Merry Christmas!

Happy Xmas Eve!

Finley and I have been wrapping presents, baking cookies and having an all around wonderful X-mas Eve. We also trekked over to Dunkin Donuts to select tomorrow's breakfast. I was really strong in not letting Finley have a donut...I wasn't able to talk Clifton out of it though. I hope you and your family have as lovely as time as we have had today. We are prepaing to go out for our annual Chinese food dinner, afterwards we will sprinkle some reindeer food and put out cookies and milk for Santa. I hope he is brings you all your desire, as well as Finley's socks and Memory game.

Disneyland Day Five

Finley's Christmas Program

Finley did an amazing job as a snowflake ballerina in her school's Christmas play. Here are the videos of the show. Pictures to come!

Peter Pan

Finley has been to two musicals, Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. She enjoyed both very much, but I think Peter Pan last night is her new favorite. Finley loved the crocodile the best and giggled when Peter Pan flew over the audience. The show was very kid friendly, so if you have time to check it out while it is still here in Houston, I would highly recommend it. Clifton has a nasty cough, so Grammy filled in for him, which of course made Finley happy. Finley took her Peter Pan - Captain Hook doll from Aunt Joan to the show.

Disneyland Day Four

Today was a big and fun day for Finley! When we arrived, Alice, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts were all out, but Finley wanted to head to Small World after a quick Astro Orbiter ride. We got to the park right after opening and got to meet four princesses on our way to Small World (after riding Alice twice) only to find out it was closed. So we boarded the train for New Orleans Square to ride Pooh and the Haunted Mansion. I love the Nightmare Before Christmas theme, it is going to be hard to go back to the original, especially the music. After a ride on Pirates, it was on to the Jingle Jangle Jamboree to meet Woody, Jessie and Minnie. Finley also played some reindeer games with some really sweet cast members. It was then back over to Small World after riding Pinnochio and Snow White. Finley did not like the holiday Small World, she especially missed the song. We then headed to Toon Town to visit Donald's boat, Goofy's house and to ride Gadget Go Coaster and Toon Town Spin. Goofy's House is Finley's happy place! Finley was sad that we still hadn't found Donald or Daisy, just lots of Goofy and Pluto. We rode the teacups then grabbed some lunch and then watched the holiday parade. Finley finally saw Donald and Daisy, but she still wants to meet them. We went back to Jingle Jangle Jamboree hoping to find Daisy or Donald, but there was no such luck. We did some crafts and Finley played more reindeer games. The cutest part was when Minnie came over to Finley and played the wreath toss with her. Minnie had a huge line of kids waiting to see her, so it was incredibly special that she took the time to visit with Finley unprompted. Finley rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first and only time this trip, which shocked us since we rode it a dozen times last time. We rode the Haunted Mansion again, then headed over to meet Pooh, Rabbit and Tigger. Finley hopped up to Tigger, which was adorable. The park had gotten crazy busy, so we headed back to Tomorrowland to ride Autopia, Space Mountain and Star Tours, we also walked through Innoventions quickly. We also took a monorail circle tour, which Finley loved. By that time we had been at the park all day with no nap and Finley crashed. She slept all the way home and went to bed with no dinner, she was pooped! Tomorrow it is back to California Adventure and then home. Finley has already started saying she doesn't want to leave.

Disneyland Day Three

We headed out early this morning to spend the day in Disneyland. Finley had Minnie and Mickey on her mind, but we started with a ride on the Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan. Then it was Dumbo, the Teacups and Alice. It was on to Minnie and Mickey's house. Finley loves Minnie's house more than anything else at Disney. She loves to play in the kitchen the best. Finley met Minnie and Mickey Mouse, then we rode Gadget's Go Coaster and Toon Town Spin. We headed back over to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain (no ghosts this time!), Star Tours and Buzz. We shared a soup lunch in the rain, grabbed fast passes for the Haunted Mansion and headed to Main Street to watch the parade. Sadly, the parade was cancelled due to the rain. Finley took a long nap and it was back out to Disneyland. We rode Winnie the Pooh about a dozen times, then had some dinner. It was on to the Haunted Mansion next. We tried to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it went down with people trapped on the ride. We got a card that gave us Fastpass access to any ride we wanted and headed over to ride the Carousel and to see Small World all lit up at night. It was fireworks time and Finley thought some of the fireworks were a little too bright. We rode Buzz, Astro Orbiter and Finley and Clifton rode Star Tours while I rode Space Mountain with the special card that they let me keep =)

