CALIFORNIA... HERE WE COME

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Dan and I have been wanting to take Reagan to Disneyland ever since she became addicted to Mickey Mouse. I believe her love for Mickey came right after we took the kids to Disney World last year. We thought Reagan would love it; however she was a little overwhelmed by it all. We knew this year would be a different story and we wanted to take her before her love of Mickey went away. We have always been Disney fans; however we have never had a child into Mickey Mouse like Reagan is. Everything is about Mickey - Mickey computer, trains, coloring and painting books, stories, stuffed animals, puzzles, fruit snacks, etc.

With money being a little tight, but stress being at a level of its time to get a way, we decided to take a road trip this year and use our time share in Anaheim. We invited Grammie and Papa to join us and we started planning. We also did a day of service to earn free tickets to Disneyland. Our family made and tied 18 fleece blankets and donated them to Circle of Love. It was a fun project with a great reward at the end. As we continued to plan the only thing we were missing out on this trip was the beach - California beaches in April are not so good, so we started looking 3-4 day cruises. We were able to score some really good rates and decided to make the most of our trip (and get the best of both worlds) by using part of our time going on a cruise.

We broke up the trip by stopping in Vegas each way, we were also able to use our timeshare there as well and the resort was beautiful! The first day we took the kids down the strip and walked them to death. They were so tired by the end of the night, but we wanted them to see all the amazing hotels. We stopped in at M&M World and the Coke store. We took them to see the Volcano show at the Mirage. We saw several street performers and got a big kick out of them as statues. We went to the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur for dinner and the entertainment. Although Madi's allergies got very severe, I believe we all enjoyed the show. The food on the other hand left something to be desired. The fighting scenes were fantastic and Reagan loved the horses.

The next morning we continued on to California, we spent two days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Our first stop was Toon Town to see Mickey and Gang. We had never spent time here before and I thought it was super cute. Reagan was in heaven and was so excited to meet Minnie and Mickey. She was jumping up and down with her hands over her mouth to try and contain her joy! (I loved every minute of it!) She wanted to meet everyone (but there just wasn't enough time in Toon Town) We toured through the houses and then went on to bigger places for the older kids. Indiana Jones is still my favorite ride, although Splash Mountain is a close second. I love that Madison and Jaxson will go on anything, they have a love of adventure. Having my parents along for the ride is nice to because we can take turns going on the rides with the kids. Reagan was a great sport, whatever ride she was tall enough to go on, she did and never cried. Space Mountain is at the top of both Jaxson and Madi's list of favorites. The first day was almost a complete success until it got a little chilly and Madi needed a jacket. We started looking for a hoodie in the shops on Main Street when Reagan decided to have a good time shopping as well. She was trying on sunglasses and showing everyone, her favorites were a pair of rainbow star sun glasses. At the same time Jaxson started to get a migraine so it was time to get going. As we left the park we realized Reagan did not have her glasses on. My mom and I ran back to the store where she was trying on glasses, but had no luck. (First day in the park and her brand new glasses were gone.)

The following morning we went to Goofy's kitchen for breakfast, this is a favorite of ours because so many characters come out to play. The menu is also very silly with peanut butter and jelly pizza, mickey mouse waffles and pancakes, lot's of Goofy style treats and more. We met Pluto, Goofy, Princess jasmine, Bleu, Chip and Dale and Cinderella. Reagan didn't care much about meeting the Princesses, however was very happy about her encounter with Goofy and Pluto. (I know that will all change soon.)

After breakfast we ventured over to California Adventure and went straight for The Tower of Terror! By far this is the best ride in any theme park, I laugh every time we go on it because it freaks me out. Madison and Dan love it as well, not so much for Jaxson, but I'm sure that will change with time as well. We went to Playhouse Disney Live on Stage for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We spent time at the California Screamer (one of Madi's all time favorites and Jaxson's too). Then we get to experience the new Toy Story 4D arcade ride. We waited in line for this ride longer than anything else on our trip, but it was worth the wait! Had the line not been so long we would have done it 3 or 4 times. What a ball it was shooting all the screens and competing with the person next to you! Reagan loved California Adventure and really got into riding all the rides. They had an area with smaller rides and she just wanted to keep riding like the big kids, it was fantastic to see her have so much fun. Several of us went on the big water ride and Jaxson got completely drenched - we laughed so hard because it was him and not us. We spent every last minute at the parks and enjoyed the fireworks because we missed them the evening before due to the headache.

