Aloha Aulani!

Not a bad view, right?

In March, our family decided to continue our travel streak and take a long weekend in Hawaii.  We had some Alaska Airlines voucher burning a hole in our pockets from a flight cancellation last summer, and when flight prices dropped to equal the value of the vouchers, it was time to take advantage of a free Hawaiian vacation!

Since Virginia is such a Disney fan and we were not going for a very long trip, we thought this was the perfect chance to experience the new Disney resort on O'ahu, Aulani.  The Aulani was very expensive, but we worked our travel magic to get a good deal during the low season.

The trip was truly magical in every way.  The resort was authentically Hawaiian, complemented with all the Disney magic and excellent service.  Virginia loved all the kids' activities and events and got the chance to hang with her favorite Disney characters.  She spent time at Aunty's Beach House (coolest kids' club ever) while mom and dad enjoyed some nice meals out and also ran herself ragged doing the waterslides at the Menehune Bridge water playground.  We also had the chance for a nice reunion with an old law school pal and his daughters one day.  The girls played wonderfully together and Virginia especially enjoyed getting to sit at a "big girls table" with them for our poolside lunch.  Ever since our return, Virginia is begging to go back again.

(For a full review of our Aulani experience, check out the review on my travel blog!)

Shave ice was a daily treat.  Virginia always made sure she got orange.

Menehune Bridge water play area is where Virginia rode water slides.  187 times to be exact.

Breakfast with Mickey!

First time on a paddle board with daddy.

Loving on Minnie Mouse.

Our little mad scientist doing experiments at Aunty's Beach House.

Happy family in Hawaii.

Virginia hams it up at comedy hour at Aunty's Beach House.

A highlight of the vacation was getting to see an old law school pal, Brett Tobin, and his girls.

Stitch and the girls (Virginia was still learning how to do the shaka!)

Another Anaheim Adventure

The Harvey family's love of all things Disney runs deep, so we jumped at the chance this fall to take Virginia there for third time ... thanks to another convenient Southwest Airlines fare sale.  This time, we brought company!  Virginia has quickly become buddies with Griffin Guidi, the grandson of some dear Harvey family friends.  Griffin and his parents, Matt & Ellie, spent his first few years living on the East Coast, so we were thrilled that they moved back to the Bay Area this spring.  Griffin and Virginia just started attending preschool together, so we decided to let them play hooky for a day and planned a long weekend trip.  But our group was not yet complete.  We also invited Virginia's GayGay along.

The trip was a big success, even with two three year olds and an infant (Griffin's baby brother, Preston) in tow.  Griffin and Virginia saw every Disney character under the sun and rode just about every ride they were tall enough for!  

Virginia loves Alice in Wonderland and often runs around the house saying  "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.... no time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"  Needless to say, meeting the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit was magical.

Griffin and Virginia saw Donald: 

And Minnie:

And Virginia just grinned from ear to ear getting to meet Mary Poppins.  She loves singing Spoonful of Sugar and Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious!

A highlight of the trip was the new Cars Land in California Adventure.  Thanks to some thick soles on her sneakers, Virginia just made the height cutoff (40 inches) to ride the new thrill ride, Radiator Springs Racers.  She was a little scared, but was determined to do it like the big kids.  She powered on through that ride and said she wanted to do it again when it was over!  We've definitely learned that Virginia is one tough cookie.

Cadillac Valley in Cars Land:

Another highlight of our trip was parents' night out!  On Saturday evening, Ellie & Matt hired a babysitter for their little ones, and Virginia set off on an adventure with GayGay.  So, the four adults took the night off.  We hit some of the thrill rides we couldn't do with the kids, and also went to our favorite restaurant, the Blue Bayou, for a nice meal.  

 Best parents' night out ever!:

Dinner at the Blue Bayou:

What Virginia was doing while we had the night off - adventures with GayGay!:

We also got to check something really big off of our bucket list this trip -- Thomas and I had the chance to dine at Club 33!  I won't reveal how we accomplished the impossible feat of getting a reservation, but suffice it to say that I have renewed faith in humanity because of it.  The kindness of strangers - particularly Disney fans - is truly amazing.  Virginia went with GayGay for a few hours, while we went for Sunday brunch.  Thomas and I split a bottle of champagne, ate some delicious food and even more delicious desserts, and lived it up!

Outside the understated entrance:

Pluto came by for a visit to our table:

And Mickey did too:

Our dessert plate -- note the gold leaf logo on the eclair:

We finished off the weekend with a visit from some additional family members -- Uncle Doug and Thomas's cousin Liz Mack.  Liz has a two year old with red, curly hair and he and Virginia look so much alike they could be twins!  They had not yet had the chance to meet, so we were excited to bring the cousins together for the first time.

