Halloween Treat

This morning Ron and I had planned a lovely morning alone while Libi was in school. We were going to have a quiet lunch at one of our favorite places and run some errands before we had to pick Libi up. Sadly, when he went to drop Libs off he was recruited to do some computer maintenance in the office which became a major computer malfunction. Our lunch date consisted of driving (with Libi) through the Carl's Jr. drive through on our way to Disneyland.

Yes, it was back to Disneyland today for their Halloween party! Today marked Libi's 53rd visit to the Disneyland Resort.

There was quite a bit of confusion at the beginning of wrist band dispersal, but after that our afternoon went quite smoothly. We pulled out our Halloween finest for the first part of our adventure-- Jammy and Granpa got this darling outfit from Gymboree.

It was a chilly day today, so the hat and hood came in handy!

Did I mention it was also rainy??? Not ideal for spending the evening at Disneyland, but when you've paid almost $150 for tickets you suck it up!

We were all smiles regardless of the weather-- a day at the Park together is always fun!!!

We did a few rides before the party began at 6 p.m.-- Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, the train, and Captain Eo. Pizza Planet was our choice for dinner (any place warm and dry was my choice) and it also acted as our dressing room to put Libi in her costume.

I was so happy that Libi got to wear this darling costume again AND that it was so warm and cozy!

We made our first Trick or Treat stop about five minutes after the party began-- nothing says Halloween more than candy!

Again this year we got a million compliments on Libi's costume. Many of the cast members said it was the cutest costume they had seen.

Our little Elliott was a huge fan of Skittles tonight. Every time we stopped for a candy break they were her choice.

They had tons of character stops this year. Our first stop had to be the princesses.

She had to show each princess her tail and her lantern.

Ariel was especially taken with Libi!

We met Aurora in the princess area...

and then we met Maleficent in the villain area. She is quite fond of dragons, but Libi wasn't really sure about how she felt about her.

The Queen was quite gruff with many guests, but she was adorable with Libi. She even suggested a special pose for the two of them to be photographed in.

We rode Mr. Toad for the first time tonight then we walked back toward Big Thunder Ranch. The line for Mickey and Minnie was really long, so we just posed with this pumpkin man and kept moving.

Libi didn't want to miss the parade, so we dried off a bench and got comfortable!

It was quite different than the parade we were used to at DCA.

They had lots more characters-- including some of the Country Bears.

Sadly there was no audience participation!

Last year we loved watching Libi dance in the parade...

and she loved getting the pin for her participation.

The music was fun...

and Libi loved waving to everyone, so it worked out just fine!

Post-parade we ran over to Pixie Hollow to see the fairies.

Libi showed Silvermist how to blow fire, just like Elliott.

We were a little sad that we missed Vidia (she was there when we first went into the fairy area) but Tink was sweet and spent a lot of time with Libi.

We tried to get a picture with Jack, but he was too tired. Sally had to make due, but Libi was super excited to meet her!

We trick-or-treated our way back to Critter Country where we found some more friends! Brer Bear,

Pooh in his Super Sleuth costume,

and Tigger in his!

All of the cast members and characters were so pleased to see Elliott that they spent tons of time chatting with Libi.

One final photo with Brer Fox then we were off to try and meet with Mickey and Minnie.

We figured that the line would probably be shorted during the fireworks so we passed up the chance to see this seasonal fireworks show and ran around the Rivers of America towards Big Thunder Ranch. I did take a few cool photos on our run. I love this one with the mist from the Rivers of America, the mast of the Columbia, and the top of Big Thunder Mountain.

At this point Libi was getting pretty tired but the desire to see Mickey was strong enough to keep her going.

We got some photos inside the Halloween house-- it's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year Libi was too scared to have her picture here.

Here is Libi in 2007 in the same spot when she was too little to know that it was a little spooky.

Mickey and Minnie were very friendly and dressed so cute!

I now love Halloween at Disneyland-- they pull out all the stop just like Christmas!

Poor Libs just crashed while I was ordering our Photo Pass CD.

Daddy had to help Elliott make it to the car.