Disneyland Night One and Day Two

We arrived in Anaheim a bit later than we expected. We flew on the amazing Dreamliner (which had pillows...and blankets) but it was running about an hour late. Sadly, the United baggage folks decided our stroller didn't need to be handled properly, which meant it was returned to me in two pieces with a wheel that was crazy wobbly and looked like it was about to fall off. Not a great way to start things off. So we stopped at Babies R Us to get ourselves a new stroller. We ended up going out with the jalopy stroller last night because I didn't realize our new stroller had a basket, it just wasn't attached. The wheel was totally wonky, so we got the basket set up on the new stroller once I realized my mistake and used that one today...phew!

Last night we hit Disneyland. It was drizzling, so the fireworks were cancelled. It did "snow" on Main Street, which was pretty neat. Finley rode Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear and the Casey Junior Train. Then it was onto Mr Toad's Wild Ride just before Fantasmic. After Fantasmic we rode Pirates before we called it a night, Finley was exhausted.




We woke up bright and early this morning to head to California Adventure. Finley met Pluto and the Snowman car while I got Fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers. We met back up for Toy Story Mania. Of course Clifton won and Finley got a new stuffed Bullseye after the ride. We rode Mickey's Ferris Wheel, Silly Symphony Swings (twice) and the Zephyrs before riding Little Mermaid (twice!) and Soarin. Then it was on to Cars Land for Mater's Tractors and lunch at Flos. We also rode a couple rides in Bugs Land. Finley was quickly losing steam, so we headed back to the hotel for a well needed nap. Back in California Adventure, we rode Monsters Inc (twice) and it was time for the Pixar Play Parade. Finley got high fives from nearly every character in the parade, we had a great viewing spot. We headed over to Cars Land to meet Lightning McQueen and Mater. We also rode Luigis Tires and Radiator Springs Racers. We met Goofy before grabbing a quick dinner and some hot chocolate before riding the Zephyrs and Silly Swings again. Then it was time for World of Color, which was beautiful and Finley was tiring out, so it was time to head home. The parks are all decorated for Christmas, which is just amazing. We rode nearly every ride today, only missing Ladybug Spin, Tower of Terror and Jellyfish Jump. I thought it would have been a lot more crowded, but it was busier when we visited in October. Let's hope the crowds stay low tomorrow.

Cute Reindeer

Polar Express

It's Polar Express day at Finley's school.  They are enjoying cookies and chocolate milk to celebrate.  All the kids got to wear their pajamas to class for the day and Finley was so excited (just like last year!)  They also brought in pajamas to give to children in need.

Visit with Santa Claus

Finley went to visit Santa Claus this morning to request "silly socks" and a "Memory Game." Santa asked if she had been a good girl, she said she had been. Finley had lots of fun playing in the Bass Pro Shops with the trains and cars, there are so many fun activities for kids to do will one of the parents wait in line for Santa. The line did take about 30 minutes, but it wasn't that bad. I only have two snapshots of Finley with Santa from my phone due to some camera difficulties. I will scan and post the picture from Bass Pro Shops later.



Here is a look back at Finley's past visits with Santa Claus:
Santa Claus 2011
Santa Claus 2010
Santa Claus 2009

Cute Christmas Girl!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Samantha's fourth birthday party was held at the Downtown Aquarium, same as Finley's third birthday party. The birthday parties there are so much fun. All the kids walk through the aquarium and then they have lunch with cake. After that it is off to ride the Shark Voyage train, Ferris Wheel and Carousel. Pretty much Finley's dream birthday party. Happy 4th birthday Samantha!