Dizneeland

So you'd think that by planning a surprise trip to Disneyland, your five year-old would not throw any fits, she wouldn't whine about anything, and she would be the most grateful little child you could ever imagine. Well stop thinking that. Because it is totally not how it works.

The first whine of the trip occurred when we informed her that she wasn't going to school because we had a surprise for her. She was sure that no surprise could ever possibly be as awesome as school.

And then apparently we joke around with her way too much, because she thought we were kidding when we told her we were going to Disneyland. But after she realized that we were actually serious, she and Kaden (our nephew) jumped and danced around the living room.

We had barely made it to Sandy (about 20 minutes into the drive) before she asked "How much longer?" I lost count of how many times that question was asked.

BUT. Aside from her crying while in line for Splash Mountain because she was afraid of the big hill, and her complete meltdown because she couldn't get her face painted for $15 a second time, and the many "Kaden won't let me [insert whatever here]!!"s, it was way fun. The kids really got along great, they rarely ever fought, and the weather was beautiful.

That is pretty much it for my narration. I will post some pictures, now (with brief captions). There are a lot of them. Sorry.

Here we are at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. Yes those are made out of real Legos. Yes I tried to take them apart. Yes they are glued together. No, I didn't get caught because I was discreet. Like a ninja.

Standing in front of the large fish tank while waiting to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Yum.

Piggyback rides are fun. Kaden told me I had chubby buns so he couldn't give me a ride.

Next day we Disneylanded it up.

We told Kaden that if he could pull the sword out of the stone he could be the king of Disneyland. He couldn't do it.
They made their way through Tarzan's treehouse. And looked way cute.
Kaden showed us his monkey skills

Then of course we had to meet Mickey.

Justin, Kaden and Kennedy rode the Teacups. I didn't because I'm not a fan of vomiting.

It really bothers me that Jessie has no neck.
And while Justin and Kaden went on Splash Mountain (which Kennedy adamantly refused to ride a second time), we met some princesses.
Kennedy was SO excited. She thought she was in heaven.

And even more so when she got her face painted. Like a kitty. She meowed for the next 2 hours.
Next day: California Adventure
Ok- this is a new ride (I think) and it was awesome. It's the Toy Story ride and you get 3D glasses and you have these guns and you shoot things. It was pretty freaking awesome.
Bug land. I think that these two kids were the cutest kids in all of Anaheim.
We rode the bumper cars. They go about 0.0002 miles per hour.
And since we did everything we wanted to in California Adventure by about 1:00, and it was a GAWgeous day, we went to the beach.
They had a freaking blast. The water was like an enormous ice bucket, but the kids didn't seem to notice. Kennedy actually totally biffed it while running away from a huge wave. And we caught it on video. It was pretty hilarious. (She thinks so, too.) If I can upload it, I will post it on here.

After the beach, we ate at a yummy nearby Irish restaurant, where they colored pictures of leprechauns, rainbows and pots o' gold.
And after a delicious treat at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, we drove back to the hotel.
Last day. (holy crap this is long. Sorry.)

We met a few more characters:


And Kaden had his face painted (yes, this is where one of Kennedy's meltdowns happened) and then we rode a carousel.

Here's a tip- never go to Disneyland on a Friday evening. I think that the whole state of California was there. I was feeling extremely claustrophobic and then when the sudden urge to strangle everyone around me came on, we decided it was in everyone's best interest if we left.

So we went out to dinner.
Remember how I said Kennedy didn't like Splash Mountain? Well during dinner, Kaden asked her why that was (in blue), and she replied (in red):

And after a good night's sleep, the drive home: