Disneyland!

Over the long weekend for Veterans Day, we took a quick trip to Disneyland! We left on a Wednesday morning for LA and arrived to sunny & 80 degree weather right as the snow started to fall in Anchorage. About two feet fell after it was all said & done...we got out just in the knick of time!

{all smiles in the airport even though it was so early...the kids were up at 3am for our 6:00 flight}

{a much-needed nap on the flight}

The LAX airport has a Chick-fil-a, which was a nice treat after a long travel day! And I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of it, but there is a Panera right outside of Disneyland literally on our walking route back to our hotel. So we absolutely enjoyed dinner there {twice!} and got bagels to enjoy on our last morning before heading back to the airport.

After checking into our hotel, we walked over to Downtown Disney. It was so fun to see it all lit up for Christmas! {I think the last time--and only time--we were at Disney when it was decorated for Christmas was when Brady was four months old.} The Lego store was the biggest hit of the evening with the kids. I can vividly remember taking them through that store on our previous trips to Disneyland, but the kids were much more into it now that they're older.

The next morning we woke up & headed straight to Disneyland!

{Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters...I think we rode this ride more than any other ride on this trip!}

{Star Tours..the kids were very into the Star Wars rides on this trip since they've been working their way through all nine of the movies on their weekly Friday movie nights}

The next few pictures are all from Autopia!

{Matterhorn}

After Matterhorn, I took Brady back to the hotel for a quick nap while Derek & the girls did a few rides with longer lines.

After Brady's nap, we headed back to Star Wars Land to find Derek & the girls. We had a few photo ops along the way!

{posing with the giant Christmas tree on Main Street}

{it's hard to tell in the picture, but if you zoom in that's Chewbacca & Rey way up there in the background on the balcony}

{Jungle Cruise}

{Jungle Cruise}

Our second day was our long day. We started the day at California Adventure & ended at Disneyland to ride a few more rides & watch the fireworks display.

{My memories of Disney as a kid are long, hot lines with my family. Thankfully with lightning lanes, we never have to wait too long for anything these days. But I do think a few long lines here are there are a rite of passage & build a little character, ha! ;) We jumped in the line for the Radiator Springs Racers ride when it was only 70 minutes. It ended up being a little over two hours...but moments like this make it all worth it! Watching Shelby play with Hadley's hair while we waited in line is such a small thing, but I want to sear it in my memory. This ride was one of my favorite memories of the trip! We all loved it!}

{Symphony Swings}

{Disney Jr. Dance Party show}

{Disney Jr. Dance Party show}

Next up..Midway Mania! 

Our last full day was spent at Disneyland!

{front row for Big Thunder Mountain!}

{all aboard the Disney Railroad!}

{It's a Small World all decked out for Christmas!}

{another ride on Astro Blasters!}

{Space Mountain buddies!}

{The kids all rode in one car together for Big Thunder Mountain...core memory! This ride has always been my very favorite, so watching them learn to love it together is so fun!}

We ended our park day early for dinner at Panera & watching our Dawgs play from the comfort of the hotel room. We knew that 2am alarm would come quick!

And just like that, it was time to head back to the snow! 

{these kids are professional travelers!}

{playing the card game Golf at a Qdoba table in the Seattle airport during our layover}

At some point during our long travel day back home, I said to Derek: "I think we're more of a red eye flight kind of family as opposed to a first flight of the day." Without missing a beat, Brady looked at me and said in the most matter-of-fact voice: "I'm more of a middle of the day flight kind of person." It was too funny! I told him as soon as we move from Alaska, we can get back to "normal" flight times. Unfortunately, to get in or out of Anchorage, red eyes or 6am flights are the only option. ;)

{stunning view before landing in Anchorage}

{the kids and I hung out in the Anchorage airport for a bit while Derek shoveled us out of the parking lot!}

And then we watched and waited from the comfort of our warm car while Derek tried to shovel us a path into the house when we got home....life in Alaska is an adventure! 

The next morning, Brady fell asleep on the couch about an hour after breakfast. There is truly no tired like Disney tired! 

Due to the crazy snowfall {and the city being unable to keep up with plowing}, Shelby's school has had remote learning days all week since we've been home. It has been a nice, slow re-entry to reality after go-go-going at Disneyland! The last time we were at Disneyland was 2018 right before we moved back to San Antonio from Las Vegas. I can vividly remember being there with our double jogging stroller, it's crazy to think how much bigger and different the kids are now! We are so thankful to keep making these memories with them. Here's a quick flashback--Brady would have been almost 2, Hadley was 5, and Shelby was 7.