Maya met Mickey Mouse!

Yep, that's right! Last week, Stewart and I took Maya down to Disneyland for five days. We had a fabulous time and was joined by my brother and his family, along with my sister who was not able to stay the whole time, but came to play for two days. Here is a recap of our terrific time...

Early Monday morning we left for our vacation (I mean early...we woke up at 4am and at the airport by 5:15am). JetBlue was perfect! Each seat had its own TV, which was a great distraction; especially for Maya.

Auntie Jen watched cartoons with Maya.

Of course, with only 45 minutes left on the flight, mommy and Maya fell asleep on the plane!

Since went got down to Long Beach early on Monday, my brother's family and Jen decided to go to Six Flags for the day. We decided to check into our hotel and show Maya Disneyland.

Maya waited in line for the ride "Finding Nemo." Actually mommy waited in line and Maya and daddy went walking!

Maya liked "Finding Nemo." There were a few parts that were a bit scary, but for the most part she liked it. When we got off the ride, she said, "more submarine."

Maya tuckered out from her first two hours at the park!! We headed back to the hotel so she could finish her nap and we could rest too.

Maya on daddy's shoulders. We watched the evening "Street Party" on Main Street in Disneyland. (The last time I was at Disneyland, they had the Disney Parade...no more. Now it is a street party and it was awesome).

Minnie Mouse and Mickey danced on their float during the street party.

On Tuesday, we woke up bright and early (Maya decided that she needed to be up 5:30am, so our day started a little earlier than we had hoped) and headed back into the park.

Maya loved to walk and stroll through Downtown Disney; there was always so much going on. This is one of our favorite pictures!

Such a wonderful picture....Daddy and Maya with Pluto!

Auntie Jen and Maya rode Dumbo together. As Maya kept saying, "ride elephant with Auntie Jennifer, or elephant in the sky!"

After we went on "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Maya got to sit in Mr. Toads car all alone.

One of five times that we rode "It's a Small World." I think this was her all-time favorite ride at the park! While we rode in the boat, she would sing "it's a small world," it was so darn cute!

All of us (except me, because I took the picture) waited in line for "Autopia."

Stewart and I enjoyed a minute to our ourselves.

Uncle Rob carried Rileigh's backpack and wore Rileigh's hat! I think pink looked good on him.

Auntie Jen was pretty brave to take both girls on Autopia by herself. Rileigh was actually a great driver except for the few times she bumped into our car...Oops!

Three very tired people rode the trolley back to the front of the park. We went back to our hotel to rest and to play in the pool.

Just had dinner with everyone at the "House of Blues" in Downtown Disney. Just look how tired Miss Maya was....we made it an early night.

On Wednesday we had a special pass to get into "Mickey's Toontown" early. This is where Maya had the time of her life. She got to see the characters up close and visited each of their houses.

Maya with Minnie Mouse or how she said, "Minnie Mousie." She liked her big hands.

Maya greeted by Goofy. This is one of our favorite pictures.

Maya gave Goofy a kiss on his nose! The rest of the trip we heard her saying, "kiss Goofy on nose."

Maya sat in Mickey's car. She liked to say, " Mickey's beep beep."

We visited Minnie Mouse's house and Maya loved everything inside. She tried so badly to pick up her phone, pencil and paper. She kept saying, "stuck!"

Maya found Minnie Mouse's mailbox. She touched her nose and said, "Minnie Mousie's nose."

When she found these pretend phones in Toontown, she said, "call papa and grammy."

We got a chance to see all the characters together in front of "Toontown's City Hall." We were named honorary visitors for the morning. Pretty cool, huh?

Maya got a chance to slide down Goofy's slide in his backyard.

Maya liked to push the keys on Goofy's piano. The ones at the end made funny noises. After Maya pushed a key, she would say "make funny noise."

Donald Duck was a lucky duck....he got a kiss from Maya!

Look who found Mickey Mouse's mailbox!

