Disneyland!

After all my wishing upon a star we made it to Disneyland, and the trip was great.

We drove down Sunday morning after I got off work which was probably a mistake. Since it was daytime the girls were awake for much of the trip which means I was awake for much of the trip, and poor Bill had to drive the whole trip. Upon arrival we went straight to the park, had some dinner, and rode a couple of rides as well as taking a few minutes to watch the fireworks. We also met up with the Doughty Tan crew who joined in some of our antics. Even though I didn't think we would, we (and that we includes the girls) closed down the park every night. That made for a couple of tired mornings, but not too bad (unless you count Liz not being sure she was wearing pants to breakfast as bad.) ;)

If you ask the girls the highlight of their trip I'm sure they would say Dumbo although Sam has fallen in love with Minnie Mouse (Min Mow). Riley seems torn between Tinker Bell (Teabell) and Goofy (Gooey). They were real troopers through everything despite some late or missed naps along the way. Oh yeah, they even loved the "scarey" rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean and went on them several times by their choice. Riley can even sing, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, piwates life me." Trust me, it's cute.

Stacey said the highlight of her trip was just being there with the family and being able to share the girls first Disney experience with them. I thought that was really nice (it even made me a little teary.)

As for Bill, you'll have to ask him yourself. After getting through the first few days of no sleep and lots of driving he seemed to really have a good time with the girls, and he even got to ride some rides he'd never been on. He also made sure the girls had Minnie Ears with authentic hand stitching. It seems only two places in the park do that anymore (all the rest are machine embroidered) and even those two will be gone by next year. So sad, the end of another era.

For me the highlight of the trip was being there with my family taking a long overdue vacation. It was also great to see people we love while down there, and I can't wait till Val is bigger and can go on the rides with the girls. They were so excited to see her everytime, and it seemed like even in the midst of a bustling Disneyland Val still knew who they were and watched them incessantly.

Other highlights:
* I have to agree with Liz that Sam's re-enactment of finding the pacifier was hilarious.
* Riley singing, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho ..."
* Stacey joining us for the trip so it was a total family experience
* Sam braving her fears of giant rodents, dogs, etc. to finally go up and hold Minnie Mouse's hand because she was her favorite.
* Riley standing right in front of the jazz musician and raptly watching him for at least 10 minutes. There was soon a crowd watching her watch him. It was magical.
*Riley and Sam's huge, round eyes as they watched the parade, and their excitement as it came to an end and they could see Minnie and Mickey (who they actually thought was two Minnies).
* Sam with at least 6 buttons on her shirt from our character dinner at Ariels Grotto (and the later tearing of shirt to get the buttons off.) Thanks to Andrea for the photo.
* Their new love for Fey Gawmothers (Fairy Godmothers). We all need a little magic in our lives.
* The girls in all their Disneyland gear.
* Having a suite so the girls could nap/sleep while we could still be up in the other room.
* Getting to ride Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, and other "adult" rides with Liz, Andrea, and Stacey while Bill watched the girls (and Liz and Andrea swapped back and forth with Val.)
* Sharing Liz and Andrea's anniversary with them (even if we were all a little too exhausted to enjoy it fully.) Happy Anniversary to you both. I think the Disneyland plan for future celebrations is a great one.
* Bill getting me cotton candy just because he knows I like it.
* The huge freshly made, and might I add delicious corndogs that first night.
* I'm sure there are more that I will think of later, but right now I'm just contentedly smiling.

Sadly, at the very end of the trip (last few hours and on the way home) I got pretty sick. Apparently I picked up some sort of bug down there ( I won't gross you out with the symptoms), but luckily (knocking on wood here) no one else got it. I slept for 20 hours straight when we got home, got up, tried to eat a little but it was no good, went back to sleep for another 7 to 8 hours, up for 4, out for another 7 to 8, up for 3 , out for 6, and am now feeling much better. Whew!

The girls are still talking about the characters, the rides, etc. and they want to hear, read, and see Disney stuff here. I can't wait to take them back. I'm sure it will get better and better as they get bigger and bigger. I know it does with me. ;)