Halloween...and Disney Halloween Part III!

Good golly, it seems as if we are closer to Christmas than Halloween now! Yet, I still have lots to share.

And I miss October.

It was so fleeting, and it is my favorite.

We went to Disneyland TWICE...the second time, we park hopped from Disneyland...


...over to California Adventure, which was decorated with candy corns. Their decorations were beyond cute, I can barely stand it.

Ooooooh, churros....my favorite!

Guess what Brookie got THIS time!?

And then it came.

Halloween was here, and it was on a Saturday!

After our school's carnival, I brought home the fabric we use to decorate the pop-up tents so that I could wash it for next year.

Kennedy had the wise idea to use it to spruce up the house.

It was cool.

This is our newest dude. We usually like to add one thing per year!

Shai came over from across the street and helped us carve pumpkins in the yard.

They turned out cool!!

Brooke was a dead ballerina. Very scary indeed!

Kennedy was a fairy princess. Very beautiful indeed!

After going through our neighborhood, we headed over to our friend's. Josh was super scary. Brooke doesn't appear to be scared, actually.

Then we trick or treated Sydney's house at around 10 p.m.

And that, my friends, was that. Halloween 2009...out!

Givin' love to the Mouse

We are a Disney family. We love to go to Disneyland. We love to watch Disney films. We love Mickey, Minnie, and the crew. We love Pooh Bear and Tigger, too. (now I'm a rhymin' fool!)

Daddy played a gig a few months ago in Florida, and with the proceeds from this gig, he gave to us ANNUAL PASSES to Disneyland. Which also includes California Adventure!

We had a family plan to go to Disneyland on January 4 to enjoy the last day of holiday decorations. Unfortunately, the "sledding incident" caused us to have to rethink this plan. As it turned out, there wasn't much us girls could do for the daddy but give him sympathy and make a lot of noise (Brooke) while he tried to be as still as possible. Therefore, sympathy intact, the three of us took our noise (Brooke) to Anaheim and spent a few hours. Because we can. Because we have passes. Which include parking!



Sleeping Beauty's castle was a magical wonder...it had snow and wreath swags...so lovely!

We each picked a #1 thing that we could all do together, because there was just one momma and two children with different ideas on what's fun to do at Disneyland.

First things first, we each got a churro. Then I chose Small World, because when we went last fall, it was closed for refurbishment. I recall reading that there was some furor over this re-do because they were going to mix in typical Disney characters with the traditional Small World singing people (what the heck would you call those singing people?). I am happy to report that the ride remains in its traditional form, but it does seem to be a bit spiffier. I cannot put my finger on what they did exactly, except perhaps dust off a few of the singing people and add a few glittery elements.

Brooke also chose Small World, so that made things easy!

Kennedy chose to go to California Adventure and ride "Soaring over California". I was concerned that I would get seasick because this is one of those rides that makes it appear that you are in the plane soaring over California. But somehow this ride didn't make me motion sick at all, and it was VERY cool! Brooke was unsure about it as well, but as it turns out, it is now a family favorite. Here the girls are under a tree reminiscent of the Redwoods of Northern California. We want to go to the Redwoods for real...I think that would be cool. Maybe this summer?

Ha! Doesn't Brooke look like the older sister in this shot? That's funny! She's standing on a bench, FYI.

...

We park-hopped back to Disneyland and rode Alice in Wonderland for our last hurrah.

...

"But I don't want to go among mad people", Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that", the Cat said, "we're all mad here."

...

I think this is an appropriate quote for a crowded day at Disneyland...we had to park on the roof of the parking structure - never before have we done that! It was crowded, but we didn't care...we must be mad, right? :)

Then we scurried home to daddy. Update: It's been five days since the "sledding incident" and poor daddy is still in pain. He can get around, but he's not very comfortable. The good news is that nothing is broken or fractured and the pain is to be expected. Each day is slightly better than the one before, but now he's experiencing pain where there is no injury because he's favoring the injured area. Argh! Our darling friend, Shan, brought over some homeopathic pills that are supposed to heal bruises magically. We will cross our fingers! Oh, and yesterday I purchased the magical Vodka/Triple XXX Vitamin Water combo which was the ticket on the first day of the injury. Hey, whatever it takes to get him through...ya gotta start somewhere! (Big Bear inside joke.)

Halloween Time at Disneyland

Lucky us! After nine long months (too long!), Joe and Lori (aka Lulu) came out for a weekend visit. I had been noticing the Halloween billboards for Disneyland all month, so we decided to check it out! This was our first time ever to visit Disneyland while it was decorated for fall, and it did not disappoint!

We rode all our favorite rides...the girls are getting ready for the Toontown Roller Coaster here...

Quick snapshot of them ON the ride...

Woo hoo!!!

Happiest place on earth indeed!

I just plain like this picture...

Woody's Round-up was decked out in fall foliage. In a few short weeks, it will be a winter wonderland and SANTA will be there, too!

Brooke's very favorite ride is the Winnie the Pooh ride.

The girls were in their very own honey pot.

Oh, I just love it when the Haunted Mansion is decorated like the Nightmare Before Christmas...it is my ABSOLUTE favorite. They keep it this way from October through New Year's Day.

Jack Skellington dressed as "Sandy Claws". Apparently I was not supposed to be taking pictures inside the ride, because Kennedy admonished me quite sternly. {I never heard them say that, it would be a shame not to get pictures of the coolness inside this Haunted Mansion!}

Brooke, by the way, does NOT like this ride. It is pretty scary at the beginning and she had NO time for it. Meaning...she wigged and August had to carry her out.

Here is something else cool inside the ride.

Who bit Mickey's ear???

It was a fantastic day, we even saw the fireworks show and the place that we were standing happened to be the line for Peter Pan! While waiting in line for Peter Pan, Brooke decided to send a text message. She sent a nice long text message to Uncle Ken asking him funny things like what did he like to eat. The lady standing behind us was cracking up at the little kid texting away.

Then we got on Peter Pan. The girls got in the flying ship and off they went. August and I were supposed to be right behind, but they let someone from the handicapped line in the next car. Off it went. August and I got in our seat, and pulled down the bar. And then we heard a beep. And then the ride stopped. With the children inside. And us outside. Oops.

10 minutes later, out they came and they weren't even traumatized at all! The clouds?? They are white plastic trash bags! The stars?? They hang on strings! Of course, they turned on the lights so the kids saw the ride in all its true glory, and they dug it. We got to ride it finally, and the girls insisted on being in their own flying ship. So, all's well that ends well.

To close, I leave you with a classic...children smiling on the Dumbo ride. It doesn't get much better than this. Unless, of course, they were holding a churro. Another day...a post dedicated to the churro. :)