Happy Birthday Emily!

When we planned our trip, it happened to work for us best to go over Emily's birthday. I asked Jared if this sets a precedence, and now we need to take each kid to Disneyland over their twelfth birthday. He said no. I say yes, so hopefully I will be back at Disneyland in 26 months! Anyway, if you have seen any commercials lately, you know that Disneyland celebrates birthdays. Emily got to wear a badge that said "Its my birthday!" Several people throughout the park said "Happy Birthday Emily." And yes, I cried when the first person said it to her! She also was given a $69 gift card instead of free admission on her birthday. Unfortunately, the gift card fell out of her pocket without us ever using it. It has taken us a few days, but we both can now laugh over this mishap! A highlight of her trip was seeing the boy she likes at Disneyland. He was there with his family the same week we were. Convenient, wouldn't you say?

On this trip we discovered that Ainsley is scared of heights. We were waiting to board the Sailing Ship Columbia and I told everyone to run to the second level for a picture and then I would board. Ainsley was terrified to be that high! Can you see the death grip she has in the picture? When Jared set her down, she sat on the floor, on the second level still, but was quite content. We thought she would panic at Tarzan's Treehouse too, but climbed up just fine. When it was time to go back down however, she slid all the way down on her bum, step by step. At least she wasn't crying!

Ainsley is also scared of some characters. She had promised to hug Jack Sparrow (maybe because she would get to call Aunt Nichole if we saw him), but I guess Aladdin is scarier that him. When she and I saw Aladdin she offered to take my picture because she didn't want to talk to him. In fact, about half of our character pictures don't include Ainsley.

On the Grizzly Bear River Run, Tyler didn't get just wet, he got drenched!

Our family found a new favorite ride. We LOVE Toy Story Midway Mania! You ride in a car and play games with 3-D glasses. If you "pop" a water balloon, water mists you. We were all fiercely competitive, but Jared won us every time. One of the times we rode it, Emily wanted to ride with Jared just so she could verify he really was winning us!

I love Disneyland because of all the extras they think about. I love the cast members that look and act their part as you board their ride. I love the themed areas. I love the costumes, plays and parades. The kids all complained every time I made them wait for a performance. But, every time they watched one, they loved it! I loved this costume, (from a parade that no one wanted to watch, but after they were all laughing and dancing.) This walking stick from Bugs Life was so tall!

There is also a 3-D Bugs Life show. We all watched it. Stink bugs "stink" you, complete with smell, and spiders crawl down from the ceiling. At the end, the announcer asks you to please stay seated so all maggots and caterpillars can leave the building. Then you feel a movement on your seat that feels like a bug crawling under your bum. When we asked Ainsley if she liked the show she kept ignoring us. Finally, five minutes later she turned to Jared and I and said, "The show no, the bugs under my bum yes." She must have really needed to process that one!

On our final day at Disneyland we all rode our favorite rides again. Then we did some serious character hunting and shopping (Thanks Dad for the souvenir money!). We waited 40 minutes to enter Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell and her fairies. We got to meet Tinkerbell and Silvermist. (I have no idea who the other fairies are, but my girls tried to educate me during our wait) Tinkerbell gave us some serious attitude and teasing. I think this is why she is Emily's favorite character/princess.

The Disney princesses all visit the Princess Faire, and you have to wait in line to see them. The trick is that they only have three princesses there at a time, and you don't know who is there until you enter the building. After waiting for an hour, we finally got to enter. Lizzie has been in love with Belle from Beauty and the Beast forever. Three years ago our biggest regret is not getting to see Belle. We kept our fingers crossed we would see her this time. The first princess was Jasmine. While we visited with her Aurora came in to tell her that Raja was growling at the guards, so could she please go feed him. So then we got to visit with Aurora. Cinderella was next. Ainsley was just as excited the second time to meet her as she was the first. The last princess was Snow White. By this time Lizzie and I were trying really hard to hide our disappointment. Snow White used an annoying shrill voice, and commented to Tyler about his bright yellow shirt. She really liked it, and would he please take a picture with her. She promised not to kiss him, because her prince would not like this. Tyler was mortified beyond belief that we would want him to pose with a princess. He adamantly said no and walked off in tears! The poor kid is so surrounded by girlie stuff that I guess he occasionally has to make a stand!

Of course, as we were hanging out at the princess store at the exit of Princess Faire, Belle walked in to take her turn at Princess Faire. At that, Lizzie and I both cried. I promised her we would try to come back later to see her.

While driving to our hotel, we noticed that the California Angels stadium was near Disneyland. Jared had never been to a professional baseball game, so he bought tickets for him and Tyler. They left Disneyland early on our last day so that they could get to their game. Both loved it, even though the Angels lost.

When the boys left, the girls and I headed back over to Princess Faire to try our luck again. This time we only waited 30 minutes! And we were successful! To me, this was an event that made every penny we spent worth it. I still cry every time I talk, or write about it! When Lizzie walked up to Belle she was beaming. She later told me that she was so nervous to meet her that she could barely talk. This was definitely the highlight of Lizzie's trip! Sometimes I wonder if she realizes that these are just normal people dressed up. I think that in her eyes Belle was a real princess!

Our favorite rides:

Jared: Soaring Over California and California Screaming

Misty: Soaring Over California and Small World

Emily: Indiana Jones and California Screaming

Lizzie: Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones

Tyler: Space Mountain and Autopia

Ainsley: Dumbo and Small World

I actually didn't cry when we left Disneyland. Four and a half days was good, and I felt done when the girls and I went to dinner that night.

Thanks Walt Disney and Mickey for helping to make our vacation such a wonderful experience!!!!!