Disneyland 2010!

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This past Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we made the trip to the Happiest Place on Earth! It was the first time we drove and we also brought along G-ma (my mom) and my friend, Dani, who I grew up next door to and babysat as a young girl. We left around 7pm on Tuesday evening and arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 1:30am. Most everyone (except for my mom and I) slept the entire way there. It was a smooth drive and I know now that the drive there isn't so bad and I could definitely do it again!

Warning: Picture OVERLOAD ahead!

Our first morning at Disneyland we decided to have breakfast at Storyteller's Cafe. We met some pretty cute little creatures there like "Dale."



I wasn't sure how this was going to play out for Gabby. She would either LOVE the characters or she was going to rip their heads off. Luckily, she thought they were pretty awesome and showed them lots of love.



Monkey Love!





After breakfast we made our way to the park. With as many times as we have been to Disneyland, I think this was the first trip where we actually took our picture in front of the castle. I think it was because we had extra adults this time and we didn't actually have to stop other people to click our picture. So thanks Dani, for finally allowing us to get the "token" Disneyland photo!

We hopped on the first ride we saw which was Snow White's Scary Adventure. I should have known better. We started off all giggles and smiles:

But poor Cameron was traumatized from that point on. It really is a frightening ride...not in the way of adrenaline or thrill...but actually SCARY. That wicked stepmother is no joke!
.
We decided to keep it light for the next ride and opted for the teacups! Cameron enjoyed it, I think.

After the teacups, we decided to take a spin on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. I actually got to ride too. It's been so long since I have been able to actually ride a ride! It was so fun!

Waiting in line...



Cameron and I took a spin on the rockets in Tomorrowland!

And then we took a Jungle Cruise!
Cameron was still a little worried about what was going to pop out and scare him at any given moment so he spent the entire cruise in a state of panic and ridden with anxiety.

Gabby was so amazing on all of the rides. Not really scared at all.

About midway through the day, my girl was pooped.

A konked-out Gabalicious.


This is what Cameron looked like on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. He was not liking it at. all.
Poor dude.

Gabby woke up and thought it was AWESOME!



After all of those rides, we decided to head back to our hotel for some freshening up. But first...
ICE CREAM!

Someone does NOT want to be left out!


At a snails pace, we eventually reached our room where we lounged around like bums.


What would we do without our iPhones?


Already exhausted on day ONE!


After our little rest we headed back to the park to tackle some more rides.
Tiny Girl didn't last long.

But guess who went on Splash Mountain?
I was SOOOO nervous to let Cameron ride but he met the height requirement so I made sure Dani sat in the back and hugged on to him for dear life when we hit that drop.
My boy LOVED it and begged to go on it over and over again.

My little adrenaline junky!


As we headed out of the park, we spotted the tail end of the parade so we stopped to enjoy it.

We had dinner at an italian place in Downtown Disney shortly after we left the park.
Tired much, Gabs?


Cameron couldn't even make it through his meal. Dude was EXHAUSTED.


Thank goodness our hotel was right there in Downtown Disney. Nguyen didn't have to walk far with "Dead-weight Cam."

We finally made it back to our room and Cameron was out for the night. I was nervous about how the sleeping situation was going to pan out but it ended up working out okay. Cameron and I had our own bed. G-ma had her own bed. Dani slept on the couch and Nguyen and Gabby made their beds on the floor. I can't say I really slept all that much...I was so concerned Nguyen was going to smother Gabby in the middle of the night so I was constantly getting up and making sure the blankets and pillows (and Nguyen) were away from her.
I thought for sure the kids would sleep in but OF COURSE, I was wrong. They were up and ready to roll by 7:30am. Our mission for the day was to tackle Disney's California Adventure theme park. Stay tuned for more fun pics tomorrow!!

Annual Cookie Bake-off 2008!

3:38 PM Posted In , , , , , , , 11 Comments »
Every year my aunts and Grandma come up for the weekend and we do our holiday baking. This year we decided we would each pick out two new cookie recipes and bake our butts off all weekend. This year was a success...we only had trouble with two batches of cookies, but we still ended up with more cookies than I ever care to think about ever...

Cameron loves it when the aunties come because that means non-stop fun all weekend and, of course, they NEVER come empty handed. Cam got to open up a couple of Christmas presents early. Was he excited?


He got a cool new tent. Aunt Leigh is smart and knew I had HAD it with the living room forts :)

Cameron approves!
And Gabby approves of her new santa hat aunt Nutty brought!

Shortly after their arrival, the bake-off began. This is one of many chocolate-face pics.

One of the first batches was Nutty's famous Sour cream cookies...look on my recipe blog in a couple of days ;)



How about some Molasses Sugar Cookies? DELISH!



The prettiest cookies of the weekend...Aunt Leigh's Angel Wings!




G-ma's Chocolate Macadamia Macaroons!


While we were busy hustling in the kitchen, we would take breaks and Gabby would entertain us with her smiles.




And of course, she got to open a few presents as well!



Cameron was not left out of the bake-off. He had a major part in the CUTEST concoctions of the weekend, Christmas MICE! He was the official "cherry-dunker."



These were the cookies that almost didn't survive. First I dropped an egg in the mixing bowl while the mixer was going, stirring in millions of tiny eggshell pieces into the batter. THEN, instead of the 1 tsp. of Rum extract, I decided half the bottle was good. Somehow, someway, I salvaged them. Don't ask me how.


These were the other cookies that gave us a hard time. We still don't know what the deal was, but they were flatter than pancakes. Still yummy though.


After a full day of baking and no nap, Cameron decided he was tired at 10:30pm so he made himself a little bed under the Christmas tree...
And he was out within seconds.


All that hardwork paid off though...check out Cam's Christmas Mice!

They were beyond adorable.
The next morning, we were back at it. More sour cream cookies were needed and Cameron helped with the frosting.

sidenote: If you saw what this cookie ended up looking like when Cam was through with it, you would have vomited.
"Would you like some cookie with your frosting?"
Making the fudge!


And just because I like taking pictures of textures...




There were many more different types of cookies/bars that we made but uploading to blogger is exhausting (it takes for.ev.er.) I will be posting TONS of recipes on my recipe blog soon though, so you can check them all out there if you feel like it :)
So it was a super fun weekend and we are still tired, and it's wednesday! I can't stop eating cookies and I really should check myself into the Betty Crocker clinic.
Happy hump day!