{Travel Diaries} Disneyland Fall 2015 - Day 2

I am so excited to be sharing our second day in Disneyland this Fall 2015.  To see Day 1 click here.

After our marathon of a day we got the best rest we could all sharing a bed in our hotel and then it was time to hit the parks again.  We wanted to get there in time for the rope drop so we could take advantage of as much of our morning as possible.  Our first stop was the Starbucks inside the park and then straight to the rope drop area, they dropped the rope just as we were walking up so I would say it was perfect timing.  Everyone and their mom headed straight to Fantasyland to get in line for the Peter Pan ride (for some reason it always has at least a 45 minute queue) and with some miscommunication on my part with Thomas we didn't get into the line... so we made the most of "empty" Fantasyland and hit up a ton of rides.  Ellie was calling for the Tea Cups so we headed that direction and found the Mad Hatter!!

It would have been so amazing if he went on the ride with us...but we weren't so lucky.

After our spin on the Tea Cups we walked right onto Alice in Wonderland (which also tends to have a pretty long queue so that was good) we could have stayed on to ride again but then I saw Peter Pan himself and just needed Ellie to meet the boy! He spent quite a bit of time with her and talked about how they both had Moccs on!! It was so cute and all Ellie wanted to do was play with the string on his shirt...

Then we walked to get in line at the Matterhorn but it was temporarily shut down so Ellie got her wish and to Dumbo we went...but first I was finally able to meet Mary Poppins herself! oh and Bert too!  A dream finally realized in the Happiest Place on Earth.

We hit up a few more rides in Fantasyland like Pinocchio, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Dumbo, and Snow White then made our way to New Orleans Square to visit the Haunted Mansion all decked out for Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas - so cool!  Lots of pumpkins.

Over to Critter Country for a ride on Winnie the Pooh

And I may or may not have taken a couple more rides on Splash Mountain;)

And then the Jungle Cruise

Space Mountain had a super short line of we walked over to Tomorrowland and I had maybe a 15 minute wait and I got Thomas a Rider Switch Pass (seriously the best thing for parents visiting the park with small children).

I love my photo bomber!!!

I'm so happy I knew where the picture was and had planned to take it on my phone searching the galaxy trying to find Thomas!!

Meanwhile Thomas took Ellie on the Astro Orbiter a couple of times and on Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters

I just missed a picture of them in their rocket.

Then it was time to head over to DCA for our lunch reservations at Ariel's Grotto.  We selected the 11:00am timeslot to avoid Ellie having a nap issue and then this happened on the walk over...

Typical, so we moseyed on over and waited until the last possible moment to wake her up. 

But when she saw she got to meet Ariel, she was all over it!!

Y'all this was the most fun!! Because Ellie was under 3 her meal was free!!! And she got a ton of food!!  The meals are all a set price and then you just choose from the options on the menu, you get an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.  It was so so good!!

Ellie got a bunch of stickers, a crown, coloring page...oh my word this is dining with a toddler heaven!! Definitely a MUST DO!!

It was such a cool restaurant and we were one of the first ones seated and it filled up quickly.

For our appetizers we both had the crab chowder, holy yum! And Ellie got some crudités (carrots and celery sticks with ranch)

Then it was our entrées. We got Ellie the spaghetti with marinara on the side (because I wasn't interested in any messes....)

Thomas had the Tri-Tip (and Ellie couldn't keep her fingers off of his plate) so delish.

I had the Pan Roasted Chicken with Couscous - also delish.

Part way through our entrées the princesses were announced and came around the dining room to greet and take pictures. 

First up was Rapunzel: Ellie was a bit unsure at first but then got into the idea!

But was also really distracted with playing with her food and experiencing a great tactile activity.  (Much to my chagrin)

Then it was time for Belle (Ellie's current favorite)

She was so awestruck and nervous!!

Next was Tiana: my favorite part was how she spoke in a southern accent!!

