This past Christmas, Aren and Benjamin surprised us with a "girls only" trip to Disneyland. We were so excited, a little nervous about leaving for so long and being away from Ben, but tickled at the prospect of the time away together at the "Happiest Place on Earth". As the days slowly passed, the excitement and anticipation was more than we could hold in! We had to make paper rings for Avery, to represent the "countdown to Disney" as we were having to remind her daily of when we were leaving. (Note to self...never tell a preschooler your going to Disneyland 3 weeks early.)
The day finally came, with our bags packed, comfy shoes on and one bouncing 4.5 year old...we were off! Daddy held up the fort with Ben at home. They were gonna have male bonding time together. Their plans were to watch sports, toot, scratch, change a few diapers, play and toot some more. And freely with no one complaining!
Avery and I were gone from Sunday midday to Tuesday midday and we truly had a great time! We got a "little" waterlogged while at the park...and not from the water rides. L.A. decided to get the most rain it has received in over 30 years, the 3 days we were there! But who could complain, we were after all in Disneyland. And with the horrible tragedy Haiti was enduring while we were there, it was a quick perspective check to not complain about a single thing. And Avery and I were champs! We hiked all over the parks, soggy prune toes and all. We wore raincoats and rain ponchos to help shield some of the rain. But I must say there is nothing quite like riding Dumbo in the rain! We laughed so hard...as the rain pounded our faces while flying high in a big eared elephant. Then it was a quick trip into Hauf Brau to grab a cup of hot cocoa and warm up. And we were off on our next adventure.
After a day of fun, we would hike back to our room, hang our clothes and shoes to dry and cuddle under the covers watching the Disneyland hotels "princess bedtime stories". It was such a special time for us together. One we will never forget. And Avery was amazing. I am so proud of her stregnth and character. She hiked all over the parks, cold and wet and had such a happy dispostion throughout our visit. Our longest day was 10 ours in the park! We slept good that night!
Thank you daddy and Benjamin for our fun weekend away. We missed you and wished you had been there to share the time with us. But we sure loved the time we had alone. And although we know that we do not need trips to Disneyland to have wonderful quality time together...it was a trip of a lifetime. We felt so fortunate and loved. Thank you, we love you boys.
Avery meeting the many characters of Disneyland...
poor child look how wet her pants were.
Hanging out in Pluto's doggie
bed at Mickey's House
This was before she went down splash mountain! I warned her, we saw the view from outside the ride...she still wanted to ride it...I wondered...hummm 
After she went down splash mountain! Bad mommy!!! She actually liked it...don't let this face fool you. Because of the rain, we "walked" on most of the rides and we were allowed to go twice in a row on this one. When the ride guy said, "you wanna go again"? I looked to Avery and she rapidly shook her head yes...and we were off for the second time. It was great! She's a trooper!
We had dinner at Ariel's Grotto our first night there. All the princess' came by to say hi and sign Avery's crown and take a picture. Our dinner was amazing! Avery had "Macaroni & Cheese from the Sea" and I had tri tip. They brought us out a tiered veggie and fruit tray and this was our dessert! The shell and Ariel were all made from white chocolate. We were starving and could hardly stop eating to say hi to the princess'.
So mommy was not thinking...and bought Avery this amazing balloon in the Disneyland park. It had white Mickey ears inside a clear balloon and inside the ears a cool red light flashed. It was quite the pride of Avery's trip. A bit of a nusiance to mommy though. The first night we were there, it spent the night in the hotel room closet, cause the flashing light button got jammed and it was keeping me awake! And then our last day...we had to part ways. As we were informed it would explode on the plane...sooooo we were pretty sure Southwest wasn't gonna let it past security. We decided that despite "our" emotional attachment to it, the next best thing was to give it to someone. So we gave it to Princess Jasmine...and asked for her to give it to a special child who was deserving of such a cool balloon. Avery did such a great job passing it on. And even got tickled when she got to see the little boy who received it. What delight she took in the little boys "anonymous gift". It was truly a "proud mommy moment". 
Despite Avery looking miserable...we really did have a great time!
1 comment:
This is sooo cool!! Maybe I should have my husband read this post ;) Looks like you guys had fun and kept a good attitude with all the rain.
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