I'm Going To Miss This!

It's our last week of summer before school starts, so we have decided to go big or go home this week. On Tuesday, I took the girls to Disneyland and California Adventure by myself. Yes, probably not the brightest move, as it's still summer (which equals crowds and 100 degree heat). But when we woke up this morning, it was barley 70 degrees and cloudy where we live so I figured it wouldn't be hot in Anaheim...and well, I was wrong! It was boiling!



We have had many great times at Disneyland, and also some that I like to laugh about in retrospect (code words for: not so great!) I hardly ever write about the not so great, and I'm not sure why. There was that one time we went and it was Miley Cyrus' 16th birthday and they shut down all the rides right when we got there. There was this other time when I took both girls by myself when Ginger was a newborn, and Paprika had a huge meltdown right in front of the parade route...laid down in the middle of the street and was almost trampled by a bunch of dudes on stilts. I had Ginger in the Ergo and ended up yelling explicitives to the Disney workers before it was all over (the meltdown was all their fault...no really, it was!)

Anyhoo- today was kinda in between. I knew it was going to be tough being 7+ months pregnant with two young kids by myself at two theme parks. We took it slow, and just kind of did what was easy today. Like when we got stuck in the crowd waiting for the parade to start, we decided to stay and watch the parade...but I made sure to stay far back from the street in case Paprika decided to throw herself in front of a moving float again - ha!

I wasn't actually worried about her having a meltdown during the parade- that one that she did have way back when was when the parade was more interactive.

Back then, the kids got to participate in parts of the parade, and one of the Disney workers brought Paprika in to dance with the characters, but then another worker decided that there was one too many kids...so they made her go back and she had to watch all the other kids dance in the parade when she wasn't allowed to participate. As a newly minted three year old, that didn't fly with her...and that's why she laid down in the street. And that's why I yelled explicitives at the Disney workers. ;-) It actually was over very fast, but it is branded into my memory like you would not believe.

Needless to say, I have been really hesitatant about the whole parade thing since then...but today's went well. We just stayed far back, and I let the girls stand on their stroller seats so they could see the action from afar. ;-)

The parade was actually pretty great. Paprika loved the Ariel mermaid float the best, of course!



After that we went to the Princess Coronation. Paprika really wanted to go, since she was dressed like a princess and all.

Ginger was not so hot on it, and ended up trying to dismantle all the fake flowers on the stage while the show was in process. She just could not figure out what they were and why they were in styrofoam and not dirt! Ha!

Paprika had a great time - she has been before (of course) but not since she was around Ginger's age, if you can belive that!



I brought graham crakers for snacks, but Ginger decided she wanted to eat them all at once...and it was too hot for me to disagree. So, I let her. Of course half of them ended up as crumbs in the stroller, and just when Ginger had broken the last one into a thousand pieces, Paprika told me she was hungry!



Then, we went to Pinocchio's house and I bought the girls $4 chocolate chip cookies and free cups of water...and as I was taking my receipt, my camera fell out of my hand, onto the concrete floor, and smashed so hard I think it bounced. The screen is totally broken on the back now and you can't see anything. Which wouldn't be a problem if the camera had a viewfinder (hello!) - but it just has an LCD screen. The camera still works, you just can't see what you're shooting.

So, I kept taking photos not being able to see a thing...and it was quite a surprise when I got home and uploaded them onto my computer. I guess having taken about 40,000 photos (no joke) on a point and shoot in the past 5 years has paid off a little, because they weren't half bad.



I know it sounds like the day was a disaster, but it really wasn't. We actually had a great day, all those minor snafus aside.



We rode a lot of rides, especially the air-conditioned ones! We did some things we hardly ever do (like just sit and watch the stage shows) because they offered a shady place to sit and relax and drink water (lots of water!)



The girls both had an amazing time, and are already planning their next trip to Disneyland! Ha! The whole time we were there, they were smiling and laughing, and just so in awe of everything. You would have thought it was their first time at Disneyland, and in fact, Paprika kept saying: we haven't been to Disneyland in such a long time! Well girls, I checked my blog archives and our last trip was on May 31st, not quite three months ago. ;-)

Even so, it did feel really nice to be back at the parks, and everything felt really fresh and new to me, even though I know we've done it a gazillion times before.



Overall, it was just a really sweet day. I don't know, I just didn't sweat the small stuff today because I am just really grateful to have these two girls to take to Disneyland, and to be 7 months pregnant with another child. All the little stuff just didn't really seem to matter because I knew how happy the trip made Paprika and Ginger. I know I am going to miss these days, so I guess I figure I'd better enjoy them to the fullest while they are here.