DISNEYLAND!

So I came up with a hair-brained idea for Nikos and I to fly down to LA (a week before Christmas) for approx. 36 hours to visit the park. Best mom ever, right? I was obviously more excited than Niko, since he didn't really realize what was going on. As luck would have it, on Wednesday (the day before we left) he puked TEN TIMES after I picked him up from daycare. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Like, this was serious poltergeist action. I was super bummed that we might not be able to make the trip (weighing the whole "I REALLY want to go to Disneyland and see my friends vs. HELLO be a good mom!" but as it turns out the worst of it was over by Thursday - phew!

At the airport - the little charmer in action.



Kayla and Nikos chill on the shuttle ride into the park.

Nicolas (or Baby Nico as Nikos was calling him) and Grandma Linda.

Christmas Mickey!

Dumbo! It needed to be a self portrait since we were the only ones with the camera. Sorry kids.

Casey Jr. Train

Check out how Jen and I basically look like the same person.

Nikos loved when the train sped up.

Carousel

Hmm, I forget whose house this is...Jen? Linda?

We went to go check out the live reindeer (!) and took the opportunity to take our picture with Pluto.

How cute is this one of Kayla and Pluto!

So, I could dedicate a whole post to It's A Small World and the Christmas decorations (and the addition of Disney characters that Kayla scrupulously ordered me to photograph) but I will just show you a few of my favorites.

Linda headed home with Nicolas so he could grab a nap and Jen and I took the kids on Autopia. Ha!



So fab! Next up was a ride on Monorail Red - where we got to ride in the front car! Of course I was super excited about this (expecially since we didn't get to this summer at DisneyWorld since all guest riders in the front car have been suspended since the monorail crash.)

Next up we rode the train around the park.

Jen and I were joking about how you could look at our kids and think Kayla was mine and Nikos was hers, since neither of them resembles us that much. Of course, in the picture above, with Kayla chowing down on a soft pretzel, she is TOTALLY me.

We rounded out the night with a ride on the MATTERHORN. Yes, you heard that right. (Read that right?) You have to be 35" for the ride and Nikos is 36". Wahoo!

Here's a before shot of the us on the ride.

He loooved it and did not want to get off at the end. He is in the habit of using the word "can't" instead of "don't" (as in "I CAN'T want to wear these pants." "I CAN'T want to go to bed.") and when we were waiting to get off the ride he said "I CAN'T want to get off." Ha.

After 12+ hours at Disneyland No Nap Nikos was in full effect. At 9pm, in the midst of a tantrum while we were shopping on Main Street he (mid-wail) spotted a spatula and said "Momma, Mickey spatula!" What? Yes, tantrum averted. (Both the whisk and spatula were repurposed as Nikos stocking stuffers - wahoo!)

And to all a good night!