Harper's pre-flight necessities: Purse, check. Necklaces, check. Bracelets, check. Teeny princess, check.
Hadley's pre-flight necessities: Head phones, check. DVD player, check. Pink blankie, check.
Unfortunately, she was just pretending...there is no sleeping on planes for these two.
We made it!!!
10:00 p.m. Hadley's internal clock...she finally hits the wall.
Day 1: Bruxie's Famous waffle sandwiches before touring Izzy's campus.
Grilled Cheesey. Tomatoes on the side.
Other half of Grilled Cheesy + Daddy's Reuben Waffle sandwich.
Goofing off at Chapman
Snuggles by a slab of the Berlin Wall
We had to stop for cupcakes at The Perfect Circle, recent winner of Cupcake Wars!
The two most delicious cupcakes in the joint
Izzy's apartment complex rocks for so many reasons. #1 being our rented 2 bdrm/2bth apartment within baby monitor distance from Izzy's apartment. #2 being a super fun playground!
Playground communication
#3 being the private movie theater we had all to ourselves!
Popcorn, Gigi, Papa, and a Disney movie = excellent afternoon downtime activity.
Day 2: DISNEY!!
All aboard the bus to the park!
Had chose her Rapunzel dress to wear to the Princess Breakfast
Harper chose Cinderella
And this is the kind of picture you get when you ask a nice stranger to take the shot.
Not too bad though, even if it's a little off center!
And here we go!
First stop, The Little Mermaid ride!
Ursula totally freaked Hadley out, but we could hear Gigi squealing in the car behind us because she LOVES her!
Happily Ever After
Anxiously waiting for our buzzer to go off and signal that our table is ready for the Princess Breakfast
Descending into Ariel's Grotto
Princess Ariel!!
Hadley was a little nervous to meet her idol, so Gigi stepped in to help make her comfortable.
And the rest was history
All of our eyes were darting left and right between bites of the yummy spread they served us. We couldn't wait for the princesses to arrive!
Snow White, with her authentically squeaky voice, was up first. Harper was definitely a little wary of this larger than life experience.
And she did NOT want Ms. White to touch her. On the other hand, Hadley was in heaven!
Belle!
Harper again remained safely in her high chair while Hadley got some royal snuggles.
Safe in Daddy's arms, Harper scopes out the next princess.
Cindy!
Daddy, Hadley, Cinderella, and a slightly more skeptical Harper.
And then there was Aurora, who gets an A for effort and won us all over!
With Hadley's supportive nudge, and Aurora's sweet patience, Harper made her move.
Impact.
And another Disney Princess lover is born.
It was a love fest!
3 happy princesses!
And we're off to find ourselves some more Disney friends...
First stop: Rapunzel's Tower. Spirits remained high despite the wait.
And an hour or so later...
It was TOTALLY worth it!!
Rapunzel was SO sweet and pretty and friendly to the girls.
Mini Me.
Carousel Break
Next, just by chance, we stumbled right into a princess dance lesson and performance!
Having left her dancing shoes at home, Harper just took it all in from the comfort of Izzy's arms.
And 3 of our favorites showed up to show us some of their moves too!
Snow White came over to join in Had's Maypole dance.
Just minutes later Harper finally passed out on a short tram ride around the park while Papa and Izzy stood in line to meet some more princesses.
Belle 2. Super sweet!
She even got a high five from Harper.
Ariel 2
Tiana!
Off to Pixie Hollow to meet some fairies :)
Teeny Tiny Iridessa
TINKERBELL!!
Fun in Toon Town
Before we toured Minnie Mouse's house, Gigi helped Hadley make a wish in her wishing well.
Minnie's kitchen
Minnie's bedroom
Next door in Mickey's house...Hadley was REALLY excited!
And there he is!!
We forgot Mickey doesn't really talk in this form, so that was a little strange.
And taking a different direction, we stopped by to pet some goats.
Kisses!
Not even for a second did she consider puckering up!
One last line for one last ride
Heading in to see Winnie the Pooh!
Our totally Disneyed-out ladies
I didn't think it was possible, but the princess obsession might have gotten bigger after Disney!
Day 3: Newport Beach with McCall and Birdie!
One of our favorite people from D.C. moved home to Cali months ago, so we were SO excited to spend the day with she and her sweetie pie, Bryn (a.k.a. Birdie)!
Fastest Ferris Wheel ever...and the ricketiest!
Starting the long walk down the pier to lunch.
Full bellies...time to hit the beach!
Sweetest sister pic!
No shame...just yank up that dress, Had.
"Hey! I want in too!!"
Toes in the Pacific....
...and shoes and pants.
Trying to bury her own feet in the sand after seeing Hadley bury Papa's.
Day 4: The Aquarium!
Aron sat this one out because he was fighting a stomach bug...that eventually claimed everyone but Izzy and Mommy as victims too. Harper and Hadley had already had it prior to the trip, those dirty little buggers!
The sea lions LOVED Hadley!
Safe in Papa's grasp, this was about as close to the sharks as Hadley felt like getting.
Harper, on the other hand....
Um, notice the size of that HUGE sting ray swimming by! Harper was totally not phased.
Say "Cheese," Scuba Man!!
DATE NIGHT!
(a.k.a. the night before everyone else got sick)
Despite Aron not being able to eat a thing, dinner was amazing and everyone else had a really great time.
Day 5: Morning shenanigans and a visit from family
Papa's lil sis, Aunt Jeanne!
Grubbing down at the Cheesecake Factory
Coolest shopping complex, complete with it's own carousel and HUGE ferris wheel.
Izzy scored the girls a free cupcake from Sprinkles!
Nervous Daddy and oblivious Harper buckled in on the ferris wheel.
Gigi was terrified at first...it took her a while to even open her eyes.
Hadley thought that was hysterical!
Daddy and his 2 sacks of potatoes
Day 6: Lunch with old friends
One of Aron's oldest friends, Ryan, and his wife Laura.
Great day finished with some yummy gelato...Harper didn't really care for it ;)
Day 7: The day that will live in infamy
The look of someone who realizes he's got 12 hours to kill in an airport with his wife and 2 kids.
Sensing the same thing...
Although we bailed out after a few hours to the sweet town of Burlingham, the cranky mood was tough to crack.
Back at the airport waiting to board our 10:30 p.m. red eye flight to Dulles.
Day 7: 7:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. our bodies' time) cab ride to our final destination!!
But despite that horrific 24 hours of travel, THIS is what we'll remember when we think of our trip to Disney!
Thank you Gigi, Papa, Izzy, and Chris, for showing us such generosity, hospitality, love, and FUN in Cali!
XOXO
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