6th of many...Disneyland and the end!

Are you ready for some Mickey balloon fun? On December 27th, After some sleep in the fancy Radisson Suites, we went to Disneyland for Lillie's first visit (that she won't remember so we have to document it). We had a two-day park hopper pass so we started with Disneyland. If you've been, then you know how much there is to see. It was pretty much impossible to get everyone to agree on doing things at the same time, so we split up into a few groups and met up occassionally for a few rides and meals. After a long, tiring day, Lillie got a little cranky, so we decided to try getting her a balloon ($7.00!!). Although it cost us several dollar bills, it was worth the smiles and smiles that Lillie had. She loved it so much! When we got back to the hotel, though, one of the ears had already deflated, so we brought the balloon to a vender and they replaced it for free! They didn't have the same kind of balloon, so we got a different kind for the day, and at the end of the second day we exchanged it again for free and got a pink one that looked like the first one. So we went through three different balloons that kept Lillie very happy on an exhausting trip. Here is one of our family groups watching the parade at the end of the first day. Notice the first balloon that Lillie has with her.

Here is part of another one of our family groups posing for a quick pic while watching the parade.Waiting in line for a little kiddy ride to take Lillie on, I got a little silly with our second balloon. Aren't Mikey and Minney cute? =)Here is our third and final balloon. Notice that it's my favorite color, so Lillie and I can enjoy it together. I think I like Anna Mouse the best... =)Uncle John with Anna and Lillie from afar, coming down Tarzan's tree house. The typical princess castle family picture. It's a little hard to see because the Christmas lights are a little bright and makes it blurry. We didn't turn out so blurry though, which is good. The decorations for Christmas made the park a very fun and unique experience. Although it's very busy and hectic around this time of year, the decorations are awesome and it was cool to see. Especially the Haunted Mansion with all kinds of Nightmare Before Christmas decorations. It was a great time.Our second day, we finished up a little bit at Disneyland and then headed over to California Adventure. Here we are walking along the "backlot" of the Hollywood area. Lillie had a fun time walking around when she got tired of sitting in the stroller.Lillie also had a fun time on the merry-go-round at California Adventure, riding on a mini pink whale, obviously chosen by dad because of its great color. We took her on there while we were waiting for the other part of our group to come back from the California Screamin' ride so we could switch and take our turn.Here we are, even though it's hard to see, in front of the "California" sign with the Golden Gate Bridge replica in the back as well.

Well, after two long days of park hopping, we left California Adventure at about 8pm and drove back to Sacramento. You might say we are crazy, but we did it. Luckily, Lillie fell asleep part way into the trip and slept the whole way. We got back to my Mom's at about 2am or so, packed up all our stuff for another hour or so, then went to sleep. We woke up three hours later hopped in the car and drove to the airport. This time, the trip wasn't so horrible, but it still took a while and we got back to DC at about 10pm Eastern time, caught a cab and went right to sleep when we got in.

The next six days was spent trying to readjust to Eastern time, with late late nights and sleeping in as much as possible. Then came January 5th and threw us right back into the schedule of medical school once again. Now we are back to it and very grateful for such a fun and eventful break. We can't wait until Spring Break!