Disneyland and American Girl...

We took a quick three day trip down to Disneyland and, of course, we stopped at the American Girl store on the way home. Both Sierra and Samantha had a great time. Sierra and her friend (we went with friends) had a great time going on the rides while Samantha had a great time running around, looking at things and spending lots of time with Mama (her favorite thing to do these days!). Sierra was also excited to take Samantha on several "baby rides" since Samantha had never been on any rides before. At the AG store Sierra had her own money - she's been saving for over a year - so it was a struggle for her to decide what to buy and what to wait to buy until next year! She got some cute stuff and we got two of her dolls fixed up with fancy hairstyles and clean faces! Enjoy the photos and if you haven't seen it yet take a look at the last post where Sierra wrote about Samantha's 6 month anniversary in our family.

THE DRIVE:

Heading out and then FINALLy arriving - driving with a baby sure adds time to the drive time!

DAY ONE:

Two breakfasts for Samantha - one at the hotel and one at Disneyland (she wouldn't eat at the hotel because she's VERY picky but she loved the Disney breakfast!).



Samantha's first ride with Jei Jei and friend Elizabeth...playing with the water ball...meeting Cruella DeVille and just having FUN!!!


Sierra's favorite ride is Autotopia...second fav is Pirates and third is Indiana Jones!


Running from the Indiana Jones Ball of Doom - Samantha thought this was very strange and very funny and wanted to do it again and again!


Rainforest Cafe dessert...as soon as Samantha heard us order dessert she quit eating her dinner!

DAY TWO:

California Adventure...even Samantha has some of the California songs memorized now (ironically we listened to some on the drive because the only CD's we could find were the oldies!),


Samantha & Sierra on the bug ride at CA Adventure A Bug's Life


Sierra and Samantha in front of Mickey at Disneyland in their matching Disney shirts! First Samantha had a tantrum and then she smiled pretty for the camera!




Waiting for and then watching and then waving to the parade! The wait was a bit difficult but once the parade arrived they were all happy!

The three princesses in front of the Castle - I've been to this castle in real life in Germany. The one there is much prettier and much bigger!!


Sierra and Samantha's on Samantha's favorite ride of the day - Casey the train.


The last of Disneyland for 2008!!

DAY THREE:

Lunch at the Farmer's Market across the street from the AG store.


Sierra, and Samantha, deciding what to buy and what to put back...Samantha then having a tantrum on the floor because Jei Jei wouldn't give her the boxes to open!


This is what daddy did at the AG store. He tried to keep up with Samantha but alas she out-ran and out-smarted him all afternoon!


It's over...Sierra chose well and will have lots of fun new things for her AG to play with and to keep Samantha from getting her hands on!


Now for the drive home...which took 9&1/2 hours, instead of the normal 6&1/2! Samantha couldn't/wouldn't sleep and she gets very upset if she can't see Mama and since Mama was driving for the first few hours (and she faces backwards) well, lets just say it was a rough trip, especially for Jei Jei who sat with her and comforted and tried to entertain her!! We got home at 2AM - Samantha finally fell asleep at 10:00 after J and I switched and I sat in the back with her. Sierra finally fell asleep at midnight. The drive, as usual, was the worst part of the trip! I took these photos because I realized that after making this drive hundreds of time, beginning as an infant and heading from SoCal to visit relatives in NoCal, I've never taken any photos. Most of the drive is orchards, vineyards, crops, cows but I ended up with two photos of grass!