Nighttime Disney Pictures

We came back to Disney at night, and the girls wanted to pose with their favorite Disney Statue. Alyssa chose Pluto (with bunny ears).
Emma and her beloved Dumbo.
Rebekah loved Minnie the best.
Here we are on the side of the castle by the wishing well that Snow White sings into. The girls had a lot of fun singing their own version of "I'm Wishing..." The gray sweatpants Emma is wearing were a gift from Aunty after she got soaked on Splash Mountain, then a few minutes later fell into a puddle near the Pooh Bear ride. Thank you very much to Grandmom and Aunty who were very nice in giving the girls new pants so they wouldn't be uncomfortable in wet clothes!
Disneyland in the dark.
The castle looked so pretty at night!
Dave's dad took a lot of great night time photos. Many of the buildings and decorations look really nice all lit up.
If Em hadn't covered her face at the last moment, this would have been a cute family pic with Mickey.

Magical Princess Dinner At Ariel's Grotto

Ka'iulani and Grandmommy happy to be at Ariel's Grotto, and excited to see the Princesses!
Emma busy decorating her crown and wearing her royal bib.
This was Bekah's reaction to the announcement that Sleeping Beauty was on her way in.
Kahiwa talking to Prince Charming.
Happy to get Sleeping Beauty's autograph.
Getting a hug from Snow White. This Snow White was so sweet. She spent a lot of time talking to the girls, especially Rebekah, then much later in the evening when we saw her on our way out, she remembered their names and the girls seemed surprised that she called then by name.
I loved Emma's look of satisfaction as she glanced down to see how Belle signed the autograph book.
Meeting Cinderella was very special, I liked the way Kamele is looking at her.
Alyssa was excited to see her favorite Princess, Belle!
A perfectly cute picture with Sweet Princess Snow White.
Kahiwa and Kamele both agree that Princess Aurora is their favorite Princess. Since our visit to Ariel's Grotto though, The Little Mermaid has taken over as Emma's favorite.
After such a rainy day in the park, it was so fun for the girls to step into the magical world of Ariel's Grotto. Even if it is only a restaurant, Disney does everything just the way little girls seem to dream them up in their minds.
We LOVED Ariel's Grotto! Similar to Cinderella's Royal Table in Orlando, it was a wonderful place that all "little princesses" will remember forever!

California Adventure...In the Rain!

Loving "Everything Under the Sun" on a cloudy California morning.
Granddaddy and Grandmommy with the girls by Soarin' Over California.
It started to drizzle as we waited for everyone to come off the Grizzly River Run. Rebekah with her "Little Miss Sunshine" hoodie on didn't seem to mind (thank you to Grandma and her friend LaCrystal who picked it out.)
Kahiwa with Daddy enjoying the Grizzly River Run.
Ka'iulani is not kidding when she says she does not enjoy water rides. Here she is trying not to cry as she huddles into Uncle. Grandmommy bought her new gray sweatpants after going on this ride because she was so upset over her clothes getting wet. She could not have predicted the down pour we would be caught up in later the same morning that effectively drenched us all!
Enjoying Mulholland Madness much more than the wetness of the Grizzly Run.
Kahiwalani and Aunty Kui on the Jumping Jellyfish.
Alyssa and Uncle Tommy on the Jellyfish.
At King Triton's Carousel both Emma and Alyssa chose dolphins.

Underneath this Hollywood Entrance, Kamele was eating her first churro ever! Aunty got it for her and at first she didn't want to try it, but after tasting it, she wouldn't share.
Posing like a "Star!"
Little movie star.
Not so interested in staying still for a picture.
I have a similar picture of Alyssa when she was four in one of these Francis the Ladybug cars. Same expression and everything :)
In the bumper cars with Aunty Kanoe.
Rebekah's favorite ride in Bug's Landing was Heimlich's Chew Chew. The rain had scared away many of the park guests and there was no wait for any of the rides at this time. We rode this train three times in a row without stopping, and each time Rebekah loved the watermelon and animal cracker smells.
A family picture in front of the Tower of Terror. Both Alyssa and Emma loved it.
I asked Daddy to stop here with the girls because I have a very similar picture of him here with the two older girls from our trip in 2004, when Kahiwa was still a baby.

Meeting Family at the Hotel

After spending the day at Disneyland, we walked up to the hotel, and Dave's family had arrived. Dave's Dad came out to take pictures, and Ka'iulani was SO EXCITED to see everyone!
Right away, Grandmommy wanted to hold Kamele. Aunty Christine is walking up to see the baby too.
Grandmommy, Kahiwa, and Kamele. Kamele still busy giving Grandmommy "big eyes."
Everyone seemed to think that Alyssa had gotten really tall since the last time they saw her. And Aunty Lisa said how much Kahiwa had grown up into a little girl instead of a baby.
Dave and I stopped for a picture by ourselves since the girls were so busy saying hello to everyone.

Fasching

Fasching is a traditional German celebration that means: "To Scare the Winter Away." At school, the 5th grade students make animal masks and run through the hallways being scary to make the winter weather go away. The younger kids wait outside their classrooms then follow, having a more peaceful parade through the school wearing costumes of bugs and other insects that you might see in the spring. This is Emma's class in the gym after finishing the parade, the kindergarten classes were all Bees.


Emma before school all ready to be a "biene."


Dancing bienen Jordyn and Emma.


They were having lots of fun dancing in their classroom!


I surprised Alyssa by coming to Fasching. She kept asking me earlier in the week if I could come, and I wasn't sure at first that Rebekah and I were allowed to attend (due to limited space in the school gym, sometimes parents are not encouraged to come to some of these activities, but I have discovered that the kindergarten classes will almost always take up any offer to help out.) This is when she saw us for the first time surprised that we were walking the parade route with Emma's class. She was so HAPPY we had made it.


Alyssa with her friends Alyssa and Molly all wearing their bird crowns. All the 3rd classes were different kinds of birds.


A lot of German music involves clapping and accordions, and at first Rebekah was really into it. About three fourth's of the way through I think she had enough, and she just wanted to lay down :)


All the children singing a song. I could only understand part of the chorus asking everyone to raise their hands and clap. I was surprised to see how interested Emma was in this song.


The Royal Court at Fasching.


The Royal Teachers. These teachers were chosen to lead the kids in singing silly songs. I think this part of the program was meant to be kind of silly and poking fun at them. The one with the yellow swim tube on sang a chorus about swimming, and I'm not sure why, but the one lifting over-sized glasses from her head was singing about toilet paper.

I'm going to go back to posting vacation photos after this, I just thought it was so funny that they did this celebration last Friday, then we woke up 8 inches of snow on the ground this morning.