Thursday, July 15, 2010

DISNEYLAND...

We're back and slowly getting back into the swing of things. It was a VERY long trip. One that had a few good points to it, but it was made up largely of Stress and Strain. I will try and focus on the good. But Blogging is my time to whine and vent, so it may revert back. Sorry. :o)

Friday night after working 8+ hours, had to run errands till 7pm, then come home and pack for 3 people, load the food up, finish laundry, and eat dinner. So after 2-1/2 hours of sleep, it was time to get up Saturday morning to get ready to hit the road. We were loaded and on the road by 4am. But then we stopped for gas, and remembered my Disneyland tickets sitting on my desk, and after turning around for those, we finally hit the road at 5am.
Everyone was excited, talking, watching movies and giggling about visions of Disneyland. After the first hour, the car got really quiet with scenes of this:And this...
Oh and this...
We made it there by 12:30pm and unloaded the car and sorted out rooms. Our original plan was to head to the beach/Ocean 15 minutes away and spend the day there. But the kids WHINED about having to get back in the car again and talked us into staying there and swimming. So we ordered a pizza and sat around the pool for a few hours unwinding and relaxing.

Then we all headed in to shower and get dressed and drove to Downtown Disney for the evening. I love Downtown Disney! It is so peaceful, relaxing and the live music is always great. They have the neatest shops you stroll along looking at. And some Original restaurants.
Picture of DD from the balconey - DD is located outside Disneyland for those of you who don't know. It's a street that seperates all the Disney Hotels from Disneyland.

So the kids and I set off strolling along. But they were tired (who am I kidding? I was exhausted too), and as hard as I tried to buy them something like a toy, build-a-bear, clothes, I got shut down each time. We made our way to a Mexican restaurant and ate dinner up on the patio outside overlooking DD below!
After about an hour of walking around, Emily started to relax and enjoy a little of the music and lights. The entire district is lined with trees, fountains and everything is covered in white Christmas lights, so at night the look totally changes. Every 100 feet or so was a different band set up playing a different type of music. Jazz, Blues, Celtic, you name it.

After dinner, we strolled farther down the district and came upon ESPN Zone. Outside they had a DJ set up with disco lights and were playing music with a dance area set up for kids. They were playing all the new pop music, so we sat and enjoyed the music for awhile. All of a sudden a song came on Emily knew and she jumped up and started dancing right along! I was cracking up! She's yelling on top of her lungs the words to the song (even though she didn't know them all).
We then headed back to the house as it was 8:30pm already and the kids were whining they were tired. My friend and her kids met up with us (they had family they met for dinner) and announced they had gotten the room key to their families Disney Hotel they were staying at and they could use the Hotel pool with water slides, neon lights and fun scenes. So we headed back to the house to change.

Once there, Emily could barely keep her eyes open, so I stayed at the house with her, and Melinda took all the kids (Austin included) back Disneyland to swim.
Emily and I had a snack, turned a movie on in bed, and cuddled in for the night. We shared a room/bed, so after about 15 minutes of laying there, I looked over and Emily was out! I was yawning so turned off the movie and that was all she wrote!
The next day was a Whole different matter...
XOXO

2 comments:

jmt said...

So far it sounds good.... :)

Leah said...

I read in backwards order and am now commenting about everything on the first post... LOL I'm sorry it wasn't quite the trip it was meant to be, but it sure sounds packed full of adventures and memories and it sounds like you managed to make the most of it so that everyone was able to enjoy it in some way/shape/form. Our trip to DisneyWorld last summer was a major fiasco (disaster, basically) and I'm still bitter over it, a year later, so I am going to try to take something from your example and focus more on the good parts. I guess the part that leaves me so bitter is that it was the family we were with that caused all the trouble. If it'd been my own kid, I probably would have been a little more understanding and forgiving, or if the friend had been "special" where her behavior was understandable. But no, it was a 7 year old little girl acting like a 2 year old the entire time.

but, that's neither here nor there... *grin* Disney is a magical place, no matter what, and I'm glad you survived the experience and got so many pics to share!!!