Eating breakfast at the Grand Californian with Uncle Doug and Dale:

Cute kids over breakfast.  Virginia spent a lot of time fawning over baby Preston:

Second cousins... or long lost twins?!?!:

Disney Magic!

In the fall, Thomas and I spotted a Southwest fare sale that was too good to be true.  Naturally, we decided that another Disneyland trip was in order... $39 each way from OAK to SNA has to be put to use!  We had taken Virginia to Disney when she was about 22 months old, but we thought she'd get a lot more out of this trip at a few months shy of her third birthday, and we were certainly right.  She knew even more of the characters and was ready to dive into the experience.  And we were especially thrilled to get to see all the beautiful Christmas decorations.  Thomas and I had never been to Disneyland during the holidays before and it was pretty magical.

We spent the big bucks and sprung for a Disney hotel this time around, just to see how the experience differed from our usual plans (we usually stay at the cheap places across the street from the main entrance).  We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which had just been renovated and was quite nice.  Virginia especially loved the headboard which had a carving of the castle and lit up with a fireworks display.  Thomas and I especially loved the newly added tiki bar, Trader Sam's.  The hotel was a bit more of a walk than some of the non-Disney places, so we'll see whether we stay there again.

(Trader Sam's Menu and Drinks:)

We hit Disney hard.  Because we stayed at a Disney hotel, we got early entrance one morning.  We took advantage of it to ride all the Fantasyland rides that usually have terribly long lines.  It always helps to avoid lines with a toddler in tow!  As always, we used Ridemax to plan our trip and were able to avoid most lines altogether (yes, we are geeks and use a software program that minimizes wait times, but it is truly a miracle product - we've been using it for years and we get to ride 5 times more rides than everyone else in the park).

It's hard to sum up everything we did in our three days, but it was a blast.  We got to hang with Uncle Doug, who joined us for one of our days in the park.  Virginia wanted nothing to do with Thomas and me when Uncle Doug was around, so she accompanied him on all the rides.  We met pretty much every Disney character available during our visit - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Alice, Winnie the Pooh, and Sleeping Beauty to name a few.   We had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in our hotel, complete with visits from more of the characters.  

Virginia's favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh, which we rode 5 times.  She loved that the doors that the cars went through were dripping with honey.  Every time we passed through them she exclaimed "Honey Doors!"  Other favorite rides included Finding Nemo and Dumbo.  Best of all, Virginia even braved the Matterhorn!  She just met the height requirement, so we decided to chance it.  It turned out to be too long of a ride for that kind of intensity and she cried a little near the end, but we don't think we did any permanent psychological damage.  Our gal is tough!

Thomas and I ended up hobbling home with blisters on every toe, which means our Disney visit was a success!!!  Can't wait to go back.

 Loving Winnie and Friends:

"When I see an elephant fly..."

The family chilling with Donald:

 Virginia's favorite character right now is definitely Alice in Wonderland!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

One of the joys of scanning all of our old photos is getting to see how much Virginia and I are alike and how many similar things we do! Here are a couple of like mother, like daughter shots:

The Happiest Place on Earth

In February, Thomas and I took a leap of faith and decided to take Virginia to Disneyland! Thomas had to be in LA for work, and he had a free Southwest ticket because of all the work travel he has been doing lately, so it seemed like a good time to make a trip happen on the cheap. So, Virginia and I flew down on a Friday morning to meet him for a day and a half of Magic Kingdom madness.

We wondered whether Virginia would be old enough to enjoy the trip, but she was in heaven. She has been known to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on TV, so she already knew all her major Disney characters. She was thrilled to spot Goofy and Pluto as we walked around the park, and was even more thrilled when she got to meet and greet Mickey.

Her favorite rides were Dumbo, the Mad Tea Party, King Arthur's Carrousel, Finding Nemo submarines, and Pirates of the Caribbean. She ran around Disney singing "yo ho, yo ho" after riding Pirates for the second time. She comes by her love of pirates honestly, I guess (dad is a big fan). Best of all, we rented a hotel room right across the street from the main Disneyland entrance, so we were able to quickly walk back for naptimes and for breaks as needed. We also hired a babysitting service one night so Thomas and I got to stay out late and ride all the thrill rides (as well as enjoy a nice dinner at our favorite Disney restaurant, the Blue Bayou).

Virginia was almost 22 months old at the time of the trip, and took her 22nd plane ride on the return. We are officially insane to fly with her so much, but this was a trip that was well worth it! We're already planning our next Disney excursion - Halloweentime, perhaps?