Disneyland

Well I'm officially a month behind. Usually that doesn't matter too much, but Tay is growing up so fast and we really did have a jam-packed month with my dad in town, Disneyland, Christmas, New Years, and now Taylor in a big girl bed. I am a horrible blogger and journal writer so we'll see how my memory serves me. Since I finally am getting back to a normal schedule this week, I'm going to try and catch up the blog. I guess we'll wait and see how I do...

Disneyland was magical. What else can I say? Taylor is only two, but it was an amazing experience seeing it through her eyes. The last few times I had been were with my mom and sister a couple years ago and then with swim team trips in high school so seeing everything through the eyes of a 2 year old was special beyond words. Plus, we flew my mom down for a Birthday/Christmas present. She and Dustin share a birthday so they both spent their birthday at Disneyland which was fun too!


Taylor of course loves the princesses! We thought she was going to be able to take a pic with Ariel, but of course they changed up princesses by the time we got to the front of the line and Ariel had left, but surprisingly, she went right up to Aurora and sat up on her lap which was an absolute miracle! I was shocked! When we got to Belle who is her 2nd favorite, she got scared and I had to stand with her. That girl is so unpredictable!!!

But later in the day when we ran into Snow White, her obsession was no longer with the princesses, but with "da vitch" as she would call her. She couldn't keep her eyes off her and kept wanting to look at my mom's phone so she could see the picture of the witch. After Disneyland, when people would ask her about Disneyland and if she saw the princesses, she would just say "and da vitch". We also went on the Nemo submarine ride which she LOVED! But again, when I would prompt her to talk about Disneyland and ask her to tell people if she saw Nemo, she would say "and the sharks". Apparently, my daughter has a dark side to her...

She was excited about seeing "da Mow" aka Mickey Mouse, however when it was time to take a picture with him (yes that is my pooch - bad shirt choice, however it has now substantially grown in size) all she wanted to do was stare at Mickey Mouse and touch his ears which made taking the pic with him extremely difficult; oh well! It's all about her enjoyment, right? And she loved looking at him!

I think Taylor really enjoyed being able to be held and just be around her dad for like 3 days straight, so when it came to going on the rides, she really only wanted to go with her daddy. Grandma and I were chopped liver. But, it was okay, we still got to have some special moments with her.

I swear Taylor got more scared on the Fantasyland rides than Pirates, Haunted Mansion or any of the others. We knew when she was scared because she'd get off the ride and say "it's okay, it's okay" or "I'm okay, I'm okay". But she loved the Haunted Mansion. I guess it's not as scary decked out as the Nightmare Before Christmas and it was so cool. Also, Taylor is obsessed with pumpkins so she really loved it!

She also loved the It's a Bug's Life movie at California Adventure. Probably good she wouldn't wear the 3D glasses but she loved seeing all of the bugs and all of the extra 3D hoopla that went along with it.

OBSESSED I tell ya! She couldn't stop touching the witch, nor talking about it!

Some other highlights:

• Taylor also loved It's a Small World which is amazing at Christmastime. She called all of the dolls in the ride babies. And when we got to the Hawaii section and there were the "babies" hula dancing she said "Shake It" (one of her favorite Backyardigans songs) and started dancing like the hula dancers. It was so precious.
• A few weeks after Disneyland we were singing Jingle Bells and she kept saying "the babies". I couldn't understand what she was talking about. Then Dustin remembered that they were playing that song during the ride. What a good memory she has!
• She went nuts at the World of Color show at California Adventure when she saw Ariel projected on the water and then the fish. It's not hard to tell what her favorites are. She certainly makes it known.
• When we walked by the tea cup ride she said "Look" and then told us that they were taking baths. Maybe that was more funny for me or a 'you had to be there' moment.
• At the hotel in the mornings she would run around and the last morning before we left she was running around with these two sisters (one slightly older and one a little younger than her) that would just follow her around and do what she was doing, especially the younger one. It got me so excited to think she was having a little sister.
• FAVORITE MEMORY - She LOVED the parade. The parade was awesome and for 30 minutes or however long it was, she barely moved a muscle and just watched it. Occasionally she would say look, but mainly just stared in awe. At one point, Chip and Dale (the squirrels) came out driving a car, the car broke down and they got out of the car. During this parade there is no interaction with the audience except for waving. Taylor was standing in between us in awe. Chip or Dale (one of them) came over to Taylor, right up to her in the middle of the parade, stopped, touched her face went back to his car, grabbed one of his big acorns brought it back over to her. She just stared at him and touched the acorn and he just touched her face and stood there for at least a minute or two. It was one of the sweetest things in the world. Straight out of a Disneyland commercial. I was so frozen I couldn't even grab the camera in my lap, I think I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was one of the cutest things in the world that my description can't even begin to do the moment justice. It was like the parade went silent and all eyes were on Taylor and the squirrel, whichever one it was. I don't think I'll ever forget that Disneyland moment.

All in all; amazing trip. I'm sure Taylor will forget most of it. But for now, coming from a girl whose answer is "no" to everything, when you ask her if she had fun at Disneyland, her answer is "yes". I also think it goes down as one of Dustin and my mom's best birthdays' ever. Mission accomplished!