disneyland!

we entered the park through downtown disney and then took the monorail to disneyland. it was so fun to remember doing it myself growing up and then to see natalie now taking it all in.

mama, nat and baby!

cinderella's castle behind us.

rain again! fortunately we were prepared with ponchos, umbrellas and extra clothes.

one of my favorite rides, matterhorn! too bad i couldn't ride this trip.

in our favor, a lot of people left the park because of the rain. it's still a busy place of course but nowhere near the crowds if it would have been better weather.

our strategy was to hit up the indoor, covered rides like it's a small world, but it was closed! 

no wonder the line was so short!

so we did the carousel

and dumbo. this is definitely the only time you're going to get to walk right on to dumbo!! woohoo!

next was casey jr.'s circus train because we could sit in a covered monkey cage. we rode it twice so we didn't have to get out! the poor girls were shivering!

but then! it cleared up and was a beautiful day!

here's our crew: rachel, todd, pippi, mom, me and nat!

i know the music can get a little...annoying? during the course of the 15 minute ride, but it's a classic and what joy to see your little one experience it and love it!

 i love the jungle cruise too. the guides are always hilarious.

even if the jokes aren't that funny, their tone pulls it off.

later in the day we park-hopped over to california adventure

and got to meet pluto first thing!

 i'm so glad mormor and natalie could do this together since i had to sit this one out.

the girls had so much fun together!!!

they were so brave to put their hands up!

natalie said her favorite part of the day was the rides!

and she didn't even get suckered into wanting any souvenirs!

 3-D toy story ride

til next time, disney!

goin' back to cali

natalie had a really special flight to california. first she was asked by the pilots to come sit in the cockpit with them. and later in the flight, a soldier gave her an american flag patch and told her as long as that flag waves, we will be free. and because she's free, she can grow up to do anything she wants. everyone seated around us was listening and clapping. i should have taken out my camera again but my hesitation led to a missed opportunity.

we changed planes in phoenix and got to see a beautiful arizona sunset.

my sister and her family had already made their way to CA from colorado for their spring break. the cousins looooved getting to see each other! let the daily ice creams begin!

they look like they could be siblings! (especially since natalie's bangs are usually in her face!)

happy 15th birthday adam!!

these two adore each other!

a day at the beach! it was freezing and suuuuper windy! but clear, blue skies! gorgeous!

i love that the kids love to get buried! i was never that big of a fan of sand.

kate loves to carry natalie everywhere anyway, but in this instance, natalie didn't want to get wet. so kate carried her to the water to be close but not get her feet wet. what a great friend!

they are too cute!

i looove me some palm trees. that's probably the number one thing i miss most about california. well, i guess i shouldn't start counting the reasons...

is it ever too cold for ice cream!? can you believe this is considered a one-scoop cone?!

penelope!!!

here's mine. it was soooo good!

she ate every last bite!

 here's seven of the ten cousins. (we really missed the others!) what a good looking group! in mark's defense, he had the flu. poor guy.

this picture is taken in todd and rachel's backyard. isn't the view amazing?! the LA skyline is right behind adam.

kate (7), gregory (13), natalie (3), luke (10), penelope (3), adam (15), mark (8)

and the view just minutes later!

tired of ice cream yet?! not this little dairy queen!

natalie's pearls are from the dollar spot at target. she loves them!

 and then down came the rain.
it was in the forecast but i was really hoping for an inaccurate prediction.

 but it didn't deter this sweet pea from donning her cute rain slicker and wanting to CLEAN the patio with a scrub brush! ha!

 she got soaked and it didn't phase her one bit!
she had so much fun!

 and can you really have a trip to mormor and papa's and not bake something? this time was great-grandma marie's famous oatmeal cookies. they're the best!