I'm Going to Disneyland!

Disclaimer (I think I am really starting to like this word): This will be the longest post I have ever done. I wanted to do a slide show, but because Uncle Aaron likes the pictures all spread out, I thought I would do it just for him (your birthday is coming up, isn't it????) Sorry for everyone who had to skip through this. Most of it (I am following in my cousin Margie's footsteps) is just a journal for us so that we know what happened, but feel free to browse/read/skip/comment, etc.

We decided, since the girls have been excellent with conserving electricity ($40 isn't too bad for an entire house for a month in winter), so we decided to follow through on our promise and take them to the big DL. I mostly think David does this for me, but we were hoping the girls would have fun too ;) We packed up and headed over (We rented a minivan because my mom joined us and for the added comfort. I never thought I would be someone that would want one, but after squishing all of our children in the back seat of our five seater, I look forward to the day with more room!)

Here are some of the highlights:

♥ Getting there in four and a half hours from our house.

♥ Sitting in our hotel room on our first night when the room started shaking. David noticed that we were having an earthquake and my mom concurred. I heartily disagreed until I realized they were correct. My mom kept smiling and David kept talking about how cool it was. I started looking for evacuation plans and the nearest doorway (although we were on the seventh floor, we wouldn't have made it). I kept praying another one wouldn't come... it didn't. Thank heaven for miracles and Miracle Whip (well, maybe not the last part)!

♥ We decided to drive to the park the first morning, even though there was a shuttle that came to the hotel. We had signed up for a special breakfast and I didn't think we would get there on time. Of course, the first parking lot we went to was closed and the second we had to sit and wait and wait. We could have and should have just taken the shuttle. I mixed up the time of our reservations. Whoops.

The girls a year and a half ago. They were so little and Bo behaved better... those were the days ;)

Waiting for the shuttle from the parking lot.

It was kind of chilly.

Elton John's daughter.

♥ Breakfast with the Minne and Friends. I took Boo to this a few years ago while Daddy and Bo slept back in the hotel. I was wishing this same scenario had occurred again after we got there, no such luck. Everyone was fine until the characters came around, and then Bo got scared out of her wits. She closed her eyes and curled up in a ball in David's lap (this was after she was screaming). David, of course, was probably cursing my name and thinking I was the dumbest person ever to have lived. Even the baby was scared... of every thing. The food was delicious, but the girls were out of their minds with fear. Bo finally warmed up and wanted them to come over to give her hugs... everyone, that is, except Captain Hook, but who likes him anyway?

Bo was just a little scared... or terrified.

Warming up to Winnie the Pooh.

More Winnie lovin'.

Bo with Chip. He danced with Boo on her way to the bathroom.

Tigger was fun. Once Bo warmed up, she wanted him to come back for a hug.

iLyn was way unsure of everything... poor girl.

Group shot.

How sweet!

Other than the fact that I look crazy in this picture, it is pretty cute.

♥ All of the rides and the lack of people there. We really didn't have to wait in line a long time for much of anything. It is the major off season. However, I did lose my sunglasses on Splash Mountain (if anyone wants a pair of $8 Walmart glasses, I am sure they can go find them. They are on the rocks to the right of the big hill).

Riding the rockets with Mommy.

Daddy looks happy!

Daddy was already annoyed by the picture taking. Maybe that's why he didn't come the next day ;)

Ah, The Teacups! This was probably the girls' favorite ride. They loved it.

iLyn and Grandma.

Fun with Daddy...

I love this picture!


Those sunglasses are somewhere on top of Splash Mountain.

The girls couldn't understand why the white rabbit was never home.

Happy times on the carousel.

Grandma and Bo living it up on Casey's Train Ride.

The night version of the train ride.

Posing with Dumbo.

The teacups with Grandma while Daddy tried to get Mommy to lose her lunch.

♥ In my excitement, I had us stay from park open to about 8:30 pm. We left after they canceled Fantasmic due to wind. It was windy, but quite warm, as well. I didn't even use my sweatshirt. The girls loved the rides and had a fun time. Boo didn't like Big Thunder Mountain, but at least she didn't cry... too hard. The girls LOVED the Tiki Room, the baby especially. She kept singing and clapping. Bo did stick her face in David's lap the entire time on Pirates. Poor girl.

♥ I wore out David enough the first day that he didn't come back the next! He wanted to watch the Cardinals play in the playoffs and so he stayed at the hotel. Plus, there was cable... he was in heaven! The next day we stayed from opening to close. The girls were spectacular! We waited in lines to see the Princesses and saw Mickey and Minnie's houses. Then, at Donald's boat, Bo tripped on the non-slip stuff they had on the ground and smashed her face into a door frame. It was horrible. Her mouth filled up with blood and she wouldn't stop screaming (I can't blame her, it looked and sounded very painful). We were able to get her mouth to stop bleeding. Then, of course, she wanted to go back. Kids are crazy! That only lasted a little while until she was in some pain. I took her to the first aid station to see what they could do. They basically have a hospital there. They have beds and registered nurses (probably doctors as well) and the whole shabang. The nurse gave Bo some Tylenol, an icepack, and immediate entrance to any ride she wanted. We picked Peter Pan. She was suddenly feeling very well after her ice pack and sticker. That night we rode Winnie the Pooh's ride three times in a row (we didn't even have to get off) and watched Fantasmic. After they understood the characters were not coming over, they loved it. And, Bo rode on Pirates and wasn't even scared. She had major improvement. Oh, and bonus, a girl walked up to me and asked me if we were coming back to the park the next day. I told her yes. She then offered me a $20 meal voucher that she couldn't use because she was leaving. How cool was that???

