Disneyland Trip Part Two

Day Two at Disneyland was long. (About as long as this post.) And jam-packed. We woke up early and hit Toon Town, where Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald live. Toon Town is so much fun. Everything looks like it's a cartoon and everything is silly. (For example, there is a street sign that says Wrong Turn...Okay) You seriously feel like you've stepped into a cartoon and the kids LOVE it.

Goofy's house

Donald's Houseboat


The waterfall behind Donald's boat

The best picture taken on the trip (besides the one with Blake, of course), and I didn't take it. Bill did.


Chip and Dale's Treehouse

Loved the Toon Town sign behind Mickey's house that mimics the Hollywood sign.

Mickey's house

Minnie's house next door
(I couldn't help but think how easy it would have been for Minnie to sneak out at night into Mickey's house. Scandalous.)


One of the kids' favorite thing was meeting the characters and getting their autographs in their autograph books. They had no problem standing in line to get them. Payson especially loved it. It was seriously his favorite part of Disneyland. (???) We got to meet Mickey in his house and then walk through it. It's a lot bigger than it looks, and so cool.

Here is Payson sitting at Mickey's desk.

Mickey's laundry room, which I loved.

Getting Minnie's autograph at her house
(she had very nice handwriting, which is no easy feat in those massive gloves.)

Payson reading Minnie's email

Macy testing out Minnie's bed.
Funniest thing--Minnie had a magazine in her room with Jessica Rabbit on the cover wearing a slinky dress called "Jessica's Secret." Bill (of course) was the one who noticed it.

I absolutely LOVED Minnie's kitchen. I'm thinking of losing the black and white damask and going with this style instead. What do you think?

Making a wish in Minnie's backyard

Pluto always signed on his nose, which the kids thought was funny. He was kind of being a spaz when it was our turn so Payson freaked out and wouldn't get a picture with him.

Meeting Goofy at his house

Stuck in the dog pound

So strong

I thought this sign was really cute

Snow White's wicked stepmother.
She played the part so well--never smiling--that my kids wouldn't go near her.

We happened to walk by the line to meet Tinkerbell at a time when the wait was miraculously short. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have met her.

We also happened to be there when her pixie friends changed shifts so we got to meet both Fawn and Fern. (Not sure which is which.)

Macy got her face painted at Pixie Hollow. I think it cost more than our admission tickets to Disneyland, but it turned out soooo cute and she loved it. I took this picture waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, just before she got splashed by fake cannons on the ride and smeared all the face paint. Oh well, at least we got to enjoy the ridiculously overpriced face painting for a half hour.

We loved Tarzan's treehouse. Here the kids are making "music" on the pots and pans.

Here we are at the Haunted Mansion. I didn't realize Macy was pulling this face until I viewed the picture on my camera.

I prepped my kids for the Haunted Mansion to give them the option of not going on it, fully expecting them to opt out. They both wanted to go though, so we went. We stood in line for a half an hour or more and finally got in there. We made it as far as the first room with the spooky guy talking when Payson burst into tears and said, "I don't like this ride!!" My heart broke for him. So Bill and Macy (who was unfazed) forged ahead while Payson and I got to see the back entrance out of the Haunted Mansion.

We also got autographs and pictures with Tigger

Eeyore

and Pooh.
(The "poo" jokes were endless...from Bill. After getting Pooh's signature in their books, Bill repeatedly told them they had poo on their books. Yeah, that never got old.)

The we ate dinner on Main Street in an outdoor restaurant just as the parade came down the street, which was totally coincidental. It was awesome, but the pictures weren't good. After that it got dark, and then came my favorite memory of the trip. Bill and Payson went in search of a light saber for Payson and Macy and I sat on the curb of Main Street eating old-fashioned ice cream cones. The air was warm and smelled like waffle cones and Macy and I sat and ate and talked and watched the streets full of people strolling by. I took pictures of Disneyland all lit up.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

The castle and the Matterhorn

The view from our sidewalk

I want to move into Disneyland, right onto Main Street. I want to occupy one of the little apartments above the stores and fill it with nick nacks. I want to sit at my window and gaze down on the street and listen to the Barbershop Quartet. Okay...coming back to reality now.

After this we went back to our hotel, completely exhausted and grinning from ear to ear (pun intended.) Toon in (heh heh) tomorrow for my last Disneyland post.