Then we met Cinderella: who shares a similar nickname "Ellie", but for this visit she was probably the least impressive of the bunch.

Then our dessert came. It was a trio of chocolate dipped strawberry, s'mores tiramisu, and a creme brûlée (my favorite).

Ellie also got a dessert trio: chocolate dipped strawberry, jello cup and a cookie!

 Unsure of the chocolate so we took it off and she was much happier. 

On our way out of the park to go back to the hotel for her real nap, we ran into Oswald (Walt's original carton) and were  lucky enough to be the last in line before his break!!

After Ellies "nap" (which she didn't take) we headed back to DCA and of course Ellie fell asleep right at the gate, so I got to have a churro! Oh my word, those are so good. And we walked around trying to be a slow and quiet as possible so she could sleep.

Then we got in line for the Disney Jr show and Ellie had even more fun this time around!! Probably because she knew who the characters were a little better since we have been watching a good amount of Disney Jr since our first Disney trip.

her favorite part both times were when all the gold "coins" dropped from the ceiling during Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

After the Disney Junior show we headed to cars land and got on Maters Junkyard Jamboree. It says that any age can go on this ride but it does whip around a bit so if you have an infant you might want to skip it. But it so fun and Ellie loved it.

Over to a Bug Life so we could ride Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.

And then a ride on Ariels undersea adventure.

The I saw this dad walking around with his daughter and I just knew he dressed her in the morning. I love her shorts and look at the headband, I just cracked up so hard, priceless.

Back over to the bugs life. And we got on the Francis' Ladybug Boogie, it's similar to the teacups but it's much more jerky and you don't actually get to spin it around.

We had our fast pass to Radiator Springs Racers in Carsland

My car won the race!! So far I am 2 for 2 on this ride!!

And that was the end of our day we got Ellie back in her stroller and headed back to our hotel for a well deserved nights sleep!!

♥ Ashley

First Friday post of the Year

I cannot even tell you how happy I am that it is Friday, I have been looking forward to this day all week!!  Just the thought of having the weekend and a chance to get our house back in order just gives me the thrills.  We still have our Christmas decorations up because I believe that the Christmas Season really ends on Epiphany (January 6th), but I have to be honest and let y'all know that I have actually been itching to take our stuff down since before NYE...

{ONE}

We were planning on going to Disney World in April and seriously I was so looking forward to it.  I have been there (back in like 2nd grade) but don't remember much and I am sure that it has changed....a lot! But due to some pretty exciting stuff we have decided to not risk it and give ourselves a stress attack and have decided to go back to Disneyland in February instead!!  To be honest - I am just as excited to go back to DL because it's like a second home to us.  We know the park so well and have already accomplished everything at the parks that we just get to enjoy and do our favorite things.  This will be Ellie's third trip to Disney and I am so happy that we have made the choice to give her these experiences!!  You can check out our other trips to Disneyland here, here, here, here, essentials  and here (which reminds me I still have to recap the rest of our latest trip...).  Have you ever been to Disneyland?  What are your must see's, must  do's and must eat's??

{TWO}

Ice Skating has to be one of my most favorite things we have done with Ellie.  I shared about her first experience here, and we have gone one other time...and I can't wait to take her again.  The second time we went Nanny and Papa came to watch and she was really feeling good about her skills and insisted on trying to skate all by herself...which she did for like 3 inches before she started to fall.  I was right there the whole time but she was adamant about doing it herself.  I can't wait to go again to see if she will go by herself again and to see if she has improved!!

{THREE}

I got to make some of the treats for our Christmas dinner with Thomas' family this year and I let Ellie help me make the Rice Crispy Treats and the Peanut Butter Blossoms.  Ever since I let her up on the stool to help me measure, pour and stir she has been asking me non-stop "I help you again mama?!!!!" every time I am in the kitchen.  I despise messes and because of that I haven't really let Ellie help me too much but I have made a "Resolution" if you will to have Ellie help out more in the kitchen and to try and make at least 2 baked treats a month with my mini chef in training ;)   So far we have made Rice Crispy Treats again and I actually love having my little helper...also Courtney shared these tips recently which gave me all the motivation I needed.

safety first!!!