The following morning it was time to get on the cruise ship, so we drove to the port and started our second vacation! This was our first time going with Carnival - they are the only line that now does Baja Mexico cruises. We were lucky enough that this cruise was taking us to Cabo San Lucas, a beautiful destination none of us had ever been to, so we were all excited about our upcoming travels.

Reagan's birthday was on our first full day on the ship, we knew we needed to do something big (even though we took here to Disneyland for her birthday) So I pre-purchased party hats and we had a birthday celebration at dinner. We gave her a few small presents and our waiter brought her a piece of cake with a candle on it. This made her day because she had requested party hats for her birthday and a birthday is not complete without cake. (She had been talking about cake for weeks.)

Cabo was breathtaking as we pulled up to the island. The huge disappointment was we had to be ferried off the boat and the wait on the ship to get off was over an hour. When we did finally arrive on the island, we took a water taxi over to land's End and Lovers Beach. What we didn't know was that the waves were very rough coming into the beach so there were people on the beach trying to escort you off and expected tips in return. One of the guys fell over with Reagan in the water and it scared her silly. (he still wanted a tip) She would not touch the water the rest of the day. I still can't decide if that was a good or bad thing because it didn't have to worry about her running off. Jaxson and Dan attempted to snorkel; however the waves were too strong to get past. We decided this was not the best beach for us and had the water taxi take us over to the public beach instead. On the way we saw Sea Lions. We go to feed the fish as they came jumping out of the water, it was a riot. The public beach was nice, we sat out on some hotel chairs and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine. Madi and Jaxson had a fabulous time playing in the water and on the beach. I loved being able to read, drink a pina-colada and just relax.

The following day on the ship it was overcast, it was a bummer to have our last day on the ship be cold. We braved it for a while to watch the ice sculptors and have lunch but after that we headed inside for some other activities. We did build-a-bears with the kids and went on a family scavenger hunt around the ship. We had tea and desserts at 3:00 We stopped in for chocolate covered strawberries and played Bingo. We enjoyed Karaoke that evening and a performance by Fun Force; a break dancing duo from Brooklyn. They are extremely talented and Jaxson was in awe. He even participated in the show by showing everyone what the wave was. Madi thoroughly enjoyed her freedom on the ship; she got to hand out in Circle-C, which was for the 12-14 year olds. She came and went, sometimes came in after us. She met a few girls on the boat and loved hanging out with them without her parents.

Dans favorite part of the cruise was going to dinner and having Carnival's special warm, chocolate, molten cake with ice cream for dessert. He and Jaxson looked forward to it every night. I think we all ordered it everyday with another dessert of course. What is a cruise if you can't order and try everything!

Our waiters were awesome. Silvia and Ivica were extremely nice, accommodating and took care of our family for breakfast and dinner each day.

The next morning we were off to Vegas again - we spent the day swimming at the pool. The resort even had a lazy river. We couldn't have asked for better weather (80 degrees) It made us not want to go home. We wanted to hang out for days and just soak up the sun, especially because we got gypped on the last day of the cruise with the weather. That evening we took the family to Serendipity 3 for dinner. It is located on the strip and Caesar's Place. The joint was fun and had great food. We shared a frozen hot chocolate and then headed over to the Bellagio for the water show. We watched it a few times because it is amazing!

The next day it was time to head out and home, but not before we swam again and played some shuffle board! The kids were fantastic on the road time. I was a little worried about them being in the car for that long but they did great. I was fully prepared with movies, games, treats, pipe cleaners, bend-a-roos and pre-made vacation books with several activities for them to do. (I probably went a little overboard, but I would rather be safe than sorry)

The best thing about the trip was I didn't have to go back to work the next day. I actually had time to do the mountain of laundry we had and get things put away the following day!