Caitie: Rockin' Disney and a Shell of a Good Time at the Beach

I'm still trying to get caught up on blogging. I would like to get all posts for the last six months on here before the new year... think I can do it? ha Anyway, here is the Disney/Beach post...

The last day of school for Caitie was Thursday, May 22; it was a half day. I was busy all morning doing tons of laundry in preparation for our trip to Disneyland. We were to leave as soon as Michael got home from work that day, around 4pm. We didn't end up leaving until around 9pm that night due to my being behind on laundry and packing and due to the SUV battery giving us problems. We ended up getting to our hotel in Anaheim around 6am on Friday. We had planned on going to Disneyland around that time since that particular day Disneyland was to stay open 24 hours, from 6am to 6am the next morning, but we were just too tired. We ended up getting to Disneyland sometime later that morning, I don't remember the exact time now. It was the 'Rock Your Disney Side' event at Disneyland that weekend, which was Memorial Day Weekend. We stayed from early that Friday morning until the next Tuesday. It was fun. Here are some pics I took of our first day there...

The hotel sign (i had the camera on the wrong setting for the first few pics i took on the first day).

The entrance to Disneyland.

The girls by the Rock Your Disney Side sign. It was a party-like atmosphere mostly at night during that 24 hour period. We had already planned on going to Disneyland on Memorial Day Weekend, we didn't know about the 24 hour Rock Your Disney Side event when we planned our trip. We didn't know what it would be like, but it was fun. We would do it again.

Michael took this pic with his cell phone; we were in line for the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland.

We went back to the hotel in the evening to relax for a bit and to change into warmer clothes; it got a bit nippy out on the first night. We were on the second floor and could see the fireworks at Disneyland from our hotel room. After the fireworks we headed back to Disneyland/California Adventure ready to spend the rest of the night and early morning hours there. We ended up staying until around 3am, just three hours before closing during the 24 hour period. Here are a couple of pictures at California Adventure. We were in the Cars Land area.

We loved all the usual rides at Disneyland... The Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, the kiddie rides, etc. We also went on the roller coaster in Toons Town this time; we had never been on it. Well, it looked tame enough for a kids roller coaster ride, but for someone who isn't too fond of those kind of wild rides, I wasn't too thrilled with it, neither was Caitie, but Bailey and her daddy loved it. Typical. ha We also went on Autopia this time, which we had never been on before either. Caitie loved it, and kept wanting to go on it. We went on it twice.

This was Bailey's first time to Disneyland/California Advenuture. Her favorite ride was The Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. She keeps asking to go back to go on those specific rides. ha We're thinking of getting an annual pass so we can go anytime we want year round, but the hotel costs so much, so we're doing more research on which hotel is best to stay at for the price, distance from the parks, etc.

Here are more pics I took from Disneyland, IHOP, California Adventure, and the beach. We were at the parks from Friday through Monday, and went to the beach on Tuesday before heading home. We got home late Tuesday night.

Disneyland...

We ate at the Blue Bayou Restaurant for lunch the first two days. Very costly meals... around $80 each day. Pretty crazy, but hey, the girls did get some neat glow in the dark, pink hue, plastic ice cube thingies, so it was all worth it. ha This restaurant is in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I made reservations ahead of time, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to eat there; they're booked weeks, sometimes months, in advance. Good food, but way overpriced. Here is Caitie with the little pink ice cube thingy...