Reagan Fuller

Huntington Beach

With Disney wrapped up, it was time for a more relaxed day. So we drove about 10 miles to the beach. The girls were so excited to run on the beach, play in the ocean, and collect shells. As expected by the parents but not by the kids, the water was pretty cold so we opted for staying dry. However, the big flat beach area made something inside the kids want to run. And run they did! For about an hour, they never stopped running around for more than a minute.

Reagan, hope you had a great vacation! We love you, Peep!

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Thanksgiving at Disneyland

Last day at Disney so we figured we ought to beat the crowds and get to the park when it opened. So we packed up everyone so we could be over there by 8 AM sharp. When we arrived, the park was practically empty as compared to prior days. A nice change! So we quickly made our way to the things that we hadn’t had the patience to stand in line for in prior days. First stop — Tinker Bell! She has a movie that just came out so she is on the hot list for everyone. So we waited through the line at Pixie Hollow and then got to meet the fairy ourselves!

Next stop was the Princess Faire for a meet-and-greet. Reagan demanded that this be the next stop on the agenda. So we waited and waited and waited. A short line but everyone gets a bunch of time with the princesses so you have to wait your turn. Finally, just as we got to the front of the line, they switched out the princesses and a new set came inside. Bummer. The ones Reagan wanted just left. But princesses are princesses so the kids went in and enjoyed seeing Ariel first. She was very nice and had a long conversation with the girls.

Next up was Belle. Let’s just say that Belle wasn’t too talkative today.

Finally, a different princess showed up — Mini! We stopped and hung out with her for a minute. Not a talkative mouse vs. the other princesses but we took what we could get. Reagan saw Mini the other day and after Reagan left she cried because she forgot to tell Mini that she has PJs with her on them. So today she grabbed her and told her about the PJs. Mini was so excited!

After the princess meet-and-greet, I took the girls to the princess beauty salon for a hair do. It was my treat and my idea. Kim thought I had gone nuts. Plus, Kim was convinced that nobody could do anything with Reagan’s short fine hair. We will see!

Finally, after 15 minutes, the masterpiece was complete. How beautiful! Reagan was very excited by it. She quickly posed for pictures and then promptly asked for it to be taken out of her hair NOW! Guess she is only in it for the moment.

We rode every ride in the park by the end of the trip. However, a highlight for Reagan was the Dumbo ride. You get to control the height of the flight so she was very into doing that. Up and down!

We also finally got to ride Its a Small World with virtually no line at all. The girls really enjoy this ride.

The holiday makeover was in full effect in every scene!

A universal message and wish to all!

Oh, fine — you didn’t get to go. See most of the ride via the magic of video.

I captured a variety of moments with the girls on our last day. Hopefully, it will serve as a great reminder in years to come of the experience of the vacation and how much fun our girls had.

We left Disney around 9:30 PM as the fireworks got started. People had camped out for hours to watch them. For us, it was a chance to cut through the crowd and get out before the mass exodus. As we got on the tram, the fireworks were going off and we had a good view of them the whole way to the car. As we got off the tram and walked to the car, I was reflecting on how we do Thanksgiving our way. No turkey for us. So now for 3 years in a row (her only 3 on the planet), Reagan has enjoyed vacationing on Thanksgiving. I think of Thanksgiving as a day were we are always together doing something a little more adventurous. And for that, I am thankful.

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Universal Studios

For a break from Disney, we headed out to Universal Studios for the day to see if we could catch up with some of the kid’s other favorite characters. Luckily, the park wasn’t nearly as busy as Disney so everything was quick and easy with no lines. We even found characters wondering around without any kids nearby. Awesome! First stop was with Shrek — a Sydney favorite! We saw Donkey outside selling waffles.

Then we found Shrek and Fionna. The kids were so excited.

The picture was over but Reagan couldn’t take it. She ran back and gave Fionna a big hug and told her that she loved her. Fionna about broke into tears and secretly told Kim and I that it meant a lot to her that our daughter did that.

When we found SpongeBob, he was feisty. He was running after the kids making farting noises with his mouth. Reagan really loved being chased by SpongeBob!

While Sydney and Kim were off riding a ride that Reagan was too little for, I had to keep her busy and get her to stop crying about being too small for everything. So I treated her to a small Scooby Doo doll and then a face painting. Now the last time we tried face painting, Sydney jumped in but Reagan wanted nothing to do with it. Today was quite the opposite. She instantly picked a pattern, jumped up in the chair, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and never moved a muscle till it was over.

The funniest part was when we had to go and find Kim and Sydney. Reagan was so excited to show them both her face. But she commented about how she really wanted to show Sydney and effectively make her jealous of something she didn’t have. They learn so young!

As I mentioned, Reagan picked up a small Scooby doll. So when we saw the big Scooby, she was so excited to show him his “baby”. However, Shaggy and Scobby stole our stroller and started running off with it. Those crazy guys!

Ran into Curious George also but I had the kids facing into the sun by mistake and it wasn’t the best picture.

Just as we were on our way out of the park, we found this familar girl and asked her for directions. She has a map as you might know!

The kids were asleep before we hit the freeway. The true sign of another successful day! So a little video of some of the meet and greets to wrap up the day.

