Let's begin.

Honestly if I look over and over these photos and try to resize and edit, you all will never see them. So let's just begin the sharing!

California was wonderful.

I'm going to be honest here and say that we really haven't been able to say that about many of our trips since Alla was born because up until the age of two, she was a really crummy sleeper on vacations, so that meant we were not getting good sleep on vacation, which means it was always anything BUT a vacation.

This, however, was relaxing and enjoyable and worth it. Thank you Laughrey's for taking such good care of us and always making us feel at home in your home. We miss you already.

We headed to Disneyland when we woke up the day after our arrival. It was a hot 85 degree day in Anaheim, but I hated to complain since we need to be storing up as much vitamin D as possible since we're heading into winter here!

We got on the train and headed right for the princesses. So different than last year, when Alla didn't give a rat's behind about anything princess-y. She asked me last year if they had Fiona there. That was the only princess she would have wanted to see.

Not so this year. Bring on the hour-long wait to spend thirty seconds with each of three princesses, and then, if she'd had her way, get back in line to do it again. I wished I would have gotten back in line with her. That's all she wanted to do. And isn't Disneyland all about making dreams come true?

We knew going into this that Alla did not want to ride the rides. Here she's telling Wallis exactly what she does and does not want to do.No carousel, no Snow White, no Mr. Toad's, and especially no Yo-Ho. So it was all about finding things to make it fun for her (after we gave her a hard time about it, of course), or, should I say, finding things to make it worth the $150 for Ron.

So while Disneyland was not the highlight of her trip, it was definitely up there, and here's why:

Princesses.

Meeting up with the Stahrs in line for the princesses.

Going there with Kelsea.

Lunch at the kids' table.

Watching Mary Poppins sing and dance with Bert.

Seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Winnie the Pooh ride.

Tom Sawyer Island.

Strawberry ice cream.

Amazingly, she did NOT take a nap on the way home! Fisher, however, was a super baby and slept from lunchtime til we left the park three hours later.

Stay tuned for our beach day. It was so warm that we actually went to the beach and the girls played in the waves. Or, should I say, Alla got pummeled by a wave and then she and Kelsea played in the sand.