The Time We Went To Disneyland

Many years ago, Grandma and Grandpa B thought it would be fun to take the whole family to Disneyland.  Then they realized that was an insane idea, with 5 adult kids (plus spouses) and grandkids of varying ages.  By the time the youngest ones were old enough to appreciate it, the oldest ones would be too old for the magic.  So they opted to take each family on their own.  This year was our turn.

Let me begin by saying that this vacation was everything I had hoped it would be.  The girls were the absolute perfect age to appreciate Disney.  They still believe in magic, but they also are tall enough to go on all the rides.  No one needs naps anymore, and we can now reason with our hungry children instead of watching them fall apart before our very eyes when there is no food rightthisverysecond.  I think the only thing they did not love, and probably weren't prepared for, was waiting in lines.  By the end of day 1, Julia was falling apart due to all the lines.  But by day 3, they had adjusted, and a 20 minute line didn't sound so bad.

If you know one thing about me, it's that I don't take a lot of pictures.  Disneyland was no exception to this.  But I did take a few, so let's look through them, shall we?

We stayed on property at the Paradise Pier Hotel. I have to say, it was pretty wonderful to be so close to the park.  Plus, we had surfing Goofy to welcome us in the lobby, so that was pretty amazing.  It also made it easy for us to go back to the park after the girls had gone to bed (this was a huge perk of going with Grandma and Grandpa - kid-free time out of the house is a rarity in our lives).

Julia was dying to go on Autopia.  She talked about "driving a real car" for months.  I'm not sure this was everything she was hoping for.  But hey, we did it, and now she can say she's done it.  Also, this was one of the 2 rides I got to ride alone on.  The other one was Goofy's Sky School in California Adventure.  We had 5 riders for the 4 seat ride.  Rather than make a girl ride alone on a bench, I went in a car by myself.  I felt. . . goofy.  Maybe that was part of the ride?

These Minnie ears made my heart happy the whole trip.  They were sent in the mail by Grandma and Grandpa before the trip, and Ella repeatedly reminded us that we had to pack them along.  They got a lot of wear in the park, and no one lost them, which is a miracle.

Teacups!

This shot was orchestrated by Julia.  I call it Lady and the Churro.

Mostly, my girls love each other.  Or, at least, they loved each other in Disneyland.  

We didn't spend a ton of time meeting characters, but we happened upon the Winnie the Pooh crew after Splash Mountain, and we made it a point to meet some princesses.  Eeyore was messing up everyone's hair, which made us all laugh.  Ella met Cinderella, and I thought she'd die from happiness.  "Cinder-ELLA, Mom.  We have the same name.  She is basically just like me.  Probably Ella is her real name."

 Peter Pan was too hard to catch - that guy was on the move - but we photobombed on him while he was signing an autograph.  Ella refused to go with Julia, and then spent the next 10 minutes crying because she had missed Peter Pan.  

 1 minute after this picture, they asked us to get off the flowers.  Oopsy.

Tinkerbell was very sweet.  Probably made it worth the half hour line to see her.  Maybe.

 And, of course, adventures in Toon Town.  We went on the Roger Rabbit ride, and tried to explain who Roger Rabbit is to the girls.  The more I tried to explain it, the more I realized that show is weird.  It's on Netflix, but...maybe I'll pass.

All in all, it was an amazing trip, and we made some wonderful memories!