First Disneyland trip with kids

Last weekend we made our first long road trip with two kids and that too to a place where dreams come true - DISNEYLAND. We had been planning for this trip for quite sometime with Amit-Pooja and family and finally it happened.

We had been telling Kavya about this trip for few days before the trip and so she was very excited to meet Mickey Mouse. I also created some custom T-shirts so that all of us can wear the same color during our Disneyland visit and it could also be an early Father's Day gift and it worked out pretty well (as you will see in the pictures).

On Thursday, June 11, we left home around 4:00 pm and picked up Kavya from her school on the way to LA. Both the kids co-operated really well during the drive. The portable DVD player (that we purchased right before this trip) and the DORA DVDs were a big help. We had booked a hotel for 2 nights just 3 blocks away from Disney. So, we reached there around 11:00 after only 1 short break for dinner.

Next day, Friday June 12, we reached Disney around 10-11 am. We took some pictures and tried out some rides. Kavya was enjoying and Ishaan was also co-operative. We went to Toon's town to meet Mickey Mouse. Kavya and Mahek met Mickey and Mini (after waiting in long lines :), got their autograph and we continued to go for more rides. We got the FAST pass for couple of rides - so that helped. We also managed to watch the famous Disney parade both times. Kavya danced and jumped and had a blast during the parade. We were getting tired, but it wasn't dark yet. We wanted to go for the laser show, but there was no sitting or standing room.. So, we decided to just wait for the spectacular fire works. We just sat down in the middle of the road to have some food and then it was time for the fire works. That was the first day in the summer season for the fire works.. and it was realy grand. We also saw Tinker bell 'flying' up in the sky above the castle. By the end of firework, Kavya was already tired and cranky and went to sleep. Ishaan was also asleep before the fireworks started. The crowd was so vast that it took a while to move and get out of the park. We then waited near the guest drop-off area while Gaurav and Amit went to get the cars. We went back to the hotel and crashed..

Oh.. what a day it had been. Full of fun and excitement !!

Here are some of the pics :

Milestone : Ishaan started to turn over

We have been waiting for Ishaan to achieve this milestone for a while now since Kavya started to turn over a couple of days before she turned 4 months.. But Ishaan is not too far behind. He turned over quite a few times today - about 1 week before he turns 5 months. We are all very excited about it.

He doesn't like it on his tummy too much. So, he stays there for sometime (few seconds or couple of minutes) and then starts crying :-) Hopefully, he will soon get used to it.

Kavya is learning new things

It is getting difficult to keep up with all the new things that Kavya is learning these days. Here are some of her recent achievements :

Learning to write: She has started writing letters and numbers. As I have mentioned in one of the previous posts, she created her first birthday card and she enjoys writing her name a lot.

Learning to read: Our good friend, Niti, gifted two 12-book series of the famous "Dick & Jane" to Kavya. For past month or so, we have formed a habit of reading two of those books every night before bed time with Kavya. As a result, Kavya is very much interested in reading and can almost ready more than half of those books herself.

Learning to recognize car makers: Now that summer is here, we go for a walk or bike ride with Kavya in the evenings in our community. While doing so, we pass by a lot of different cars in the parking spots. So, we started teaching Kavya about the different symbols and the brand that they represent. In a short span of 1 week or so, she has started recognizing Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Acura, Ford, Audi, VolksWagon, Chevy, Mazda, Mercedez, Subaru, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Jeep, Dodge, Convertible, Hummer, Chrysler, BMW, Dodge, Saturn, Pontiac (some of which I didn't know before too :-)