~Family Vacation to Universal Studios- Day 4~

We thought we'd shake things up this trip and try out Universal Studios.  It was a lot of fun.  Dave hasn't been here since he was a kid, so everything was new to him.

Hunter wouldn't smile for the pictures because he was mad that I only gave him a half stick of gum, not a full stick. :)

Hunter and Mckell LOVED the rides at Universal Studios. Their favorite was The Mummy Ride.  I was glad that they had a kids play area for Garrett to play in while the kids went on the big rides.

While taking the studio tour, we had to be super quiet through one of the sections because they were filming a movie.  Dave swears he saw Daniel Craig in a tuxedo behind the black divider curtains they put up to kind of hide what was going on.  It was pretty cool.

Hunter trying to win a prize.  He came pretty close.

Enjoying some ice cream and a cookie.

Hunter was disappointed that we said we were going to go and see some of the shows.  He wanted to stick to the rides, but he was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed all the shows.

Universal Studios was a success!

~Family Vacation to Disneyland- Day 3~

One of our favorite things to do at Disneyland is the Character breakfasts.  We love eating with Minnie and friends.  I was a little worried how Garrett was going to act with the characters, but he did really good.  The only character that scared him was Captain Hook.  It was funny, the minute he saw him he came running to Dave and me and squeezed in between us on our bench.  He stayed there the rest of the breakfast.

I love how the characters come and play around with you at your table.  It is so fun to have the up close interaction with them.

Love this picture of Garrett hugging Tigger!

It was funny how all the characters liked to tease Hunter.

After breakfast, we hit the rides.  Like Thursday, the waits were no more than 20 minutes and most of the waits were only 10 minutes.

Lexi saw Flick in Bugs Land and said Hi to him.  He grabbed her hand and started walking off with her.  You can tell from the look on Hunter's face that he was totally confused about where Flick and Lexi were going, lol.  They went to a cute little spot that was great for taking pictures.

For years I have wanted to see the Pixar parade.  We finally made it.  Garrett LOVED seeing all his favorite characters.  Lightning McQueen, Mator, Buzz and Woody, the Incredibles, Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc.  Bubbles fell from all the rooftops during and after the parade.  The kids had fun playing in the bubbles.

~Family Vacation to Disneyland- Day 2~

We got up bright and early the next morning to head to Disneyland.  We were all super excited!

The first ride we went on was Peter Pan :)  That's what you do when its early entry and the whole park isn't opened.  Then the kids headed over to Star Wars.  While everyone went on Star Tours, I took Garrett on the Buzz Lightyear ride. I thought he was going to love it.  He really didn't know what to think about the rides.  It took him a few rides to get used to it all.    After that, he couldn't wait for the next ride.

Nemo

Now, I really wasn't that scared on Space Mountain, lol.  Flashing lights give me migraines, so I cover them for the flash at the end, lol.

My favorite ride is Splash Mountain.  I was so proud of Mckell and Lexi!  They went on every single ride.  Even though some rides terrified them.

You can't do Disneyland without dinner at the Blue Bayou.  We love the atmosphere!  And the food is pretty good too.

Lexi hated Tower of Terror.  Mckell loved it :)

Garrett loved Cars Land.  I really should have taken more pictures of it.

We wore the kids out that first day, lol.

The girls were excited to see the towel animals when we got back to the hotel.

The first day at Disneyland was perfect.  We never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride (and most rides were just a 5-10 minute wait), no rides were closed, and the park was decorated so pretty for Christmas.