Tag Archives: Disney

Gracie Goes to Disneyland: The Adventures of Our Elf on the Shelf!

Posted on by under Everyday

A few weeks before our family left for Disneyland, I asked Chris “How funny would it be if Gracie made the trip to Disneyland with us?” to which he replied “Let’s do it!”.  I’m so thankful for a husband who is game for my silly antics!

Gracie was packed & ready to go the morning we left!

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She sat up front with us.  The funny thing is, Chris and I drove by ourselves as the girls rode with my parents.

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Finally to the state line!

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They didn’t look too scary so I picked these two up!  What do you think the chances were that a bus-load of prisoners would pass us as we were taking this picture? Yep….totally happened!  

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Raring & ready to go the first morning!

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Checking out the crowd while hanging out on Aunt Jenny’s shoulder.

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Happy to be safe & sound with Chris!

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The obligatory photo op by the tree!

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Gracie had no idea that Space Mountain would be as fast as it was!

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It’s a Small World was definitely more her speed!  She was thrilled to see the North Pole! She rode the whole ride on Grandpa’s shoulder…he’s such a good sport!

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The Jingle Cruise was another favorite!

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Ready for our character breakfast on Christmas morning!

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She loved the attention from Rafiki!

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And thought Alice was definitely beautiful!

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Her favorite ride of all was definitely California Screamin’! She was happy to be sitting next to Skylar! (Sorry for the picture of a picture!)

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All in all it was an amazing vacation for Gracie!  She is hoping for a family Christmas cruise next year!  We sent her back to the North Pole with the message to Santa to help make that happen!

I hope you enjoyed Gracie’s adventure to Disneyland!

Make it a great week!

JuJu

*We clearly do not follow the “don’t touch the elf or she’ll lose her power” rule!  We were more than happy to include everyone in on the fun with Gracie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the Magic of Disney!

Posted on by under Everyday, Holiday Fun

One of my favorite parts of taking Skylar to Disneyland is her absolute joy when she sees the characters!  She usually spots the characters and says “It’s (insert whatever character we happen to run into)! I need to ask him something!” or “I need to tell them a story!”.  She gets so excited and just can’t wait to ask whatever question is running through her head.  It is an absolute joy to watch!

This trip was no different!  After Peter Pan literally ran into Hailey by the teacups, he stopped to visit with our family.  Skylar was so excited.  She launched into a story about how he fought Captain Hook and how exciting it was.  She was so animated!  The best part was watching the two of them interact.  I was able to capture a bit of their interaction in photos.

It started out with “Um…Hi!  I’m Skylar.  I’m your biggest fan!” and just went from there.

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As we walked away Skylar said “That was AWESOME!  I love him!”

So thankful for the magic of Disney and the absolute joy that it brings my sweet girl!

And thank you Peter Pan!  You are doing it right!

Make it great my friends!

JuJu

If you missed the re-cap in pictures of our Christmas trip to Disneyland, you can see them HERE!

Disneyland Day 1

Posted on by under Everyday

Hello from the Happiest Place on Earth!  We are so thrilled & blessed to be here. Just wanted to share some of our favorite pictures from yesterday.

The trees are beautiful and this is truly a magical place!  The girls were tickled to see Cruella de Vil first thing when we walked in the park. She is so MEAN! It cracked me up that Skylar told her so!

There are a LOT of people here! Since Skylar has autism, we were able to get a special needs access card to use during our stay. It allows us not to have to stand in all the long lines. It doesn’t always mean that we walk right onto the rides, but allows us an alternate entrance/waiting area. The cast members here at Disney have been so wonderful with both girls! I’ve had to fight back tears many times!

The best way for us to ensure a successful day (wherever we are) is to “go with the flow”.  Chris and I have both learned that with our girls we try not to have a set plan. Skylar usually has a plan in her mind & we just go with it!  Sometimes that means going back & forth all over the park & that is ok with us.  We want this experience to be a great one for all of us!  We spent 6-7 hours yesterday at the park then came back to the hotel for a nap.  After that we decided to head back to the park for some more fun! After a few more hours Skylar announced “I’m ready for bed”.  We knew that we needed to head back soon to avoid a meltdown.

Chris & the girls went on Splash Mountain. I opted out as I did not want to walk around the park all wet. Thanks to a great zoom lens I was able to snap this picture as they came down.  If you look closely, Hailey is in the very front, Skylar is in the pink hooded jacket, & Chris is in the last seat.  This has to be one of my favorites! Totally cracks me up!

You are NEVER too old for the carousel!

Love their sweet smiles!

Hailey thought it was awesome that on the Storybook Land ride they let her sit on the front of the boat to be the whale watcher.

We had a fabulous day and are looking forward to spending today at California Adventure!  I have quite a few funny stories to share.  The lack of filter with a huge crowd of people has been hilarious! And it’s not just Skylar! 😉 We laughed non-stop yesterday!  I’ll be back tomorrow to share our favorite shots from today’s adventures!

Make it a great one!

JuJu