Our AdVeNtUrE to Disneyland!

We decided to kick of our holiday season with a trip to Disneyland! Justin and I hadn't been since we were 12 years-old, and Jackson had never been. So, we tagged along with my sister and her family since they go every other month! We chose to go during this time of year for crowd control and to see Disneyland during the Christmas season. I can't remember what D-Land (our name for Disneyland now) looked like almost 16 years ago, but I do know that there is nothing quite like D-Land at Christmastime! We had such a wonderful time and really can't wait to go back again. Justin misses Soarin' over California and California Screamin'. Jackson misses the Matterhorn and It's a Small World. I miss the atmoshere in general and just watching all of the kids have the time of their lives.

We are dining at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant you see when you first enter Pirates of the Caribbean. This is a noteworthy picture because not long after it was taken, Jackson threw up all over the table and all overJustin's dinner! That was the first of 3 throwing-up episodes from our little guy. He was always just fine and ready to go on more rides after his little episodes, which made us think he must just be sensitive to motion.

Eat your hearts out! We scored Dream Fast Passes the second and third days we were at D-Land. These tickets are a hot commodity--Justin and Darren were always on the lookout for them. They hand them out sort of secretly around the park--but the catch is, they don't just pass them out. You have to approach the right worker and ask for them! Needless to say, we were excited to get them.

Just a few of the characters we saw during our visit. We saw a live performance with all the characters, but the upclose visits were with Pluto, Tigger, Flick, Sully and the other Monsters Inc. characters, and Woody and Jessie.

Jackson really liked the roller-coaster type rides; another way he is like his daddy. Justin would stay at the park while I took Jackson to nap during the afternoon. While we were gone, he would pack in all the rides with Darren and Ethan. He LOVED California Screamin' and Soarin'. We decided that we really liked California Adventure Park for these fast rides along with some fun kiddy rides, including Bugs Land. The last picture is of "It's a Small World" decked out for Christmas. This was definitely another one of our favorites.

Of course, one of the greatest things about this trip was spending time with my sister, Alison, and her family. Jackson and Blake love playing together. I have so many pictures of them together because they always seemed to be together. I have to point out the toys they are holding. Some guy at Denny's won the reindeer and football for them from one of those claw machines. They pretty much didn't let the toys out of their sight for the rest of the day. Thanks to Alison and Darren for a great trip. I'm sure we'll tag along again next year (right Justin?)!

What about Bowen? He had his own little vacation with my Mom while we were gone. Of course while we were gone, he learned to wave bye-bye and advanced his crawling from army-style to the good old-fashioned crawl. We missed him so much! He was a little unsure of us when we first got back, but it wasn't long before he starting giving us his sweet smiles and cuddly hugs again!