California, here we come! (pt. 1)

Todd had a conference in San Diego this past June, so we headed out to sunny California with my family to visit the west coast.  We had a wonderful time checking out LA and San Diego -- the weather was such a nice change to Texas heat!

First stop was Anaheim for some fun at Disneyland.  Lindsay was 17 months at the time, and we weren't sure how she would react to the characters or if she would enjoy any of the rides.  To our delight, she absolutely loved it!  Disney must run in her genes. :)

We stayed at The Grand Californian, which is a lot like The Wilderness Lodge in Florida.  The best part about the hotel is that it has its own private entrance to one of the parks!  It was so convenient to be close to everything with a little one in tow.  The time change also made a huge difference, because our baby that normally slept until 8:30 was ready to go at 6:30 -- perfect timing for the parks that opened at 7!

Riding the Rides

Toy Story Midway Mania with Lollie and Pops

A kid version of Mad Hatter Teacups.  She was NOT impressed!

Favorite Ride of the trip: Small World with Aunt Abi

Second favorite ride: Ariel's Carousel.  She thought she was big stuff riding this one!

Meeting the Characters

Her favorite character is Minnie Mouse -- she ran right up to her!

Loving on Minnie

She didn't want to leave Mickey Mouse!

She was also really excited to meet "To-to"

Random pics from around the parks

Lindsay and Mommy in front of the Ferris Wheel

She loved her Tigger souvenir!

Lindsay and Lollie

All in all, Disneyland is definitely no Walt Disney World, but it was fun and nostalgic for me to see how it all began.  The weather was beautiful (and sometimes even "cold" to us Texans!), and we didn't feel rushed at all to see everything we wanted to see in the 2 days we were there.  We also lucked out that the new Cars Land had just opened at California Adventure (the other Disney park in CA) -- it drew the crowds away from Disneyland itself, so the lines were all pretty short!  It was a great way to spend a few days in LA! :)