Next American Idol

I have to pause the Disneyland posting for a moment to blog about this. Adam Lambert. He hadn't done much for me this season except for that I thought he was hot (under all that makeup). But each week he caught my attention more and more with his musical talent, his versatility, and his flawless performances.

But last week he cemented my suspicion that he will win this season. There is no doubt in my mind. His performance last Tuesday was nothing short of amazing and I haven't stopped thinking about it. I bought the song on iTunes and it is hands down my new favorite song. It's haunting, it's mesmerizing, it's chilling. Listen here. (I tried to get his live performance, but due to copyright laws, it was nigh impossible. This version is better anyway--the whole song.) What say you?

Disneyland Trip Part One

Day One of the trip can be summed up in one word for me: hell. Two days before we left I got one of my raging headaches that I just could not get rid off. Driving three hours to Tacoma, another 45 mins. to Sea-Tac airport, flying for two hours to LA, then riding in a shuttle van with a crazy driver for an hour and a half to Anaheim didn't exactly help it. By the time we FINALLY reached the hotel I thought I was going to be sick, but we still needed dinner and paying $45 dollars for a slice of pizza from room service didn't appeal to us, so off we went. We walked until we found a "normal" restaurant. I drank in the California scenery and weather (LOVE me some SoCal) and played with my camera as we walked.

Thank goodness there's not one, but two IHOPs on the streets surrounding Disneyland. Mediocre food at prices you can afford (unless you're at one in California).

Day One ended when we got back to the hotel and I curled into the fetal position on the bed and Bill told the kids to be quiet so I could sleep. (It was nine o'clock.) Our vacation was off to a rockin' start!! I spent the entire night waking up feeling like someone was sliding hot pokers through my skull and praying harder than I've ever prayed before that it would be gone by morning. When it hadn't let up by 4:00, I panicked. I thought for sure I was about to ruin our first day at Disneyland. I wanted to cry, but my head hurt too bad. When I woke up at 8:00 the next morning, it was gone. GONE. There's only one word to explain this: miracle. Prayers are answered. I decided right then and there that, short of a bloody death, I would not complain, worry, stress over, or let absolutely anything get me down on this trip. And I lived up to that, I'm proud to say. On that positive note, we entered the Happiest Place On Earth.

This sign is my favorite. It hangs over the archway as you walk into the park. It perfectly sums up why I love Disneyland so much. I was going to zoom in and crop it but my computer is decrepit and won't let me, so you can click on it to see it better.

The first thing we did was take the train ride around the perimeter of the park. We thought it was a good place to start, sort of a little taste of what we were about to be doing. This picture makes me laugh because just as I was telling my kids to smile the train finally came and they were trying their best to look at me and smile but it was killing them to not look at the train.

Anxiously waiting to board.

Waiting in the looooong line for the Peter Pan ride.


Trying to pull out the Sword in the Stone.

Joining forces.

Maybe with all three?

Nope, no luck.

The kids rode the carousel, Bill and I opted out. (Neither of us do rides that go around and around and around. It took everything in me to let my kids ride it. We drew the line at the spinning teacups. Are we awful parents?)

They both opted for pirate Mickey ear hats. I thought they were pretty adorable. (Here they are sitting in front of the White Rabbit's house.)

Great news! Bill finally found his monkey cage!!

(This was the Casey Jr. train ride, where we witnessed a kid get his head stuck in a wrought iron fence while we waited in line. It was stuck for a good amount of time and he was in hysterics. People were freaking out and a crowd was forming and finally a Disneyland worker came running and pulled his whole body through the fence. People clapped. It was very dramatic.)


On "It's a Small World After All" or what I fondly refer to as "The Longest Ride On The Planet."

Proof that I was also on this trip.

A picture I took of our hotel as we returned at the end of Day Two.

Whew! More tomorrow. Oh, and remember when I said Teaser Tuesday would return tomorrow? I lied. Check back in a week.

We're Baaa-aaack

Well, I've been trying to do a post all weekend of our trip but it's just too ginormous and it's taking me too long. I might have to break it up. But in the meantime, I have to post this picture, even though it was the last one taken on our trip. Imagine my surprise when, after scouring LAX airport for celebrities both times we were there and coming up dry, I sat six rows in front of this guy on our flight home to Seattle. Remember him?

Absolute icing on the cake of a perfect vacation.
More to come very soon...

Off to a world of magic...

be back (much too) soon