dad and some of his and my mom's friends, we received lots of upgrades, discounts, and free admission!

The first night was the last night of the Christmas festivities. The castle was lit up and so beautiful. My dad arranged for the girls to go to the front of the castle and be a part of the fireworks balloon test. They were able to speak on the Disney Fire radio and set off a balloon to see if the wind was o.k. for the fireworks show. It was a special treat. Then we were given VIP seating in front of the castle to watch the show - Incredible!!!

This was the first time staying at the hotel. We played in the pools at the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier Hotels. We had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen and met lots of characters. And, of course, took advantage of the short lines at the parks and rode almost every ride! It was truly a vacation to remember. The last night we met another new family member, our nephew/cousin Wyatt and had dinner with Megan and Molli too!

It was a memorable trip.