Our Trip down South Part 2: Disneyland Sunday

On Sunday, we visited Saddleback Community Church before heading to Disneyland for 4 days of fun. We met Emma's friend Kaylie and her family at our hotel and then headed off to the park. We started out in Disney's California Adventure where the girls tried out some rides in the "A bug's life" area

Peek-a-boo

Emma and Daddy spin on the ladybugs
We got to the park just in time to see all of the halloween decorations. I have a slight "Seasonal Candy Addiction", So seeing all this candy corn required us to buy our first bag of the season :)

Emma Poses with the "Candy Corn"


Kaylie and Emma

Candy Corn as big as their heads!

The Decorated Golden Gate Bridge

The entrance to Disneyland

Streetlamp decorations

A friendly Scarecrow
In the evening, we headed to fantasy land where Emma rode one of her favorite rides

Dumbo!
Then we got ready to watch the fireworks

Emma and Kaylie are ready to watch

Holding hands
The highlight of Dan's day was when he and Kaylie's dad were checking into our hotel. I was standing with Emma in the lobby and a man came up to me with a very special surprise. It seemed that he had gone to the park that morning and been given 2 "Dream Fast Passes" for the day, but they were leaving so he gave them to us! Dan has been dreaming about getting this Fastpass which lets you skip the line for all the most popular rides.A certain number are handed out each day in random locations around the park. During nap, he and Kaylie's dad got to go and ride all the rides they wanted to using their passes.

It was a great way to start our trip!

Our Trip down South Part 1: Legoland Adventures

Emma was off on more adventures last week with a trip down to Southern California. We flew in on Saturday and made our way to our first stop....

Legoland is a wonderful amusement park designed especially for young adventurers. All the rides are based on lego blocks and there are many different structures made entirely of Legos! Emma loved it!

Posing with another "Tourist"
Coming in at a respectable 34 inches (okay she is on the smaller side :)Emma just made the height requirement for many of the rides


She and Daddy fought fires in the Fire Academy

They flew a helicopter for the Coast Patrol

A boat ride around the lagoon

And a climb up the rope ladder
There were also plenty of places to build your own creations


Emma really enjoyed being creative
Daddy did try out one of the scarier rides, so Emma decided to practice her ballet moves :)

We walked through replicas of big cities all around the United States... Here was our favorites

We miss our east coast home :)
We ended the day in one of the great playgrounds designed especially for Emma sized friends

Emma drives the tow truck

Works in the market

Smells the flowers out the window

And drives one of the many lego cars.
The day was overcast and cool and the park was not crowded so it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon

Ballet

Emma went to her very first ballet class this morning. This is the first class we have taken where I have not participated with Emma. Mommies were aloud to stay in the room and watch and I caught a few pictures. Emma had a hard time staying in her place at the beginning of class. She kept wanting to run over and check in with me, but by the end of class, she was getting the hang of it. I think with Emma that it would have been better if I had not been there :)

Emma poses before class

Emma's friend, Kaylie, is in class with. They say hi to Baby Zachary

Practicing marching

Flying

Standing on their "spots"

At the end of class they stand and get a sticker

As you can see it is a very small class :)

The Art Party

Emma was invited to a birthday party today that was a ton of fun. There were two birthday girls named Cricket and Katelyn and the theme was "Art Party". All the kids had a great time playing in the yard, blowing bubbles, and painting The children each got a homemade smock and beret to wear as they created their masterpieces.
Emma feeds the frog

Bubble blowing with friends


Time to paint! Emma gets her paint

She finds her canvas

Need more paint!

Ta-da!

All the artists at work

Kaylie and Cricket discuss their choice of colors

After painting, Emma decided to keep her beret on

She took some time out for rocking

and plant watering

Then it was time for cake!


Thank you Katelyn and Cricket for such a fun party!

Go Hokies!

From Go Hokies

We spent Saturday morning rooting for our favorite football team, The Virginia Tech Hokies. Games are on early here on the west coast, so we were up and ready at 9:00 AM to watch the game.

From Go Hokies

Emma has a cup of tea...

From Go Hokies

Wait... that's not tea; it's....

From Go Hokies

Goldfish!

From Go Hokies

Practicing our cheering

From Go Hokies

Go Hokies!
Even though they lost, Emma still enjoyed cheering on the team!

P.S. Thank you, Nana for the great cheerleading outfit!