disneyland...day four.

our last "park-day" started out a bit later, as we woke and moved slowly.  even the girls slept longer this particular morning... but rose with bibbidi bobbidi boutique buns still intact and a song and dance in their spirits...

we had a breakfast reservation at ariel's grotto in california adventure, so we walked as fast as we could through downtown disney, and frantically found our way to the restaurant, hurriedly taking in the sights of the new park as we wove through the crowds.  i loved california adventure!  it felt like a cross between old hollywood and atlantic city, with it's sunset boulevard backgrounds, trolley cars and a pier dotted with carnival rides.  

i had been so excited about our breakfast at ariel's grotto since i made the reservations.  the prices were a little overboard, but as i said before, since our hotel and park tickets and so much was covered by pampered chef, i didn't mind splurging on a couple of fun things for the girls.  we made our way down a spiral staircase to where ariel was waiting at the bottom to meet the girls and snap a photo.

the restaurant was decked out in an ocean theme, and around the room we spotted several princesses, making their way to each table.  the girls couldn't wait to meet each one and have them sign their autograph books!  we ate a delicious breakfast, drank coffee (chocolate milk for the girls) and took pictures as each came by our table.

after breakfast, we went straight for the giant mickey mouse ferris wheel and then went on several rides; goofy's flying school roller coaster (somehow we got bella to ride with us!  emmy was too small...), the golden zephyr (a giant swing with silver rockets) and the little mermaid ride, which turned out to be one of our favorites.  because of us causing bella a case of post-traumatic stress disorder by making her ride splash mountain, she literally ran from the line of the little mermaid ride screaming for her life (not even joking)... but we were able to calm her down and assure her that there would not be a fifty two foot drop, nor would she be getting splashed (i know, we are horrible parents).

we made our way over to hollywood land for the disney junior live show, which was absolutely adorable.  the girls LOVED it, and so did we just watching their little faces (and yes, we know all of the words to sofia the first AND doc mcstuffins).

after a couple stops for photos and purchasing christmas ornaments from a gift shop, we were ready to head back to the hotel.  some friends of ours from texas had moved out to san diego and just happened to be at california adventure for the afternoon... nick stayed to have lunch with them while i took our tired girlies back to the hotel to rest up to get ready for our big (and very late!) evening: pampered chef was putting on a celebration dinner AND shutting down the entire park just for us!

after a restful afternoon, we got ready for our dinner.  pampered chef gave us all tshirts to wear for the evening, and the girls came down to their knees :)  here they are in the hallway... every time we were walking back to our room, no matter how late it was or how tired they were, they'd follow those ribbons on the carpet and yell "we're following the MAGIC!!!!!"

we made our way to one of the ballrooms at the hotel, and dined with other pampered chef-ers on a delicious dinner and dessert and then made our way with the PC crowd to california adventure.  i'll never forget that feeling of knowing that they were closing down the entire park JUST FOR US.  as we entered that evening, there were signs all along the front entrance: "park closing at 9 pm for a special event" :)

we rode a few rides in bugsland and then headed to a theatre in hollywood land to a special frozen singalong.  we sat and watched the characters on stage, belted out the songs, danced and caught falling snow on our tongues (okay, that was just emmy).

as we walked out of the theatre, we bumped into a couple special friends:

after the photo ops, we made our way to our own private viewing of "the world of color".  it was pretty amazing!  thousands of lit up fountains, projections into the water, lights and music.  i still loved the disneyland fireworks the best, but the world of color was quite a show.  

once it was finished, we made our way to carsland... come to find out, the pampered chef crowd filled the park and everything was still pretty busy!  but we were able to ride a couple of rides and definitely stop for a dance party at flo's cafe.

after getting our free ice cream treats (thank you, pampered chef!) we decided to ride the mickey ferris wheel one last time.  it was nearing midnight and we were losing our girls fast.  turns out, the ferris wheel is MUCH scarier to ride at night.  yikes.  i'm typically not afraid of heights but it definitely freaked me out a bit!  my mom had volunteered to sit with the girls so nick & i could ride the giant "california screamin'" roller coaster, but the line was pretty long and the girls were tired... so we decided to call it a night.  we left the gates of california adventure and took turns carrying two tired girls back through the streets of downtown disney to our hotel.  it was a wonderful day full of memories, and our last one at the parks.

disneyland...day three.

morning two we were a little slower to get going, but so excited to get to spend another day at disneyland!  because most of the trip's expenses were covered by pampered chef, i was excited to do some "extras" with the girls, that we may not have budgeted to do otherwise!  one of them was booking appointments for them at the "bibbidi bobbidi boutique".  i was so excited because i knew my girly girls would just be in heaven.  we made them appointments for first thing in the morning, so after we got dressed, put them in their princess gear and grabbed breakfast, we headed for fantasyland.  

but not before stopping for a few pics by the walt & mickey statue...

i know, totally cheesy... but when in disney, you've gotta pose with tinkerbell in your hand; the photographers made us! ;)

if you have little girls, i would totalllllly recommend bibbidi bobbidi boutique.  the girls LOVED it... and so did we.  there's nothing like watching your sweeties get doted on and feeling extra special.  you can buy dresses right at the boutique, but the prices are insane.  instead, i scored dresses for them at the disney store when they were having a 40% off sale, and they were gorgeous and super high quality.  bella wanted to be sleeping beauty, and emmy chose sofia the first.  

they had each girl choose hairstyles from a "menu".  three of the four options included fake hair extensions.  let's just say i did some persuading.  luckily, the bun style included a tiara, so i think that sealed the deal for my princess girls.  then, the "fairy godmothers in training" get to work... combing, detangling, styling, spraying... all the while another assistant paints their nails and applies light make up.  it's adorable.

once the girls were done, they made a big deal introducing each princess... it was precious!  my favorite part.  i think i got teary eyed.  no surprise there, though.

and emmy...