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Christmas at Disneyland

After the full day at Disney’s California Adventure, we headed across to Disneyland to catch the Christmas parade and hit a few more rides before calling it a night. While we were able to get front row for the Pixar Parade, the crowds were several deep 45 minutes before the parade began! We found a spot and settled in for the show.

Mini and Mickey came through the line pretty early on. For they are not the stars of a Christmas parade. Who could it be? Find out later I guess.

Chip and Dale were driving this red hot rod and skidding around the street. Thinking they were hopped up on egg nog or something.

All the Disney characters were out in holiday fashion with some role to play.

Finally, the big guy came through. Unfortunately, he isn’t that exciting as compared to everyone else so even though he closes down the parade, the kids were not that excited to see him for the first time this season.

The photos probably don’t do the parade justice so Kim took some video to share!

After the parade, the vote was in…everyone wanted to go back to the Haunted Mansion again. It is themed as The Nightmare Before Christmas right now as a special holiday event. We knew this in advance so the kids have been watching the movie the past few weeks in preparation for the trip. Reagan likes this ride as much as anyone. So much so that her big buy of the day were figurines from the movie!

After that we rode Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad, and several others that had short lines. We headed over to the big holiday centerpiece, Its a Small World, but the line was the longest in the park. It was about 9PM and we hadn’t eaten yet and everyone was starting to crash. So we opted to get out of the park and grab some dinner and crash. We have another day left on our 3 day passes so we will be back!

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Disney’s California Adventure

Ready for day 2! We decided to head across the lot to Disney’s California Adventure today. A new park for us. Nobody has ever been there. But we didn’t even make it inside before taking a photo of Reagan with “her letter”. The letters spelt out California. The older sister was mad there was not an S so she was ready to just take an N because that is in her name too!

Our first stop was Playhouse Disney. We got to see Mickey and friends, Handy Manny, Poo and friends and the Little Einsteins! Reagan was so happy to see all of her favorite guys up on stage.

Reagan mostly enjoys any ride that involves riding in a car on a track. She feels most comfortable with those. Although a good roller coaster is always tops. She is also enjoying the 4-D movies. Her older sister screams in terror but Reagan thinks they are funny. The real funny part is that she doesn’t get the whole 4-D concept. The star of the 3-D movie will sneeze or something and they spray water on the crowd (hence the 4-D effect). However, Reagan sits there puzzled why you get wet when watching a movie. She isn’t connecting the dots. But she is only 3. Here we are on the Monsters Inc. ride just before a child gets loose in the story!

Then we stopped for a restroom break and when we walked outside…guess who was hanging out? Wall-E!!! So excited. It was just a cardboard cutout thingy but Reagan liked it better than most of the real guys she ran into. She had an entire conversation with him before Sydney came along.

We saw Mr. Mouse yesterday so we had to stop by and see the Mrs. when we saw her out in her holiday outfit.

I was forced into riding in some tea cups with the kids. Those things are definitely in the “getting too old” category. Pukey! But Reagan had so much fun it made it worth it — well, almost.

While Sydney went off with Mom and did some 40” and greater rides, Reagan took a cat nap in the stroller. We woke her up just as the big Pixar parade started coming by! My kids have grown up on Pixar movies. Those are the characters they remember. So it was really fun to see them all in one big parade under the sunset.

But you just can’t get the feel of the parade with photos alone. So I brought out my little video camera and grabbed a few clips.

After the parade, we looked down it and it seemed so early! Disneyland is just across the way and the Christmas parade is starting in 30 minutes. Ready, set, go! The night was just getting started…

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Disneyland

Reagan went to Disney World last year for her first trip to the famed park. It was Halloween so there were decorations and other special things to see and do. This year, we are at Disneyland for our annual fall vacation and guess what? It is Christmas at Disney! She thinks the themes are part of the program. Check out the castle.

Everything is decorated for the holidays including the characters!

One thing we didn’t have were “mouse ear” hats. So we got some and had their names put on the back (free!). Reagan is so into Pirates that we figured that was an easy choice for her but she opted for the tiara one and Sydney went with the pirates. I will never figure these two out.

Reagan was so excited to go to story time with Princess Jasmine! Her favorite — usually. It changes every 10 minutes.

The big thrill of the day for the kids was going into the Haunted Mansion because it is all decorated up with The Nightmare Before Christmas movie theme. Everything has been redone to match the movie. Pretty cool! We just enjoyed it on the first time through. Will try and capture it the next time through. Or the time after that. Or after that.

The decorations on Its a Small World are the big attraction. So much so that we didn’t want to wait in line today for it. We will be back for that. We have a 3 day pass!

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Thanksgiving Program

Reagan and her class put on a Thanksgiving program for the parents just before the holiday break. Let’s see if some 3 year olds can hold it together for some entertainment!

Anyone Have a Brush?

We took a family bike ride and apparently there is some static electricity in the bike trailer!

It caused some soft of jaw numbness where Reagan’s tongue wouldn’t stay in her mouth.

It is contagious!

All smiles! Let’s take a picture. Where did the smile go? Kids.

Mom’s Birthday

Mom’s Birthday was today and we went to La Fondue for dinner. Reagan liked pretending to cook but wouldn’t eat a thing. We ended the night in the McDonalds drive-through getting her favorite meal.

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