Disneyland!

(This is the 1st of several posts.)

We just got back from being gone for 8 days to California!! This was the first time we had ever flown with the girls and really our first big family trip besides going to the beach for a couple of days. So I was quite nervous about all the details. Lots of details to think about with 3 little ones on a plane. My biggest worry was losing Karis in LAX or the Seattle airport. I knew Hailey would stay with us, Avery is terrified of anyone but us, but Karis.....well she is such a free spirit and little miss social. So I borrowed my friend Kelly's leash! It was great. Actually I think the PC term is harness. Anyway we put it on Karis in the airport, I wore Avery on my back in the ergo, and all was well. The only tricky parts were getting all the suitcases and carry ons checked in but I can not tell you how smoothly it all went. We had plenty of time, the girls were thrilled, and it was lots of fun. As we took off and went above the clouds I heard Hailey say, "Karis-We're in heaven now!" To which Karis replied in an awestruck tone, "Where's God?"I explained that we weren't in heaven and if we were we would know it!

Halfway through the plane ride Karis starts walking the aisle. I let her and then looked back and she was gone. Visions of that terrifying movie flashed through my mind (the one where the little girl disappears and people say she was never on the plane). Well not to be alarmed- she had scooted her way in and was sitting between 2 twin girls who were 4. I was a little mortified but the mom thought it was great. Then Hailey joined so there were 4 little girls and the mom all coloring squished together. After that we landed and got all of our stuff and headed to find our place. As soon as we left the airport I spotted In and Out Burgers and we stopped and ate. Yummy!! I have waited years to have another one of those burgers. Then we got to our place and Matt and Kristi and Ben and Andrea came to visit!! How cool it was to be in LA with some of our best friends from Portland! So we put the girls to bed to prepare for our big day in Disneyland.

February 16- Hailey's Birthday!! This was the day we have been anticipating for months. Taking our girls to Disneyland. We woke up to pouring rain! I was so disappointed thinking it would be awful. And it was quite wet. The first thing we did was buy some hideous looking parkas but they kept us dry. Then we went on Peter Pan's flight. It was amazing. The girls were in awe and it was so cute. Ben and Andrea were our tour guides since they have been there so many times. We went to the Fantasy Faire and met the princesses who were there. Well Karis did. Avery and Hailey were a little shy. We met Belle, Pocahontas, and Ariel. (Don't worry we saw Cinderella later.) Then we went on some more rides and had a magical time. At one point I said, "We're in the happiest place on earth Girls" to which Hailey said, "I thought Ellensburg was the happiest place on earth." That day turned out great because there were hardly any lines so we got to do lots of rides. It brought back so many memories from my childhood to me...Its a Small World is still so cute- we did that one a couple times. OK...that was day 1!