Finally a picture with......MICKEY MOUSE!! His house was the best. We had a great time seeing everything in it.

A very exhausted Maya! She was more than ready to take a nap. We rode Casey's Jr. Circus Train to rest for awhile. We got to sit in the lion's cage.

While mommy waited in line to see the Winnie the Pooh characters, daddy took Maya into a gift store. Maya found this huge Pooh bear. She said, "sit with Winnie the Pooh" and sat down.

A family picture with Tigger.

Maya gave Winnie the Pooh a huge hug! The background was so adorable with the honey pots and honey.

Eyeore was on his way for a little "water break" when we caught him for a quick picture. Maya pointed to his eye and said, "Eyeore's eye."

The Winnie the Pooh ride was one of our favorites. We got to ride in Honeycomb cars. It was just the speed that Stewart enjoyed--------------VERY VERY SLOW!!

We now went back to our hotel and took a rest. After our naps, we headed over to California Adventure to see what it was like. Stewart and I felt that there really wasn't much there for Maya. We rode on a couple of kiddie rides, but that was about it. We rode this monster of a Ferris Wheel and this is what happened.....

Maya had such a wet diaper when we got on, that mommy had no choice but to change her. Daddy thought this was funny, so he had to capture it on the camera.

Thursday was our last full day at the park. We also had a special pass to get into the park before it opened to the public, so we were there at 8am.

Another one of our favorite pictures.

The three of us.

Mommy and Maya in a tea cup. It was too hard to get a picture while on the ride, so we found this tea cup right next to the ride.

"Open gate, " Maya said, while waiting for the tea cups.

We all rode on "King Arthur's carrousel."

"Please, I want to go on "It's a Small World" one more time!!"

A picture of the front lawn when you enter Disneyland.

Daddy and Maya in front of California Adventure.

Our last night's dinner at an Italian restaurant with everyone. Maya just loved being with Uncle Robbie!

Stewart and Rileigh wore their new hats. Actually that is my new hat that Stewart had on.

We stayed at the Disneyland hotel and this was the entrance---Mickey's hat.

Friday morning we left for the airport. Before leaving on the shuttle, Maya wanted to see Mickey Mouse and friends one more time, so walked around the premise of the hotel.

Daddy was being silly with the bear from Hewey, Dewy and Louie.

Hewey, Dewy and Louie were at our hotel. Maya saw the fire and said, "fire hot." Maybe that is why she wouldn't go near the ducks!

Maya thought this hole in Pluto dog was funny. She put her finger in the hole and said, "hole in Pluto."

Mommy and Maya posed for one last time with Mickey and friends.

A huge Mickey Mouse statue at our hotel. Maya pointed and said, "Mickey Mouse on airplane." How frickin cute is that!

All in all, we had a fabulous vacation. The weather was wonderful and at times, it was a little too warm. The family company was great and thank you to Rob, Michelle, Rileigh and Jen who helped us with Maya and our luggage!

On a side note, Maya has not stopped talking about her trip.

Misinterpretation

After the three of us went grocery shopping today, Stewart and I decided that we would go to Wendy's and get something cool to drink. I pulled up at the drive thru and ordered a coke with no ice for me and a chocolate frosty for Stewart. The man told me the total and I pulled up to the window to pay. The man handed me the coke with no ice and said, "coke with no ice" and handed me the chocolate frosty and said, "chocolate frosty." When we pulled away from Wendy's, Maya said, "coke with no rice." Stewart and I just looked at each other and smiled. She kept repeating it the whole way home. So darn cute! When I was putting her down tonight for bed, she looked at me and said, "mommy coke with no rice?" I just smiled at her and said, "yes, mommy likes coke with no rice!"

Why go to the beach???

