Abigail's 1st Trip to Disneyland

This past Monday, Michael and I called in for subs and took the day off of work to spend the day as a family and bring Abigail to Disneyland.  She's 6 months old and loves looking around at her surroundings, so what better time to take her to Disneyland than when the holiday decorations are up!

We started the day by eating at the restaurant Michael works at inside of the Hotel: PCH Grill.  The food was really good, and the best part was that we got an opportunity to interact with the characters without all the lines and crowds inside the park.  It was also Abbie's first time sitting in a restaurant high chair, and she did great.  She sat up, and played with  the table napkins until the characters came to visit her.  Her first character interaction was with Stitch.  She wasn't phased at all by the large blue fuzzy person next to her.  She just held his hand and smiled.  She really seemed to like all the characters, but she liked Minnie the most.  Tooo cute!

Giving Minnie some kisses (and a couple nibbles)

Abbie was more interested in hugging Minnie than taking pictures

With Mickey in his Lifeguard outfit in the restaurant

After leaving breakfast, we stopped by the Grand Californian, where I got to stop and see a couple friends I used to work with.  Then we headed for Disneyland.  We never made it into California Adventures, which is fine, because that just means we can spend a whole other day there next time.  :)

Inside Disneyland, we visited Minnie & Mickey in their houses at Toontown and then went around taking pictures of the beautiful decor and even hopping on the rides.  For being the first official day of Holiday at Disneyland, it was not crowded.  The lines for the rides were 15 minutes or less!  We even got back in line for It's a Small World because Abbie loved it so much, and because there was absolutely no line! 

By the time we got to Mickey's house, he was already changed into his usual clothes!  :)

Abbie & Daddy

Abbie & Mommy looking toward the castle, and showing off her new hat :)

It was such a great day!  Abbie was such a trooper and didn't cry at all (seriously!) even though her feeding and sleeping schedule was completely off, and even though we kept waking her up.  And yes, we know she probably won't remember this day because she's so young, but Michael and I will.  And we will be here and armed with pictures to show her how much she enjoyed her first trip to Disneyland. :)

Just a walk through the park

Yesterday, after Michael got home from work, we were thinking of something to do or somewhere to go.  We wanted to go somewhere where we could walk around for a little while and maybe get something to eat.  So we ended up at Disneyland!  Why not, right?  Michael works there and can sign us in for free.  Yes, we do have an infant with us, but as long as we keep up with her schedule of sleeping, feeding and being changed, we totally can go.  And also the thought came up that "do we really want THIS to be her first trip to Disneyland?  She can't even go on any rides and really enjoy anything."  To that, our answer was:  yes, technically this will be her first time, but when she is a little bit older we'll make a bigger deal about it.  We'll spend the whole day there, hop on some rides, get her the "My 1st Visit" button, and even some Mickey ears.  So basically, today was just us taking a walk through the park and enjoying the scenery and spending time together.  The only difference was that the park bench we sat on happened to have a great view of a parade.  :)

Abbie with her Daddy watching her first Disney parade

People watching with Mommy

It was a lovely few hours spent at the parks.  Michael and I walked through the Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotels to see what's different (since I stopped working there), shared a couple of our favorite Disneyland foods, walked around both Disneyland and California Adventure, watched a parade and got a piece of fudge to bring home.  We had a great time, and I think Abigail did too!  We took advantage of the Disneyland Baby Care Center inside of Disneyland, which was amazing!  What's that?  Well, basically it's located at the end of Main Street and it's a place where parents can bring their babies and toddlers to tend to their needs.

The center features: private nursing lounges; multiple diaper changing areas with super soft and safe changing tables; miniature toilets for toddlers who are being potty-trained; a fully stocked and equipped kitchen area where parents can prepare their babies' food or even buy things like formula, bottles, pacifiers, diaper rash cream and baby food; multiple high chairs; and it also has a lounge area with a couch, tv and dvd player and a basket full of toys and books to keep other little kids entertained while mom and/or dad are feeding or changing the little one.  There were even cast members working there available to help you if you need anything.  This place made our visit feel like we right at home because we could go in and it was clean, quiet, comfortable, and AIR CONDITIONED! :)  It really goes to show you that Disneyland TRULY is a family place!

As I was saying, we had a wonderful afternoon and ending out leaving a little after sunset.  SO HAPPY we decided to go!!