The Beginning of the End

The weeks leading up to Christmas were filled with school parties, church parties, favorite things parties, a live nativity, dinners with friends and all of the typical pre-Christmas activities. The closer it got to Christmas, the more the germs started spreading. Crew almost missed his preschool performance and visit from Santa. He was the first one to catch the flu and was mostly over it by the time the performance rolled around. 

He would have been so sad to miss out on his one and only chance to chat with the Jolly Old Man.

His eyes were still red and puffy but he couldn't pass on decorating a cookie after the performance.

After school that day, Blake had a swim team party and that was the beginning of the end. He started feeling feverish during the party and when he came home, he didn't leave his bed for 24 hours. It was the most sick he has ever been. 

We were only 4 days shy of Christmas and we all started dropping like flies from that point on. Luckily my mom and I made it through wrapping the stacks of presents that I had been accumulating all month before we took a turn for the worse. 

Christmas Greetings 2017

27 Rides in 10 Hours

Our very last Disney day before our annual passes expired deserves its own post because if you ask Blake, this was the best day of his life to this point.

We set out early on our traditional birthday date and arrived at the park just before opening. I surprised him with MaxPasses for the day, which meant we could reserve our spots in the FastPass lines from my phone. It was our first time trying it out and it made the day so efficient. Instead of running all over the park to collect FastPasses, we scheduled them with a few clicks while we were riding on rides. The nice cast member that wrote on Blake's birthday pin also gave him a front of the line pass to any ride he wanted. 

With the combination of our MaxPasses, an extra front of the line pass and the park not being too busy, Blake and I hit 27 rides in 10 hours. That has to be some sort of record! He's the only one that can keep up with my pace and his birthday date was the perfect way to cap off our annual pass. 

We could have left after hitting 27 rides, including all of the big rides, but neither of us were ready to call it a night. We stayed to watch World of Color.

We had to go see It's a Small World all lit up as well.

We said Farewell to Main Street all lit up for Christmas.

It always makes us sad when we say goodbye to Disneyland, not knowing when we'll be back again. We clocked 24 days this year and considering weekends and summers are blocked out for us, I'd say we made the most of those passes. The lyrics from the Paint the Night parade sum up how we felt about our last Disney night perfectly:

Put your hands up, ’cause the night is young!
Kick your heels up when you join the fun.
As the magic sets us all aglow,
I gotta know, my friends,
When can we do this again?

Our Disney days have become so much more than fitting in fun rides. They mean uninterrupted time together when school, friends, homework, housework, sports and our crazy busy schedules fade away. They are our escape from reality. I know not everyone loves the crowds and expense of Disneyland, but for us, we life in the present the most when we are there. Is it sacrilegious to say I have a testimony of Disneyland? Ha. 

Thanks for the memories Disney, we'll be back soon!

Last Disney Days

Our annual Disneyland passes expired at the end of December so in the midst of Christmas chaos, we made sure to maximize our final days.

I took the littles while Blake and Nash were at school and we rode on the teacups over and over.

Crew loves spotting his name.

Pluto came along with us, of course.

Crew sure loves that little dog.

We came back for round two and brought Nash along. Blake had other commitments but he was going to have his Disney birthday date the following day. Nash geared up to participate in Jedi Training.

He got to fight and defeat Darth Vader with a lightsaber.

Next on the agenda, more Small World. We love how every detail transforms at Christmastime. We also love how it was 80 degrees in December.

We picked up some Mickey Mouse lollipops before the parade.

We spotted Santa at the end of the parade.

We didn't fit in some other fun December outings this year, but I don't mind because there's nothing like Disneyland at Christmas.