it's a beautiful life: The Happiest Place on Earth

We took a very spontaneous trip out to California this week. It was much needed & enjoyed! We took Anelia to Disneyland for her Birthday in October & we had so much fun. We've been contemplating going again before I get too plump with this little bundle & this week the oppurtunity presented itself so we took it & ran, literally. With the incredible help of my brother, his amazing wife & mother-in-law we were able to not only enjoy Disneyland, but we got to visit Disney California Adventure for our first time and for an incredible deal! Our trip was extremely last minute & without their help we wouldn't have been able to enjoy both parks. I'm soo very thankful for their help in setting everything up for us just out of the goodness of their hearts. With us expecting another baby we won't be able to travel for a long while. I'm so glad we were able to go on one last trip with the 3 of us & it was all thanks to them!

The first night we arrived at 3am, with it being such a spur of the moment trip we literally packed up & left at midnight. Sage drove the entire way as I've been dealing with a lot of nausea but that ~~was not~~ going to stop us.

When we arrived we stayed at a little motel called the Jolly Roger. Back in 2009, our family stayed there & I don't remember it being that bad. For a last minute trip it was our only choice. Well, it was definitely not what I remembered. The room was upgraded but as soon as we walked in we saw not one, but two huge cockroaches. Ugh! I didn't sleep well at all, I was so worried that I was gonna wake up with giant roaches all over me. I guess we're slightly high maintenance but this was not acceptable. No thank you. We had originally planned to stay there both nights but that changed very quickly because I woke up the next morning & noticed that one of the two cockroaches was missing from the trash can. I then noticed *insert dramatic pause here* mouse droppings. The mouse must have eaten one of the roaches or something? Who knows, who cares. I woke up Sage & went straight to the office to cancel our reservation for the next day. I'm not one to complain, being a concierge I know the other side of people who love to complain so I just kept quiet about the visitors we had in our room & ran away, fast!

We had originally planned to go to the parks as soon as they opened at 9am but the person who was providing us with our tickets wasn't available until 1pm. This actually worked out in our favor & wasn't a big deal at all for us. With me being pregnant, I don't think I could have handled 12 full hours at the park.

We were able to enjoy some yummy breakfast at Coco's & then headed to another hotel to see if we could check in. Back in October we stayed in a two bedroom suite at The Residence Inn Garden Grove. I can't say enough good things about this hotel. We've stayed there a total of 3 times & each time is always an amazing experience. I was extremely happy to hear they'd allow us to check in so early & I had originally asked for just a regular room with a king bed but the nice girl at the desk provided us a complimentary upgrade into a two bedroom suite. Our luck throughout this trip was incredible!!

We got a text from my brother's mother-in-law that said we'd be able to go before 1pm so we headed to the parks in excitement around noon. I still can't say enough how thankful we are for everyone who helped us!

California Adventure was our first stop! It was all of our's first time so we were like little kids walking in. We rode two rides right away, Flik's Flyers & Monster's Inc. Mike & Sully to the Rescue. Ane loved both, my fave of the two was definitely Monster's Inc. The crowds weren't bad at all & the longest we waited was about 15-20 minutes max & at the least was less than 2 minutes. We made a stop over at Radiator Springs & it was so neat & exactly like the movie! We stopped for drinks & snacks & while doing so our little social butterfly attempted to make friends. She said "Hiii!" To so many kids & I think only one said Hi in return. Rude kids.

Snacks weren't gonna cut it & we headed to lunch at one of the Cafe's near Paradise Pier & enjoyed some yummy bread bowl salad & soup. Ane didn't eat much at all because she saw the ducks & the rest was history! I'm almost certain the highlight of her trip was when Sage gave her a piece of bread & let her feed them. For the next hour she kept running to our table to get bread then back to the ducks. I'm sure those ducks loved her as much as she loved them. She kept quacking at them & it was hilarious. Im sad to say I didn't capture this in pictures, I didn't capture much to be honest, seven pictures total. Horrible mommy, I know. Thats what blogs are for right?

After lunch we wandered a bit then rode The Little Mermaid ride. It was cute & Ane enjoyed it a lot. We decided to venture over to Disneyland to ride It's a Small World. In October it was closed so we were excited to take Ane on it this time around. After passing the castle I noticed Ane was literally slumped over & knocked out with her head on her sippy cup. I should have taken a picture but I felt so bad that she had fallen asleep like that & sat her back in the stroller. Her falling asleep worked out because It's a Small World was closed again, womp womp! While she napped we headed to the Tiki Hut & waited a long 15 minutes for their soft serve pineapple ice cream & pineapple floats. They're supposed to be delicious so we decided to give them a try. They were really yummy, I loved the soft serve & Sage loved the float. We over ordered though, we ordered two of each... ~~Don't judge~~! Lol!

To kill more time while Ane slept we decided to go watch Captain EO with Michael Jackson. Ane ended up waking up while watching it & Sage fell asleep, it wasn't very exciting to be honest. We stopped to get Ane some snacks since she didn't eat much earlier thanks to the ducks. Then we headed over to the carousel, she loved it of course. Our next ride choice was one I regretted right away. We took her to the Haunted Mansion, I know, I know, never again. She didn't cry but she looked so scared the entire time. I kept whispering sweet things in her ear & I'd ask if she was okay & she'd say "I'm oday!"

To make up for our bad ride choice we stopped at one of the cafés in the Orleans area & got some beignets. We've never had them before & oh my goodness we have been missing out. They were soooo delicious! They're little Mickey snapped scones covered in powdered sugar. So divine. I want some right now.

The parade was a hit for Ane back in October so we went to watch it again & she enjoyed it all over again. It was pretty funny because during the parade Tinkerbell's float broke down & caused about a 10 minute delay to the parade. I did capture that, co-figure huh?

We've never seen The World of Color at California Adventure so we set out to do that next. By this time my feet & legs were killing me & I had a horrible headache. When we got to where the show is there were crowds of people already standing to watch the show... That didn't start for another hour! Crazies. I didn't want to stand & wait so I told Sage I was throwing in the towel at about 8. This is how I know it's a good thing we didn't go earlier in the morning.

We had dinner then knocked out as soon as we got to the hotel. We enjoyed every minute of our trip! It's one I'll never forget & that I'll cherish forever because it's our last with just the three of us. Our next journey to Disneyland won't be for awhile & we'll be a party of four!