Our friends Randy and Tia, who have 3 boys, let us in on their tradition of surprising each of their boys with a solo trip to Disneyland when they turned 5. While Audrey wont be 5 until August, my practical mind thought "let's do it in April . . post Spring Break, but before the summer . . you know, to beat the crowds . . ". Lisa said sure, whatever, just take us to DISNEYLAND!We put Audrey in the car under the guise of going to Starbucks for chocolate milk. Once in the car we asked her if she could go anywhere, where would it be. She promptly yelled "Applebees!". I knew moving to Suburbia would have its pitfalls.
She quickly followed up with "DISNEYLAND!" so off we went to the airport. Randy and Tia had picked up the Minnie ears on their last trip so Audrey was immediately in costume.
Nothing could slow us down . . . except for brake problems on the Alaska direct to John Wayne. Oh well, the 90 minute delay allowed all the anxious kids to visit the pilots in the cockpit. Kids are much more resilient than adults.
Quick note on Sam . . Lisa and I were picturing (and selfishly hoping) that he would miss us terribly. Perhaps he would pull out his "It's not fair" face like the above picture.
Fortunately for us he has a wonderful Grammy who came to visit for 4 days armed with a SuperSammy cape. Can you tell how much he misses us.
I'm sure he missed us a little . . deep down . . somewhere?!
Fine Sam, back to Disneyland. Here is Audrey's grand entrance. I'm fairly certain that all employees are trained to acknowledge anyone dressed in Princess garb by the Princess's name. From the gate at the entrance to every ride we went on, having people acknowledge Audrey as Snow White is part of why this place is so special for little kids. It's a small jesture to us, but to a 4 year old it's magical.
On to the Princess breakfast! We lucked out and got the big 5. I'm pretty sure in 3 years when we take Sam we won't be blogging similar pictures.
Each Princess was so good with the little girls, making sure to spend a few moments talking to each one. While meeting Mickey and Minnie was great, they don't actually talk. I understand why, but being able to have a short converstation seemed to make the Princesses "real" for Audrey.
I don't mean to diminish the "Minnie Factor". She was the one character who Audrey kept wanting to go back to see. I believe the quote was "I'm going to live with Minnie in her house".
Princess work out.
My girls.
It's a Small World . . . round 3. In fairness to the ride, they have updated since my last tour in 1997. Audrey was a trooper on some of the more daring rides like Soaring Over California, but she would always say "Daddy, I like this ride, but I LOVE It's a Small World", and then she would start singing the song. Yes, it's still stuck in my head.
The hotel we stayed at had a wonderful pool. One risk to a good pool is it's tough to get the kids out to go back to the park. We spent an hour and a half each day in the pool which was a good break and gave Lisa some SoCal sun time.
Audrey was a trooper and powered through 3 days of Disneyland without any major breakdowns. We made sure she had plenty of carbo-loading meals to keep the tank full.
And if the pasta failed her, we quickly supplemented with ice cream.
Alas, empty calories can only take you so far. She thought if she stacked the pillows she would be able to stay awake. Of course, the second the head hit the pillow it was lights out.
Here she is waving goodbye to the Happiest Place on Earth before we headed to the airport. It was a truly wonderful 4 days and we cannot wait to take Sam in a few years.
Back in the car in Seattle. Once she hit "familiar ground" and knew she wouldn't be seeing anything knew she was out like a light. She deserved it.