{FOUR}

Over our Christmas Break, I really wanted to de-clutter and clean out our house. I took to throwing out a bunch of stuff from our junk drawer(s), bathrooms, and nightstands.  I cannot tell you how good it felt to just get rid of stuff that we don't use (or why I was keeping a practically empty bottle of shampoo???)  Through this process I have eliminated about 40% of my scarf collection (which is just hanging out in a basket waiting to be donated) as well as 4 sets of sheets we no longer use, three laundry baskets of clothes (also waiting to be donated) and then just a bunch of crap that was either nearly empty or broken (oh and all my make-up in my drawer that I haven't used since college - I graduated in 2008....) 

Now that our bathrooms are cleaned and organized, I can actually find a place on my nightstand for my phone, and our kitchen drawers are no longer overflowing with paid bills...I just want to keep on going!!!  Let me show you how some of our things look!!!

Our Master Bath...it's still a work in progress but really all I feel like we need to do is get some drawer pulls, new lighting fixtures above the mirrors and pick out new tile for the floor to replace the peeling linoleum from 1989...

My Nightstand gets to house the baby monitor, but other than that our nightstands are nearly identical.  I love that I have finally "styled" the shelf below and that one of our favorite features - the built in lights - actually has something to highlight, a picture of me and my mom from Senior night in high school!!  I think I am totally over the lamps in here though so I want to get rid of them, I already have replacement bases but I need to pick out a new shade for them...any suggestions??

You can also see my Himalyan Salt Lamp, I love these things and have them in nearly every room!!

here is a close up of me and my mom!

{FIVE} 

I have some super exciting stuff to share on here so be sure to check back next week to learn what's up on the farm!!!

♥ Ashley

linking up here

Ellie's First Ice Skating Adventure

One of the activities I was most excited about on our Advent Calendar this year was to go Ice Skating.  I loved ice skating when I was little and even had my own pair of skates...I'm not very adventurous on the ice but I sure do love being out there.

Turns out that Thomas has never been ice skating so this would be a first for him.  I really talked ice skating up with Ellie so she had an idea what we were going to do and I just couldn't wait to see how she was going to react.  

When we got to the rink, girlfriend was pretty excited and dressed as the cutest little reindeer! 

After we paid for our admission and skate rentals they laid our skates out on the counter...I mean how adorable are those little skates?? Ellie had to wear a size 7 because that was the smallest they had.

She would NOT sit still while waiting to get her skates on...she was just too excited!

Good thing they only had a 7 because those were hard to get on, I think her right foot might be a little bigger because we had to take the extra sock off... but she was so excited!!!

All that joy in one little face and she hasn't even hit the ice yet.

It took her a little while to get the hang of it but she had so much fun going around the rink!  We took a lap together the three of us..but it worked out best if I just held both of her hands, then Thomas took a lap around by himself while Ellie and I worked on our balance (and breaking my back from bending over to reach her hands....) So once we reached an exit we got off the ice for a short break.  Thomas was nice enough to hang out with Ellie while I took a lap around by myself and when I came back by them Ellie's face was all red and it looked like she was crying!! It was true she started bawling once I got back on the ice because "I want to ice skate AGAIN!!!" and I ditched her!! 

By the third lap she was still having so much fun and was getting the hang of it but we were getting close to naptime so we had to leave the ice (for good this time) and she started crying because she didn't want to "no stop ice skating!" Oh it was the most precious thing and since then she will just randomly tell me that "I want go Ice Skating AGAIN!!!"  Lucky for this girl we have a permanent ice rink about 10 minutes away and have gone a second time already (where Ellie insisted on trying to skate all by herself!!!) so we will be making more frequent trips to the skating rink! I can't wait to see her in the Olympics ;) haha

♥ Ashley