Disneyland!

So, last weekend, we made a trip to DISNEYLAND! It's our favorite place to go - our 3rd trip as a family this year. But that doesn't diminish our excitement nor our enjoyment every time. This trip was MUCH needed as we had no time for a summer vacation this year!

We "woke up" early (I use quotes because I never quite made it to sleep) and left at 5am on Saturday. The kids were SO good in the car. We stopped once in Barstow for breakfast at the train station McDonalds. Then strait to our hotel. It wasn't busy, so they let us park in the parking lot. We made it to the gates by 10 am! Once there, we hung out and rode some rides, waiting for our friends Shannon and Lamar and their cute little man, Brendan. Shannon played the Wardrobe in Beauty and the Beast with Steve and was also assistant choreographer for AIDA. It's been really fun getting to know her this year. They got there around noon! We played for a while - it was really HUMID! It was so muggy, there was like a haze in the air. It was truly stiffling. Saturday night on Storybookland Canal Boats - It was the Alice boat which made Piper happy!

Chloe - throwin some Peace on our way in on Saturday morning

Piper and Waaaaaaaaaaaalleeeeeeeeeee!

We were waiting for Daddy and Chloe to go on Tower of Terror when we saw a really short line for Cinderella! She said to Piper "You look just like I did when I was a little girl!"

And, of course - Ryder with his Cinderella. I didn't think he would go see her, but he did. It was so cute!

My crazy tea-cuppers!

Me and the girls - 3 for tea!

Lola thought the tea cups were a blast! And it's not every day that you get to ride in a tea cup with Alice herself!

Ryder and his very favorite - "Lighting MaKween!"

Imagine our delight as we walked in on Monday morning to find Alice and the Madhatter to greet us! Alice and Alice - too fun!

The whole crew! Lamar, Shannon and Baby Brendon and our ragtag gang!

Before the next photos, I have to share something really cool that happened to us. On Monday, I got really hot and decided to go back to the hotel to change into shorts, so Lola and I made the short journey. When we returned, Steve and the other kids were in Toon Town. I headed that way, but decided to see how long the princess line was. I hate that all the princesses are in one place now. I much preferred when they were scattered around Fantasyland and the castle. Anyway, it was the shortest I'd ever seen it and the girls were in costume, so I called Steve and told him to meet me there. The girls decided that they didn't want to wait to see them - I think Piper said something about wanting to go on Thunder Mountain again (for like the 10th time. She's OBSESSED with it) *see below We still needed to wait for Shannon and the gang, so we just hung out around there. Well, I look over and Chloe is talking to one of the cast members. Granted, this is not unusual as Chloe will talk to anyone, but this cast member looked actively engaged in the conversation, not annoyed. When Chloe came back over, I asked what happened. She said the cast member called her over and asked her about her dress. The cast member then came over and said that they had never seen Ariel in her pink dress before and that they really like it. She said to wait here for a second and then disappeared into the princess area. She came back and said that Ariel had already left, but if we came back at 2:30, she would go get Ariel so she could see Chloe's dress. Very cool!

We went over to the Tomorrowland Terrace to grab a burger (or a spicy chicken if you are Steve) and were pleasantly surprised to actually have hot burgers at Disneyland. Mental note - nor more burgers from the Village Haus, we like TT instead! Anyway, we headed back shortly after 2:30 and the cast member in question was on a break! Oh dear! We tried to explain what she had said, but no one seemed to care. We waited until 3pm, when Steve peaked in and Ariel was GONE! I gave up right there - poor Chloe started crying. But Shannon went over to the Supervisor who happened to be standing there because a cast member dragged her out so the crowd could sing happy birthday to her. The surpervisor immediatly came over to me and asked what happened, I explained and she asked us to wait there for a moment.

A moment passed and she returned and asked Chloe to gather her family and follow her. We were lead to a small, curtained off room just to the side of the stage where they do their princess show. And then Ariel came out! She chatted with us for a good 20 minutes! We took lots of photos. She was SO perfect as Ariel - so cute and she had a really good character. The kids were beside themselves - even Lola got all worked up when she appeared.

So, below are some photos of our extra special visit with Ariel!

Our private metting with Ariel! Even Lola was excited.

It's not every day the whole family gets a private audience with a princess.

Of course Lola was going to town on her "Coral Milk" as Ariel called it.

Alice, I mean Piper, and Ariel

Ryder was SO cute! Ariel was the first character he could identify and one of his first words. He used to watch "Ariel" on my iPod all the time, especially when Lola was little and I needed to keep him entertained.

So precious! FYI - Chloe's top pattern was a size 4 but I had to add 4 inches to make it long enough. Nice, huh!

It's too bad Chloe was so used to me being a princess for so long - she mentioned that "That girl was really good at playing Ariel". My kids are ruined for life.

Lola Belle! Waitin' for the Parade.

Little (well, not so little - he's younger than Lola but weighs the same as Ryder - the cutest kid!) high five'n Merryweahter! Good to be friends with the fairies - they have all the power.

Me and Lola - chillin' before the Parade!

Ryder LOVED King Triton's carousel! It's not every day you get to ride a purple humpback.

Chloe - they Spunky one.

We could not get that Alice dress off of Piper. She loved it!

Piper and Mr. Potato Head!

Steve and Chloe on the Maliboomer. Rockstars!

The girls and I on Grizzly River Rapids. Of course, I was hoping to get wet because it was pretty warm, but barely a drop.

Lola was just happy to be there.

Ryder running through the "stream"

Lola thought it was fun, too. If I'm ever rich, I want one of these. A stream on playground material.

Daddy and Ryder getting ready to go on Toy Story Midway Mania! The ride was freaking AWESOME! So awesome that after the first time - waiting in line for about 1/2 an hour, we got back in line for another 1/2 an hour to go again!

See! Ryder and I went together this time. It was also in this line that I became my husband's hero! I changed Lola's diaper while standing in line - holding her the whole time. Granted, it wasn't messy, but still, total mommy coolness.

Chloe and Piper - ready to shoot 'em up on Toy Story!

Then we wandered back to Disneyland and found the Fairy Godmother!

We had such a great time! Can't wait to go again.

There. I finally finished it. I've only been working on this post all week, but I kept getting interrupted.

**If anyone can pinpoint this reference, I will come up with a cool prize. Not to steal from Jessica, but it's so obscure, I doubt anyone will get it. Good luck!