When we have a new sandbox in our driveway! Two weeks ago, I found a sandbox on Craigslist; and decided that we needed to get one for Maya. If you know me well, you know that I am a huge supporter of Craigslist. I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!! I am very picky about what I will buy and the condition of the item has to be great! I always know how much I want to spend, and the areas around town that I like to shop at. So the same day that we went to pick up her new sandbox, we also stopped by Home Depot to buy play sand. Stewart and I decided that we wanted her box really full. We bought eight bags thinking we would use probably six of them. Well on Sunday for Mother's Day we decided to break it out. We only needed to use three bags of sand and now we have five to take back. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Maya had a hay day! Check out some adorable pictures.....

Maya pouring the sand from the yellow bucket into the sand wheel.

Trying to see the wheel turn as the sand was falling.

Using the shovel to pour sand into the sand wheel for the first time.

Having a great time playing by herself. When we asked her what she was doing, she said, "scooping sand." When we asked her where she was, she said "Maya's sandbox."

Such a cutie....who cares that you were covered in sand from head to toe!

Mommy and daddy's favorite pictures. You really know how to make our hearts melt!

I think all your new sandbox and new toys were a huge hit. Mommy and daddy know we will be spending a lot of time with you in our driveway playing in the sand.

Oops, I almost forgot....

Sometimes, I take so many pictures that I forget to download them on a regular basis. Here are some great pictures from last weekend at the beach. The weekend was filled with a few rain showers and a few sun breaks, so we found activities that was appropriate for it all.

These were some of the activities we did when the weather was "not so good."

Maya had a great time in the arcade. Check out her hand of the gear shift. She kept saying, "mommy shift." She must have learned that from me. It won't be long until she can reach the pedals or better yet drive a real car!!

Maya very serious.

On the merry-go-round with daddy. This was the first time that she picked an animal that moved up and down.

Cousin Rileigh had a great time on the merry-go-round too.

On Sunday the weather was beautiful and we got to spend a lot of time outside. Here are some great pictures of us feeding the seagulls.

Instead of Maya throwing the bread to the seagulls, she decided to eat it! That bread that you see in her right hand, your right.....it was eaten by Miss Maya.

We were afraid that a seagull was going to nip at Maya's hand if she just held the bread, so daddy had to pick her up. She now just got to watch everyone else feed the seagulls.

It was exciting to feed the seagulls with Papa and Rileigh, but it was also a little nerve racking. I have never seen so many fly over head. Good thing nobody walked away with bird poop on them!

We then walked on the beach and had a great time.

Rileigh gave her dog Cocoa a nice workout on the beach.

Ever since we got home, Maya has not stopped talking about feeding the seagulls with Papa. This may end up being a regular "event" that we do. Can't wait for the next time we head to the beach!

Our shoes were made for walking!

Last Saturday, we braved the cold and walked in the March of Dimes-March for babies. We walked in honor of Maya's newest cousins Emily and Ellery. We had a really good time and look forward in walking next year (hopefully the weather will be a little bit warmer!) I am sorry that a few of the pictures are blurry. I was trying to walk and take pictures at the same time!!

Stewart walking with my mom and sister.

Emily and Ellery with their mommy Heather and both grandma's. The grandma's pushed the stroller together the whole time! It was really cute to watch.

Even though Maya doesn't look too happy, she never once asked to get out. We had gotten up early and maybe she was just cold and tired?!

My mom pushing Maya in her stroller. Thank goodness for balloons....it kept Maya occupied for the remainder of the walk.

Here is Emily and Ellery. No smiles from them either? Was it that they were over stimulated, tired, bored, or hungry? Probably all four!

I wasn't going to post this picture, due to Maya picking her nose, but this is one of her newest tricks. Plus, it is a good picture of Stewart and I. I am not sure who taught her to do this, but she is really good at it. When she is picking her nose, she will say "booger in nose." Sometimes she will stick a finger in each nostril at the same time!! Lovely!! What can I say??? I feel like the more I tell her not to pick her nose and to keep her fingers out of her nose, the more she does it. Oh well.

Here we are posing for one last picture at the finish line. All things considered, we only lost one sippy cup and a blue balloon along the route. Not too bad, huh?