San Diego Zoo

After Disneyland we headed to San Diego for a couple days. We were excited to take Ava to the San Diego Zoo for the first time. This zoo is gigantic and awesome. It has so many different animals and all of my favorites. The trick to the zoo is trying to see all of it and walking up and down the hills with a toddler. We all had a good time and saw most of the exhibits.

The first thing Papa & Nonna did was buy Ava a pair of binoculars. Ava loves them. She used them at the zoo to find animals and uses them all the time at home to hunt for things. Ava also enjoyed riding on her dad's shoulders so she could see better.

The first animal we saw was this cute miniature horse. Ava was excited until she got closer. She did not want to pet it. She is funny and definitely enjoys things from a distance.

This is the bridge leading to the kids zoo. The water fountain is cool because it periodically leaps over the bridge and whoever is on it.Just because I love turtles.

Koalas used to be my favorite animal when I was little. I had quite a collection of koala stuffed animals.Ava really wanted to sit on the mommy elephant, but she had to settle for the baby.

In this picture it looks like Ava is petting an alligator.Nonna's favorite exhibit was the Arctic with the polar bears.

Rich and I taking a dip with a seal. It sure was cold.Ava also went swimming with the seal.

After a Long Day...

After each day at Disneyland Ava came home happy and oh so tired. It was great that she was excited to see her bed and then go to sleep.

One night she woke up needing to be comforted. We put her in our bed and then I slept in her bed because she kept kicking me. When she woke up she was upset that I was in her bed.

More Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty's castle decked out for Christmas. It was a beautiful sight.

Toontown fountain.Ava and I trying out Pluto's bed in Mickey's house.

Ava loved this piano in Goofy's house.Ava, Papa, and Rich in one of Ava's favorite places to hang out. This is where Ava met most of her favorite character.

Somehow we all got trapped in this toy box.

I love this picture because Ava was so happy. She liked riding the sea horses.

Ava is using her pirate telescope to look for Papa & Nonna. She loves her telescope and uses it to find things.

Papa, Ava, and I riding in an Autopia car together. It was a tight squeeze but we made it.

Rich and I riding Dumbo together because Ava wouldn't ride with us. We had fun though.I tried on this hat for Ava since she made me be Dopey for Halloween.

I got this shirt for Rich because he is my Prince Charming and I thought it was funny.

Rides

Ava's favorite ride was definitely Dumbo. She enjoyed riding it with Papa and Nonna. She would not ride it with me or Rich. Her other favorite rides were the 2 carousels and the ladybug (mini tea cups) ride in Bug's Life land. Ava liked going on rides that were outside and not enclosed. She did not want to go on the Nemo submarines because she didn't want to go underwater. She also decided not to go on Astro Blaster which made me a little sad. Ava stuck to the same few rides and was happy which made us happy.

The one ride Ava HATED was the Snow White ride. This ride is actually scary for a little child and we were warned not to take her on it. I listened but Rich did not. He decided she would be fine even though I thought we should try it out first. Too bad I gave in because it terrified Ava and she cried during the whole thing. It was the 3rd ride we went on and I think it was part of the reason she wouldn't go on any enclosed rides. At least it didn't ruin her love for Snow White because it is still her favorite movie.

Ava was so excited to ride the horse trolley.

Ava was happy to go on It's a Small World...at first.

Once inside she was a little nervous and held tight to Nonna. She liked the ride but it was a little loud for her. Since then I do catch her singing the song every once in a while.We enjoyed looking for the different Disney characters throughout the ride. These were my favorite.

This is Ava pointing to one of her favorite rides. They Ladybugs in Bug's Life.

Ava also enjoyed riding the Disneyland train. She didn't like the dinosaurs in the tunnels too much though. She liked the train so much Papa and Nonna bought us a Disneyland toy train set to go around our Christmas tree.

My favorite ride is still Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I also enjoyed the new Star Tours and Toy Story Mania. I was sad that Thunder Mountain was closed for repairs because that is another one of my favorites.

Rich's favorite rides were Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. On the last Star Tours ride Rich was the rebel spy...it was AWESOME!

If you check out the high scores Rich is #4.

Disney Treats

While on vacation we ate so much junk. It was delicious but junk none the less. We were happy to find that Disneyland has improved their food quite a bit and we were able to find a few things on the lighter side. Ava of course enjoyed all the goodies she got.

For some reason we waited to get our Mickey Mouse ice cream until the last day which was the coldest day we were there.

One of Ava's favorite things to eat are pretzels, so we were excited to find this treat.

One of my favorite places to eat is the Boudin sourdough factory. I love their chili, soup, and bread. Since Ava also loves bread we got this Mickey Mouse loaf. It was cute and delicious.

Ava enjoyed her chocolate covered Mickey cookie. It was fun watching her eat it even though it was messy (that's why I packed a lot of wet-wipes).

The Characters

One of Ava's favorite things about Disneyland was meeting the characters. Mickey Mouse was her favorite of course and we had to wait to see him at least 4 times. The other character she was eager to meet was Alice (from Alice in Wonderland). Actually she was a little obsessed with meeting Alice and we were worried we wouldn't find her. I even asked another character's helper when and where Alice would appear. Fortunately, we found Alice wondering around Fantasyland with the Mad Hatter.

At first Ava was a little shy about meeting the characters.

This was Mickey Mouse at his house in Toontown.

By the end of the trip Ava wasn't shy anymore and hugged all the characters.

Ava wanted to meet Winnie the Pooh, but just before she got to him he left and Tigger came. She wasn't happy to see Tigger and Rich had to encourage her to take this picture.

Rich and I were relieved to bump into Alice and the Mad Hatter. We were afraid we wouldn't see Alice and that would upset Ava. She kept asking about Alice until we took this picture.

Cinderella was the first character and the only princess we met. Ava was not very excited to see her. You can kind of tell by the look she is giving her in the picture. We found her within a few minutes of entering the park and I think Ava just wasn't ready to meet characters.

On the early morning pass Rich and I went to the park by ourselves. My parents stayed with Ava so we could have the opportunity to go on some adult rides. Just outside the Haunted Mansion we met Jack Skeleton. He was pretty cool, but way to chatty. We just wanted a picture, but he kept asking us questions like we were going to be best buds. I felt kind of bad for him and thought maybe he was lonely.