Disneyland

Finally I've gotten around to posting this. Bear with me, there are a lot of pictures.

It started the night before when we all met up at Steph and Jake's time share for a little pre-Disney BBQ. We also celebrated my birthday...you can never have too many celebrations right??

On Monday we woke up bright and early with much excitement. I told the kids the first one to get up would get to ride first with me. Only Jax seemed to care about this.

My mom bought all the kids matching Mickey shirts with their names on them to wear. Asher was very excited to get the show on the road. Side note: as of yesterday if you ask him where Mickey Mouse is he will point to the Mickey on his shirt.

 Dumbo was our first ride. Asher didn't really enjoy us going up high very much.

He warmed up on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

He rode Peter Pan with Grandpa and Grandma

After tons of fun in Fantasyland it was time for lunch. We made a quick pit-stop at Pirates where Asher fell asleep. He must have really loved the darkness of the ride because he passed right out.

Thanks to my sister-in-law Ashley and her hook-ups we were able to get reservations for lunch at Club 33.  It's a member's only restaurant in New Orleans Square. I had Filet Mignon for lunch...isn't that what most people eat for lunch at Disneyland?? It was delish. Quinn's dish came with a side of black truffled mac n cheese which Asher really enjoyed.

After lunch we headed over to California Adventure. I had never been there so I was super excited. Our favorite ride ended up being over there. Quinn and I loved Toy Story Midway Mania. Another highlight was getting to sit by Sadie on the Tower of Terror. 

At some point Asher took a nap.

Let me just say, this kid was an angel pretty much the entire time. He is a great little traveler and loved all the excitement of Disneyland.

The next day I think we woke up with slightly less enthusiasm and sore legs and feet. We used our free passes thanks to the Give a Day Get a Day.  The kids were able to meet many characters..I think by the time it was all over they had met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Peter Pan, Belle, Mulan, Tiana, Tinkerbelle, Silvermist, Jedis, Darth Vader, Darth Maul etc...

We had lunch at the Blue Bayou which was delish as always.

Followed up with a little Jungle Cruise where I saw my first of two vomiting incidents at Disneyland.

We spent that afternoon in Toon Town.

Cameron took a bit of a nap.

Asher had fun playing in the fountain with Grandma.

We left exhausted but having had the best time. Everyone left at varying times the next day to their respective homes. It was a whirlwind trip but so much fun!!!

trip to so cal

Today we are recovering from a fantastic but exhausting trip to southern California and Disneyland. We left Friday night at 7 pm EDT. We arrived at Heather's (SIL) around 5 am EDT. Asher actually did quite well on the late flight. We slept in and spent a leisurely morning with Heather and the kids. Heather told us about this fantastic foot massage place down the street and since she volunteered to watch Asher off Quinn and I went. It was amazing! So nice and so relaxing. Afterward we met everyone for lunch.

Then we headed out to the pool.

That night Heather made me some delicious coconut cupcakes and we celebrated my birthday.

Asher was obsessed with Miley and followed her everywhere. They were so cute together.

Thanks to Heather for the pics, unfortunately I forgot my memory card in the computer at home!

We left Sunday around noon and met some of my friends from college. We had our own mini 10 year reunion. Where has the time gone?

Asher and Wendi (my roommate freshman year)

Quinn, Wendi, me, Fred and Joey

After lunch we drove up to Griffith Observatory. I have never been up there and I loved it. Beautiful views. I would love to go back and spend a lot more time there some day.

Melissa, Joey, Quinn, Me and Asher 

Have I mentioned that Asher is obsessed with strollers? He loves pushing them around and could do it for hours and he throws massive fits when we take the stroller away from him.

Stay tuned for the next post all about Disneyland!

part II: an amazing week

After the plantation we at a  great little dive restaurant called Bowens Island Restaurant. Delish! Right on the water. Ate  at a table on the dock. Watched the sunset...saw dolphins...amazing!

The restaurant

Discarded oyster shells

The next day we drove into downtown Charleston and  took a carriage ride tour of the city. We saw amazing homes, beautiful gardens, churches galore and learned lots about the rich history of Charleston.

After our tour we spent the afternoon strolling King Street and mostly window shopping. After that we drove out to the beach.

Asher did not love the waves splashing on his feet. We are going to have to work on that. We had a nice dinner at home that night.

Monday morning we said goodbye and drove up to Myrtle Beach to check it out. If you are a fan of mini golf then Myrtle Beach is the place for you. I think we saw at  least 15  courses just driving down the main drag.

After Myrtle Beach we headed north to Wilmington, NC and Wrightsville Beach, NC ...we made a pit stop at the USS North Carolina.

Then we headed back home. We stopped at a stawberry farm on the way home to pick up some more deliciousness.

Tuesday we headed to lunch at  The Pit (famous for bbq). Once again Asher demonstrated his love for hushpuppies and for Kim.

After lunch we drove out to Duke University  to tour the chapel followed by more shopping.

Kim left us today and we were sad to see her go but the excitement continues as we leave on Friday to California to visit the California DelHoyo's,  friends from college and then meet up with most of my family at Disneyland!!!