"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-Ay...."

"My oh my what a wonderful day..."

Or Days in our case. Bailey turned 4 a couple of weeks ago and to celebrate this poor underprivileged (ha) child had parties with each side of our family - one in Idaho and one in Arizona, Trevor and myself (on the actual day) and that little trip to Disneyland we talked about in the last blog post. To say this child is spoiled and well loved would be a huge understatement. I am completely biased (and I know this), but she really is a funny and enjoyable child. It's hard to know if she is so well loved by everyone because she is the miracle we hoped for and waited so long for or if she is just that spectacular. Maybe a combination of both. We certainly are grateful for her everyday and are so blessed to be her parents. So happy birthday my baby girl - or as she likes to remind me, "I'm a big girl mommy...". Don't grow up on us too fast Miss B.

Bailey "understood" that her birthday was after her parties and Thanksgiving so she insisted on telling everyone that she was pretending to turn four. "It's my pretend birthday..."

Idaho Granat Party:

Arizona Smith Party and Thanksgiving Fun:

 She was pretty excited about winning the Gingerbread house in the family Thanksgiving raffle. Caleb in the background was less a little less happy. Ha. We let her put it together (with a little help) the day after we got home on her actual birthday.

We are definitely ready for Christmas especially with the "marshmallow world" that is now the City of Salt. I finally am feeling better after multiple rounds of antibiotics and the use of sexy oxygen while my lame lungs heal. For those that I haven't made treats for  - you might just have to wait for New Year's.

We hope you all have a wonderful rest of December and we will see you next year!

This can be heard pretty much anytime at our house or in our car. She likes a big finish at the end and calls this the "Loudest Song..."She definitely nails the "loudest" part. Funny girl. :) 

"I wanna be where the people are..."

"Watch and you'll see - someday I'll be part of your world..."



It happened. We went where the people were - and that was Disneyland. For months we planned a trip to take Bailey to California and Disneyland for her 4th birthday and I am happy to say that is was a huge success. It was beyond magical, wonderful and practically perfect in every way. Be warned - this post is going to have lots and lots of photos and you are so very welcome for that. Bailey (or Trevor and myself) couldn't have had a better time. A huge thank you again to our friends Jacque and Shane and Wow Me Travel for making everything so easy and special.

We started our trip by first going to St. George where Trevor had to work for the day - so Bailey and Mommy's day of fun began. We went to a children's museum, to the Peanuts movie and to a play place. After we picked up Trevor from work, we ventured to Vegas for the night. Then we were off to California. We went to Newport Beach before going to our hotel and played in the ocean and sand for a little while. Bailey loved it - even when Trevor ventured a little far into the water and got them both pretty wet.

 
Afterward we were off to the Disney Paradise Pier Hotel. We were greeted by friendly happy employees and Bailey was given a balloon and a birthday button almost immediately upon our arrival. We checked in and then headed to the pool. After the pool our little Minnie was all ready for dinner and we went to the hotel restaurant and had our first delicious Disney meal. Upon our arrival, Bailey started brushing her hair with the "Dinglehopper" (fork) or as she likes to call it lately the "tanglehopper" which actually makes way more sense. Bailey got to design her own pizza and it was cooked by Mickey. She also got a fun Ariel cup, another button and was sung to and got a special birthday dessert. Trevor and I also had some delicious and amazing food - there was a smores bar. Yeah. Yum! Then it was time to try and get to bed so we could try and be out the door by 7am. We tried.:)

 

We decided to do Disneyland on day one. We started with Star tours and then made our way to Space Mountain. Bailey wasn't so sure at the beginning of Star Tours, but realized about 2 seconds in that she loved it. Her love and excitement didn't waver again. She was on board for any ride and show and treat. She insisted on having her hands up on every ride and was typically the youngest and smallest on every time. They kept measuring her, but she's pretty tall and could go on mostly everything except Indiana Jones. We can do that on our next trip. Bailey also met and hugged Goofy and got "kidnapped" by Pluto and then kissed him on the nose. It was pretty perfect. It was a long and fun filled day. Trevor even participated as "Paul Bunyan" in the show at the Golden Horseshoe. We were able to hit almost everything we wanted including: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Pirates, Autotopia, and more. Bailey also loved the parade and the fireworks and when it "snowed" on main street. Definitely a memorable and magical day.

 

 

 

 

 

Day two was California Adventure and we had a great time as well. There was something not so magical that did happen. I forgot our vouchers for our fun lunch planned at Ariel's Grotto - so Trevor had to walk back to the hotel and get them. Bailey and I went on the Zephyr about 4 times and the Ariel ride 3 times while waiting for him to get back. It wasn't busy yet and we were able to either stay on the ride or just quickly get back in line. We definitely had more fun during that hour then he had. He was only mad at me for a little while. Luckily we were able to get more rides in before and after lunch. Back to lunch at Ariel's Grotto. This was fabulous and I would do this again. Bailey was able to meet and talk to several princesses including Ariel (her favorite), Rapunzel, Belle, Tiana, and Snow White. After lunch we changed out of our Princess Anna attire and into our Darth Vader leggings. Cause that's what you do. We then saw Mickey and waved at him, but then Bailey was "kidnapped"by Minnie! It was so cute! Bailey was just beaming and so happy and excited. After this we decided to go see the Frozen sing along and then the Aladdin show. Both were super fun. Bailey also met Princess Sophia (and she now refers to all the characters she met as her best friends). Afterwards we saw the Pixar parade and then went on Souring over California. Then it was time to get our seats for "World of Color." It was fantastical and beautiful. Bailey was falling asleep right before it started, but she managed to wake up and finished the day by going and riding our last ride "Tower of Terror." She loved it. No exaggeration. We all crashed pretty hard that night, but no one faster than the Bailey. She fell asleep in her clothes on the floor about 3 minutes after getting back to our room. She was definitely tired, but she had so much fun. She still can't stop talking about it. It was definitely worth it and such a great first family trip for us. The next morning we were off to Arizona for more birthday celebrations and Thanksgiving fun.

  

On the next post I will tell you all about Bailey's fun birthday parties - yes she had a few and our fantastic trip to Arizona. We are getting ready for Christmas and trying to enjoy December as much as possible. We hope you are doing the same.Until next time adventurers - keep on adventuring...