Last weekend, we were really looking forward to a fun family weekend. Alex was finishing up his Neurology rotation on Friday and was care free until Monday when he would start his Surgery rotation. We had originally planned on going camping, but the entire week had been rainy with threats of floods. Then we thought we would spend the weekend up in Phoenix and maybe go to the aquarium or something. But on Friday afternoon, Alex called me up on his drive home and spontaneously suggested that we pack up and drive to California so we could go to Disneyland the following day. (what!!) After much discussion-as much discussion as you can have within a few short minutes- we decided to go! And we decided to surprise our kids with the big news the next morning on our drive to the park.
So we drove 6 hours Friday night, spent the day at Disneyland all day Saturday, then drove the 6 hours home Sunday. It was so worth it!
Upon entering the gates, we got to meet Ariel and Aurora.
Aurora is Lucy's absolute favorite. She was mesmerized by her.
Where to next...
We headed over to Snow White's wishing well and we met Peter Pan! Fun surprise!
I'll tell about Lucy's wish in a second...
These three playing on the bars while waiting in line for the Peter Pan ride.
They're friends, you know. (Oh! I love them!)
Taking a break and snacking.
Todd's "smile", haha!
We got to meet Cinderella! She was the best Cinderella ever. It's like she already knew us or something! We might as well be sisters... *cough cough* ;)
Climbing the stairs of Tarzan's Treehouse.
The view from the top. (Which, do you see the haunted mansion? We didn't make it on there this time. The line was over an hour long! Everyone wanted to see the new Halloween decorations)
Lucy "trashing the camp"
Todd is currently a Star Wars nut. We can't wait until we can take him on the Star Tours ride. We took him to the front of the ride to have him measured and the lady said he was good to go, barely! Yay!!
"Todd, are you excited to go on the Star Wars ride?"
"Staaaaar Waaaaarrs"
Sadly, when we got to the very front of the line, a couple of other employees measured him and they said he couldn't go. :( He was crushed. I think we were more ticked about waiting all that time in the line for nothing. So we took them on the Buzz Lightyear ride instead.
Then they crashed...
We found a table at the Riverbelle Terrace restaurant and sat in the shade while Annie napped on the table and the other two napped in the stroller (you see them?). It was a perfect time for us to munch on treats that we didn't want to share with three little squirts. :)
We tried to make up the whole Star Tours debacle by meeting some Jedi, Darth Vader, and some Storm Troopers. Todd was scared to death and clung to Alex. I can't blame him. Darth Vader was huge and intimidating! When Annie saw Darth Vader walk out, she squealed "Bumblebee!"
Waiting in line for the Storybook cruise
The Teacups. I made sure Alex wasn't going to spin it too fast, cause I'm sure he would have made them puke had I not been there!
My contacts were buggin...
Todd is always putting his fingers in him mouth lately. I have no idea why. It bothuhs me.
Entering Small World - the all around favorite and crowd pleaser among our bunch
Back to Lucy's wish - The fire work show had ended about 945, Todd and Annie were sleeping, and we started heading towards the gate to exit with the rest of the crowd. Lucy all of a sudden starts whining and crying hysterically (she was so tired) saying how her wish didn't come true. We crouched to her level and asked her what her wish was. She said "I wanted to see the show on the lake". She was referring to Fantasmic, which is an awesome show that plays on the Rivers of America across from the Pirates ride. We had walked by the show about an hour earlier where she got a little peak at the magic. Thankfully they had another showing at 1030. We hesitated only because we were so exhausted, but that was her "wish" so why not make a little girl's wish come true. We squished into a spot among the huge crowd. The show was spectacular. I had seen it several times before, but this was Alex and Lucy's first time. They LOVED it!
On our way walking out of the park the second time, we heard swing music. We looked, and to the left of the castle on the Carnation Plaza Stage we saw a ton of people swing dancing and others watching. If you know me and Alex, you know that we love jazz music and we love swing dancing. We had to go check it out. On the stage was a live jazz band with everyone dressed in black tuxedos with black bow ties. There was a group of three men singing into an old fashioned microphone. Guests were tearing up the dance floor. It was like it was out of a movie. I was soooo angry! I wanted to run out onto the dance floor soooo bad and dance with Alex! But Annie was slumped over my shoulder and the other two were knocked out. Why did we have to have kids in this moment! Why! Dang it! We asked an employee to tell us everything about what was going on. She said that every Saturday night, 52 weeks a year, from 7:30-11pm they have a live band and people come to dance. She said that people have been coming for years and now their kids are coming. How did I not know about this!?! And I know a lot about Disneyland!
If we ever get back to CA, I am making sure we buy passes that include Saturdays and we will be going swing dancing...a lot! I mean, my dream come true! My Sweat heart, Disneyland, swing dancing...heaven! :)
