Well, I’m FINALLY writing about my favorite part of our Disneyland experience!  You know: Actually GOING there!
I’ve already filled you in on our Disneyland budget, our Park-Hopper ticket choice, our trip timing and our hotel choice, and our drive to Disneyland.  Let’s get there, already!
As I mentioned, on our first day, we drove from my sister’s house, checked into our hotel, then walked over to the park, arriving about an hour after they opened the gates.
Our first day was a Sunday, and MAN, oh man, was it crowded!!  The locals come out on the weekends, …

We have a winner!  This giveaway is closed!

I’m very excited to be teaming up with Melissa Shanhun from Digital Scrapbooking HQ to bring you a live online workshop to teach you more about hybrid papercrafting!

Your registration includes the video instruction, which will be available forever, my Summer Lovin’ patterned paper pack, by new Soap Box Template, a bonus gift giving workshop by Melissa, and a hybrid tips and tricks mini e-book by yours truly.  Melissa will be leading you through the steps she takes to create her little Soap Box …

I have to let you in on a little gift idea I have been doing for my kids’ teachers for the past few years.
Personalized book labels!!  Genius, I tell you.  When I was a teacher, I had a little “This book belongs to” stamp, and then I had to write my name on the line.  Kinda messy.  I would have LOVED a pack of personalized book labels for my classroom library!
The best part is that they are FREE when Vistaprint has special deals!  YAY!  I just pay shipping!
Choose from thousands …

I’m having a great time revisiting our Disneyland trip! 
Thanks for reading along and sharing your thoughts, ideas and experiences as I shared about our Disneyland budget, our Park-Hopper ticket choice, our trip timing and our hotel choice.
We’re on our way!!  Let’s talk road trip!
Since we live in Oregon, and we have family in California, we decided that it made sense for us to drive down to Disneyland.  That way, we could see my sister and her family on both ends of our Disneyland trip!  We didn’t actually look too closely …

So far in this series, we’ve talked about our Disneyland budget, the number of days we chose to spend at the parks, and the timing of our Disneyland trip.  Go read those posts and catch up!
I must admit that the most stressful part of planning our trip was choosing a hotel.  I was putting WAY too much thought into the process.  I checked Trip Advisor reviews, compared costs and amenities, Google earthed locations, debated walking vs. taking the shuttle.  It was incredibly stressful.
See, we have Ritz Carlton taste on a Motel …

We’ve already talked about our Disneyland Budget and Tickets, so let’s move along.
When should you go to Disneyland?
NOT in the summer.  I mean, seriously.  Why would you do that to yourself? It’s massively hot, especially if you are running from ride to ride or standing an insanely long line because EVERYONE and their grandmother decided to visit while on their summer vacation.
I consulted several websites that showed Disneyland crowd levels, and my favorite one was on Touring Plans.  They rank the days on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being …

Yesterday, I shared our thoughts behind our Disneyland budget, so let’s break that down.
We’ll start with Tickets:  We chose 5-day park hopper passes for 2 adults ($290 each) and 2 children under 10 ($270 each) = $1120 (plus a $5 shipping and handling charge)
I think there are some discounts out there, especially if you live in Southern California, but if you live outside California, just save your inner nerd a little stress and pay what is listed on the website.  I looked and looked, and the only way I would save a little …

My sister’s family rented a beach house and invited us to join them earlier this week.  We took a little trip to a nearby lake where the kids all went fishing.  I created this layout to showcase my favorite catch of the day: the photo of my dad on the dock with my boys.  I love the vintage look to the photo and the fact that it showcases three very important people in my life.
I used Sunkissed by Dawn by Design (The Digichick)
My wonderful husband bought me an iPhone for …

I come from a HUGE family.  I’m the second oldest of 10 kids and most of my siblings are married with children.  About 3/4 of my tribe descended on my house beginning in late June, and about half of them are still here!
We came together to celebrate the life of my Grandpa who passed away on my birthday, June 23, 2012.  We know that my Grandpa is in heaven with his Savior, so although we are very sad that he is gone, we know that he is running around with …

My sweet boy earned a trip in a limo for running lots of laps at his jog-a-thon. Crazy mama that I am, I arrived at the school with my camera around my neck to document the occasion!
I used To the Moon and Back by Mari Koegelenberg and Sugarplum Paperie

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