Kaelyn's 1st trip to DISNEYLAND! Day 1 (Photo overload)

This past Friday & Saturday, we enjoyed two days at Disneyland and California Adventure, which marked Kaelyn's 1st trip to the magical world we love so much and our first trip there as a family. It was a wonderful couple of days and I can hardly wait to go back!

We drove out Thursday afternoon so we could get an early start on Friday--and boy did we ever! Kaelyn tried to help get out the door by putting on her own shoes.

We took a tip from Daddy Dan and used the short-term parking lot. We unpacked the stroller and diaper bag, etc. then I took Kaelyn up to the entrance and waited for Brady. (Saturday, we went ahead inside and went on a couple rides while we waited for him to come back from the parking garage.) Highly recommend, though you can only enter the parking lot going south on Harbor.

Since it typically has a crazy long line, we decided to go on the Finding Nemo submarines first. The spiral staircase is a little scary, even more so carrying a toddler, but Kaelyn did pretty well considering the confined environment.
After breakfast and our first (of many) rides on It's A Small World (which she LOVED), I took Kaelyn on the teacups! Of course, we chose the yellow one.

Waiting in line at Alice in Wonderland

Not surprisingly, after quite a bit of overstimulation, Little passed out in the stroller. We took the opportunity to ride a few of the "big thrills" rides. They have a rider swap (for parents of babies/toddlers too small to ride and single rider program at most rides where you can go up the exit and cut your wait time down significantly. For Indiana Jones, the regular line was about 45-60 mins. It took about 10. Most of the cast members know right off the bat what you're talking about, but Saturday at Tower of Terror, I was chatting with another mom who told a cast member she wanted to do the "baby swap" and she looked at her like she had three heads. "You want to do whaaaaat?"

Love her hat. It's super bright, but it has UV protection built in and she didn't mind it the majority of the time. Actually, she put it on herself a few times. (Thanks, Grandma, for the adorable shirts :) )

Little humored us long enough to let us put a few hats on her, hehe

We went on Pirates and Haunted Mansion with Kaelyn, which she did well on (we actually went on Pirates again the next day), but I'd probably skip Haunted Mansion and a few of the Fantasyland rides, actually next time because they just strike me as pretty scary. She didn't mind them, but Pinocchio was really eery and Snow White was 90% evil queen and at the very last second (as you're leaving the ride) says "And they lived happily ever after." I realize it was Disney's first movie and didn't really dive into character or plot development, but that wasn't even enough transition or comfort for me to leave the ride with a happy memory.

A quick shot in front of the castle enroute to Tomorrowland to check out the new Star Tours ride. While Brady went on Star Tours, I took Kaelyn on Autopia. This was our need-for-speed loving toddler's DREAM ride. She liked it so much, Brady took her on it while I went over to Star Tours. Some pics from their trip around the track :)
So I guess it's a Travis trait to stick your tongue out in photos--and Kaelyn is definitely a Travis. This one's now my background on my work computer :)

Star Tours was temporary closed (which was a theme throughout the two days we were there) so they went on Astro Orbiters when it reopened and I got to go on. We headed over to California Adventure, re-lotioned Kaelyn's fair skin...and she fell asleep. It was also getting hot so you may notice the tubing from her Handy Cooler personal air conditioning coming up from the back of the stroller. Totally worth the price for these types of occasions!

This was our first trip to California Adventure, aside from a Segway tour, so it was fun to explore. We had lunch at Pacific Wharf then explored the Bug's Life "land," which is geared toward younger kids. Brady and I also each got a turn on Tower of Terror. Awesome. While I was taking my turn, a Pixar Pals Incredibles show started.

I got to watch the end of it...and Kaelyn got to pull my hair for the end of it. I don't know why, but my hair is fascinating to her and it calms her when she's tired. Oh well.

We weren't too sure how she'd respond to seeing the characters walking around. Well Monsters Inc. is one of her favorite movies, if not her favorite (with Tangled and Finding Nemo close behind), so when she saw Sulley, her face absolutely LIT UP. At first she wouldn't turn around for the photo because she was reaching for him. "Kitty!"
Just past Soarin' they have a jet engine that shoots out mist. Yeeeah, the mist was so thick, we couldn't see more than a foot or so in front of us. Kaelyn loved it though!

One of our favorite rides was the new The Little Mermaid. It was just so well done and bright and cheerful (well, except for the Ursula part), plus the music is hard to beat. This was in line when we asked her where her nose was.

She actually did fantastic waiting in lines, which was a relief.

That said, she had a new-found obsession with my sunglasses, which she stole every chance she got. Hopefully this leads to her wanting some "big girl" sunglasses in the near future.
In our clam shell :)

Kaelyn was mesmorized by all the songs and colors.

Then we walked around Paradise Pier and went on the ferris wheel. We opted for the regular gondola and not the sliding variety, hah

We made it until after 10 (Disneyland was open until midnight)...we watched the fireworks from back by It's a Small World, which was kind of an obstructed view because of trees, but was a far less crowded spot. We still were able to see Tink and Dumbo fly. We were a little concerned when we realized we were sitting right in front of the speakers, but Kaelyn slept the entire time.

Next up: Day 2!