Nemo's Submarine. I honestly never thought we would get on this ride. The line is always an hour or so long. We got on in about 20 minutes. It was pretty neat. Boo was a little scared, but Bo was riveted. Ilyn could have cared less.

Waiting in line to meet the princesses.

And still waiting...

Finally! Sleeping Beauty, oh my!

They are very sweet for having to have their picture taken all day. It took forever in line, but the girls loved it!

More pictures. I realized later that there were two dudes standing behind us in line to get their pictures taken with these lovely lasses. They didn't have any kids. Kind of strange.

Ariel and the girls.

Cinderella!

Pretty princesses.

Toontown-- the girls loved it!

What strength!

Breaking free!

This is nothing for her strength!

Excellent photography skills, Mommy. You really captured this vision impaired moment in time.

Minnie's house. Boy, Bo sure loved her house.

As you can see, even the dishes are fascinating.

Mickey's house.

Mickey's chair.

Pluto's bed.

Donald's boat, right before Bo's face dive.

Riding the Teacups with two of my three favorite girls.

This is not happiness.

♥ My two oldest girls singing, "I'm a single lady, I'm a single lady," in the bathroom. The words are really, "All the single ladies, all the single ladies." Somewhere along the way my oldest heard this song and loves it. Apparently girlfriend likes her some Beyonce.

♥ We came back tired and exhausted (I know, the same thing, but I want to accentuate how exhausted we really were). Bo fell asleep on the bus and I had to carry her back. My arms felt like Jello. I was the last one to fall asleep, of course.

♥ The next morning was another bright and early one. David and I went to the park by ourselves. The girls were so tired that I just let them sleep. It was nice to be alone together, since that is such a rare occurance these days. We rode all of the major rides at Disneyland in two hours. It was completely dead. Then, we went over to California Adventure and rode all of the major rides there in two hours. It was amazing. I had never been on anything other than the kids rides or Soarin' over California. Can I just tell you how awesome the Tower of Terror is???? I was so anxious about the ride I was jumping up and down in line. I think David was embarrassed. I didn't know what to expect. It was amazing!!!! I love Disneyland because of all of their attention to detail, and that ride did not disappoint! We got to ride it twice in a row. The guy just had us move to the back row. Loved it! Then we went on California Screaming. Again, totally unexpected. I love how you shoot off at the begining. Fabulous!

♥ We went back to the hotel to get the girls. My mom and I took the girls back to the park. We ate dinner with our voucher, saw a High School Musical 3 show, went to Pixie Hollow and waited in line for an hour to get our pictures taken with Fawn and Tinkerbell (talked to a nice lady while waiting), went to see the Aladdin show (very good, by the way), went to see Talking with Crush where Boo and I actually talked with him, and shopped for way too long. Then, on the way back to the bus, Bo flipped out... I mean flipped out. She kept screaming something I couldn't understand. I was just trying to ignore her because I knew she was tired and overstimulated (yes, even at three she is still prone to overstimulation). Boo kept telling me that she was saying she wanted to be fancy, but that just didn't make sense. Well, apparently she did keep saying she wanted to be fancy. She wanted me to turn the baby's blanket into a fancy ball gown. Hmmm? How is that? I tried to wrap it around her in different ways, but it was never what she wanted. She continued to scream and cry for another half hour. It was horrendous. People were staring at me and probably cursing me for being such a bad mother. I tried talking to her, ignoring her, reasoning with her, but I knew none of it would work. Then, my mom finally wrapped the blanket around her (same way I had done over thirty minutes earlier), she calmed down and fell asleep on her lap. Bizarre.

The girls waiting to see Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow.

Meeting Fawn.

Playing the mushrooms. If you look close enough, you can see how swollen Bo's face was from her fall.

Tink!


Boo at Aladdin.

Bo got to see her Jasmine.

Waiting for the show. Doesn't Bo look thrilled??

They are just ninas getting their wiggles out.

One of the greatest rides ever!

Waiting to talk to crush and eating the best gummies ever!

Enjoying her miniature juice. They were so cute.

They didn't want to have anything to do with Mickey, but Minnie was another story. The loved her (me too!).


This is a nice end to the pictures, don't you think. I bet this is how you are feeling right about now if you stuck with this... me too. This has taken forever!

All in all it was a great time. I am sure everyone despises me because I want to be at the park all of the time, but I can't help it. I LOVE it there. I would probably go every day if I could. At least it wasn't hot and crowded. I can't wait for the next time! Of course, I might end up going by myself.