DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!

Guest posts by Mommy: (Even though honestly you'll have to come track Siena down and have her tell you about our trip. She'll talk your ear OFF. And give an extraordinary amount of detail....)

I will actually give you the run down in multiple posts. Like mother like daughter. I love the details. :) Plus this trip was AMAZING.

We drove to California on Wednesday afternoon/evening/into night. The girls arrived sound asleep and stayed that way despite Grandpa Great's dog, Chloe, trying desperately to wake them. We had passes that allowed us in early on Thursday and luckily early only meant 9:00 am. We hadn't told the girls explicitly what our trip was and so we didn't mention the "D word". Although Siena told me, as I was explaining that we were going to Grandpa Great's house, that Grandpa Great's house is "RIGHT BY DISNEYLAND". Folks..what a memory. We haven't visited Grandpa and done Disneyland in almost a year. I expected a much more dramatic reaction from the girls but they were instantly all smiles and you couldn't wipe them off their faces.



So we entered Disneyland on Thursday morning (Groundhog's Day) and loosely had plans to hit big rides during the early entry hour. Peter Pan had a wait already but nonetheless we went there first. It proved to be ironic because a Thursday in February led to a sign like this outside Space Mountain:



It was glorious. We hardly waited on anything. Pete and I both rode the new Star Tours. Pretty similar but in 3D and incorporates the new episodes of Star Wars and overall we gave it a thumbs up. Might be more fun if you can actually ride with people you know instead of having to stroller pass everything. :)

The girls were amazing this first day. No tears. None. No potty accidents. (Cara being diapers does help though! Darn her.) They LOVED the new Little Mermaid ride. We rode that one the most times through the whole trip and walking on to it doesn't hurt either.

Favorite moments from Day One:
-NO CROWDS. I mean it. You could casually stroll through anywhere. That being said it didn't feel like we just did ride after ride.
-Siena was so excited to go on the Go Go Gadget Roller Coaster in Toon Town and Pirates both of which she LOVED. The Matterhorn is undergoing a major face lift and so she didn't have to prove brave.
-Lots of walking but only Cara proved to need to be carried and that was mostly because we wanted to walk quickly
-The girls faces almost exploded with joy at watching the parade which we've never done
-Cara's mechanism for handling the rides was hysterical. She'd hide her eyes but so purposefully with her hands sometimes in tight fists or just fingers pressed up against them. I finally caught it on camera the last day.



- Their faces. Oh their faces. Their faces as they got off each ride and declared "THAT WAS FUN" even if it appeared they had been terrified, especially Cara. She is so expressive with her face.

We got done with Thursday and we almost called it a perfect 10....actually we probably should. The weather was pleasant, the drama was nil, and the crowds were so underwhelming. The girls slept so hard that night and were once again impossible to wake upon arriving back at Grandpa Great's. It was glorious. For the first time in what's felt like months, the girls slept all the way through the night without so much as a whimper.....and so did we. :)



Enjoy the gratuitous photo collages of our first day. Our adventure will continue with another post!