The HAPPIEST place on Earth

I finally got around to posting the best part of our trip... DISNEYLAND!!! I also have to warn you that there are a lot of pictures! I had a hard time choosing, so beware... there are a lot! There is also no rhyme or reason to the order. We went 4 days, so the days are all mixed in with each other.

The happiest place on earth... it doesn't get any better than this.

(except if this was my house)

We found Mickey the minute we entered the park. I was so excited. Baylor on the other hand was not. He like him about as much as Santa and the Easter Bunny- NOT AT ALL. He tensed up and cried, trying to get away. It was sad, but we had to laugh. Maybe next time :)

B was so obsessed with this hat on our vacation. He wore it everywhere! This is his cute little "girlfriend" that he met outside the white rabbit's door. His hat fell off and she picked it up and put it on him. She was straightening it and smiling. Luckily we ran into them a few times that day. She was so cute.

The mad hatter, sorcerer Mickey, and a very confused child...

I decided that Baylor really needed this cute Buzz mug... it was not cheap to say the least and so I decided if I gave half my liver for it, he may as well have some of the sprite that came with it... I know bad mom... but we were on vacation :)

When we went to Toon Town we decided to try Mickey one more time. Thankfully this time, we got to ease our way into the room with him and watch him interact with other kids so B wasn't so scared. He definitely didn't "like" him, but he didn't freak this time. phew...

He really didn't like any of the characters, Pluto was okay for a minute because he was a "dog dog" but it had to be quick

The Buzz mug was just the beginning of my souvenir shopping. I'm surprised the airline didn't charge me for an extra carry on with the giant bag of fabulous treasures I found :) On the last day we were there, I decided we couldn't leave without getting B a real set of mouse ears with his name on it. Baylor and I snuck into the mad hatter and came out with these... how could you say no to this face?! I'm in serious trouble when he actually starts to ask for things!

And this is a picture I waited in line for 1 hour and 40 minutes for! The worst part, it wasn't even guaranteed that Cinderella would be in the "princess" room when I got there. The reason... I have a "Cinderella Wall of Fame" in my classroom. (I love her) It has a poster and then any student who goes to Disneyland gets a picture with her and brings it back to me. Every time the parents are like "you don't know how hard it was to find her... we had to go to a special princess dinner to get a picture with her, etc..." So when my students found out I was going, of course they were like "you have to get a picture with Cinderella!!!" My BAD. I might turn the wall into a "Disney character wall of fame" because getting a picture with this girl was a nightmare! But please believe, the first thing they asked when we got back on track, was if I got a picture for the wall and I happily replied YES!

This is just one entry from the Pixar Parade over in California Adventure. This was the BEST parade. It had all of our favorite characters in it!

Riding the Nemo submarines

... When I see an elephant fly...

This was actually our first ride. Debi was with us this day and she about puked after riding backwards to take pictures of us! Thanks Grandma Debi!

B loved the carousel. I have some cute pictures of B playing peek-a-boo with Debi, but that's a post all on its own.

Welcome to Toon Town!!!

tough guys

The day Debi and Russ were leaving Debi requested one last ride on the teacups. She wanted someone to give her a "real spin" I was happy to deliver and luckily I didn't barf.

We SEARCHED Frontier and Tomorrow land to find Buzz and Woody- no luck. so B was happy to smile by a poster of them. I was really sad we never found them.

If you can't tell... I LOVE DISNEYLAND!

I think there is just a magical feeling there, full of imagination and dreams. I could go there everyday (seriously) and be happy.

I have 2 favorite quotes, one being by Walt Disney

"All of your dreams can come true, if you have the courage to pursue them"

I will leave you with that :)

DiSnEyLaNd 2010

Sea World

We loved our trip to Sea World. There were "Nemos" everywhere! Baylor calls anything in the water a Nemo... I drilled him before our trip so he could spot him at Disneyland... now all fish are Nemos! Shamu was definitely the biggest and we were all fascinated by watching her. We got there early and only had to share the viewing tank with a few other people.

We were lucky enough to have Russ' Mom and Dad spend a few days of our trip with us. It was fun for Baylor to get Grandma and Grandpa all to himself. We all had a ball.

B was so excited to explore.

... and chase pigeons

And then we were off to the Shamu Show. Everyone was determined to sit in the "soak zone" EXCEPT for me. Granted it was the top row of the soak zone, but I've seen that show and I know how far those splashes can fly. I lost the battle and luckily there were no waves thrown our way.

so amazing

We got to touch starfish and pet sting rays.

There is nothing better than seeing Baylor learn and explore and discover new things.

There were the funniest and LOUDEST Sea Lions in the park. You could pay for fish and feed them so we decided to do it. (How smart is Sea World by the way, pay to get in here and then pay for our animals' food too :)

I decided to try a nibble, but by the way they were begging decided to give them all away.

Look at the guy (as in sea lion) down in the left corner. He was so obnoxious. It was hilarious. I really wish I could imitate his "bark" or have a recording of it and how he was flapping around begging for fish. The result was me giving him the last one and Baylor leaving thinking they were "dog dog"s.

It was a great day.

Where the WILD THINGS roam...

Another of our adventures took us to the world famous San Diego Zoo. This zoo is massive! The habitats are all so realistic and you can get very up close to the animals. We had a great time and got a good workout walking up all the hills. And of course we felt right at home, being the wild things that we are :)

B got a kick out of being a leopard seal

And of course, my favorites.

My wild thing loved them all

Here are a few of our favorites...

The amazing mama Panda

The adorable 9 month old.

It was almost a little creepy at how close you could get to the tigers. I got some good pics though!

This guy was just chillin' by the window for the longest time.

Really he must have just wanted to be in our family picture

B was as fascinated by these trees as some of the animals. He just kept walking through them, peeking around, and repeating...

He also likes the turtles as much as me... too bad you can't see them

We discovered that he LOVES ice cream. Luckily he doesn't mind sharing.

We had the best time at the zoo.

WE LOVE ANIMALS!

Laguna Beach

We had a fabulous time in Laguna Beach!!! The week went by so fast, it seemed like we were barely there. I took over 1,000 pictures, so I'm going to have to break these posts up by event :) Here are our beach and pool adventures. B was a little unsure of the beach because the waves crashing were so loud and it was freezing, but he liked playing in the sand and we had fun in the pool.

Love them

This is the amazing resort we were able to stay at. It is called the Montage. You just walk down a hillside and land right on Laguna Beach. It was FABULOUS!
They had a special kiddie pool that was just perfect for Baylor.

And this is his newest thing when you ask him where something is...

Where's paradise Baylor... oh, we're here.