DEFINITELY well worth the "splurge".  i told nick that was some of the best money we ever spent!  seriously... it was adorable.  have i said that enough?  the best part was, they had SO MUCH gel and spray in their hair, i didn't have to do anything to it for two days, those buns stayed put! ;)

we left the boutique and toured sleeping beauty's castle, which totally freaked out bella.  it definitely was creepy... lots of long, dark corridors.  i was a little scared myself.  then we visited snow white's wishing well...

and a stop at "jolly holiday" bakery... the "matterhorn macaroon" was on my must-have-food-list, what better time than to have one for breakfast?  cookies are totally acceptable for breakfast whilst on vacation.  they're especially good with coffee.

then we headed to frontierland to go one my favorite ride: "splash mountain".  we had been preparing the girls for months that we were going to take them on some rides.  i had shown them videos and told them all about splash mountain because it has always been my favorite.  growing up, no one in my family liked rides except for me... luckily, we always vacationed with my grandparents, and my sweet grampy would go on every ride with me.  isn't that the coolest??  let's just say the girls were NOT thrilled about going on this ride (there was literally NO line; we walked right on at 9:30/10 o'clock, it was NUTS!)... we were totally the parents you see that force their kids to go because they have no idea what they'll end up liking at this point in their lives (we also dragged my mom on).  

as you can see from this photo, they were less than impressed.  but hey--we did it!  and this photo makes me laugh every time i see it!  totally worth it.  in fact, bella was telling everyone that splash mountain was her favorite: "the cave part, just not the big drop" she'd say ;)

pure GOLD

i loved this section of disneyland; new orleans square.  it was filled with good food, balconies dotting winding alleys and the easy sound of jazz bands playing throughout the streets.  we opted against the "haunted mansion" since bella was scared by the pinocchio ride... but we ran into princess tiana and stopped for a photo:

and ran to get on the riverboat before it started down stream...

and we ran into jessie on the way back:

the girls begged to ride "it's a small world" one last time... not going to lie, i was happy to oblige :)

we left disneyland around noon and headed back to our hotel.  on the way back, we made a stop at build-a-bear workshop.  we had told the girls they could get one larger present from our trip, and the past few days all they could talk about was getting princess bears.  so, bella chose elsa and emmy chose sofia.

after lunch, we snuggled the girls in for nap time...

meme slept with the girls while nick and i snuck out and went back into the park so we could ride this:

the "matterhorn"!  the girls were too small to ride it, and it's one of the few rides that isn't at disney world in florida, so i'd been wanting to ride it for years!  the line was one of the longest in the park; about an hour, but it flew by without having to wrangle the girls, keeping them from stepping on people's toes or getting too close, or peeling them off of the railings as they climbed.  we thought about trying to go on more rides, but the park had gotten busy and it was hot, so we walked back to starbucks in downtown disney and sat for a while with iced coffees.  it was a nice break, just us!

after the girls woke up, we packed up again and rode the monorail back into the park:

waiting in line for the monorail

someone got into her bibbidi bobbidi boutique makeup and tried putting it on herself... :)

because we were back so far from the castle the night before for the fireworks, our plan was to save prime spots early for the parade and fireworks!  before scoping it out, we rode on the "alice in wonderland" ride...

...and then found an empty spot on the corner of the parade route!  it was perfect.  we spread out our blankets and sat, suffering in the sun until it went down.  nick went and got us food while my mom and i sat with the girls.

churros in the shade of the bench while we waited...

gumbo in a bread bowl for mama

turkey leg for daddy

our favorite part of the whole disney experience was definitely the parade and fireworks... they were absolutely amazing!  we had the best seats for the parade this night; we literally could have reached out and touched the floats and characters!  so, so fun.  just watching the girls faces and hearing them call out to the princesses was the best part.  

almost show time!

taking it all in

"paint the night"

the first float of the parade; tinkerbell and peter pan... so fun seeing that come around the corner!

pure magic!

"cars" segment: we thought the song was marketing genius "when can we do this again?" we are totally asking ourselves that question...

"the little mermaid"

princesses... if you listen closely you can hear emmy call out "belle!  look at me!  and bella!" i love it.

"frozen"

olaf

once the parade was over, we made a mad dash into the middle of the street and this is how close we were to the castle:

it was so fun being so close to everything, and felt extra magical.  literally under the fireworks.  

"step in time" from mary poppins!  this time we saw the projections on the matterhorn from where we were standing...

"tangled"... this part in the fireworks made me cry... both times.  

such an amazing night!  we headed back to the hotel and got tucked in, ready for a good night's sleep and our last day at disney (sighhh).  love these pics of my sweet girl: