Downtown Disney

The night before we conquered Disneyland we drove down and took advantage of the shopping and dinng outside the park. It's so nice to drive quickly over to the park, not have to drive 2 hours down, and be refreshed when we start the day! I LOVE Disneyland, especially before Christmas. We've gone so many years right before Christmas, that the season doesn't seem to start until we see the gigantic decorated Christmas tree on Main Street, go on the Halloween/Christmas Haunted Mansion, and see Sleeping Beauties Castle decorated to the nines. I know my kids look forward to it almost as much as I do.
We were lucky to have such a big group to have there early. We were able to go to dinner at La Brea bakery (best sandwhiches ever), get our makeup fix at Sephora, and pick out souveniors the day before so we didn't waste any play time at the park the next day. Ella picked out a very pink outfit that has bright pink bows and "princess" all over it. Ethan picked out a Yoda dressed as Santa, and Livi picked out her own dress with lots of pink ruffles on it. She actually picked it out over and over so we eventually gave in. I think Ella may have a rival in the girly department when they are older.
One of Livi's favorite things was looking at all the decorations. She would point, bounce, and sing. There was a band playing and she was dancing in our arms as we carried her. I finally put her down by the music, but she was so absorbed in watching the other people dance she only bounced a little. I have a feeling in a couple years she'll be out there tangoing with the best of them.