Gigi Goes to Disneyland!

We spent a wonderful day at the "Happiest Place on Earth" on Gigi's 5th Birthday! It's a whole new place when seen through the eyes of a child, especially on her first visit to this magical land!

Papa and Gigi just before entering the park.

Mommy made Gigi a Minnie Mouse shirt to wear with her Minnie ears 

which she also wore on Halloween!

David, Hallee, Gigi, Nicole and Brody

Unc A and Micah joined us.

First ride for us was the all new Star Tours.

  Dumbo and the Carousel were both hits for all the little ones.  We all enjoyed the Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise and Autopia, too!  The grown-ups loved Pirates and Big Thunder as well!

Midday, Gigi changed into her princess Belle dress and had her face painted.

We explored ToonTown and took a tour of Mickey's house and the rest of the ToonTown.

Gigi and a reluctant Brody had their picture taken with Minnie Mouse.

In the afternoon we visited the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire.

Gigi was getting a bit tired,

But, despite the almost hour wait to Meet the Princesses, when asked what her favorite thing about Disneyland was, Gigi still replies:  "Meeting the princesses, Cinderella and Tiana!"

Gigi and Cinderella, her favorite princess, shared a chat, a hug and an autograph;

Gigi getting Tiana's autograph!

 It was truly a fantastic day!! 

You can see more pictures on my flickr page.

Milestone: Gigi Turns 5 !!!

In 6 days our sweet, little granddaughter Gigi will be 5 years old!

It seems like it was only yesterday when she was barely 6 pounds.

She's a cutie, there's no denying it!! (you can call me prejudice and that's ok!) 

 Pictured above, 4 generations of "Johnsen women"from L to R:  

Yaya, mommy, Gigi (6 months old), GreatGrandma

It's hard to believe this little princess will be starting school!!!  

She has brought such JOY to our lives!!

Gigi is so loving and sweet, with the cutest smile and a dimple on her right cheek! She warms our hearts and we love being able to spend lots of time together!

She loves books and loves to be read to.  She loves camping. She loves being a big sister to her brother, Brody (2) and her baby sister, Hallee, almost 1. She loves to help in the kitchen. 

She loves to ride in Yaya's car and loves to go with Papa to get Yaya's car washed.  She loves to be tickled and she loves her back scratched (just like her mommy!).

 

She loves animals and loves going to the Wild Animal Park, 

oops, I mean the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park!

She loves to "make a plan" especially for spending the night at Yaya and Papa's house!

She loves to play dress up and loves princesses. 

Her favorite princess is Cinderella, so Yaya made her a Cinderella dress.  

I think we've watched Disney's "Cinderella" more than a hundred times; 

and it never gets old watching it with her!

And, guess where this special little princess is going tomorrow, in honor of her birthday, 

for the very first time!?!?!

(Shhhhh!  It's a surprise for our birthday girl!)  

So happy we get to experience the special day with her and her family!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIGI!!!
Yaya and Papa love you; we love you more--to the moon and back!!