Disneyland

I'll just start by saying that taking Lydi to Disneyland has been a magical event in my mind for about 2 years now- just about the time she fell IN LOVE with princesses. I told her nightly stories about when she would go to Disneyland, who she might see, how it would all work (the long car ride, getting up early, seeing the princesses, riding rides etc...) for the last year. We also watched hours of You Tube videos of little girls meeting the princesses. We earned some free tickets with the "Give a Day, Get a Day" program and Jack is still free so we knew this was it, we were going!

Ok I know I'm being dramatic but I just want the hype behind this to be understood. It should also be known that this is so typical of me. I dream of moments and what the whole day will turn out like and I'm usually left slightly disappointed, reality can never compete with my imagination. But since I know that about myself, I keep a disclaimer in my head... here is the kids excited antipation the night before in the hotel:

You might be wondering how this story is going to end so I'll get on with it. Charles Dickens said it best: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". The morning was fabulous. It was beautiful outside and as we rushed inside the gates at opening time, Lydi's smile was so big she was chinese. She kept randomly giggling as Uncle Matt pushed us along to Nemo and Aunt Jenni and mom ran to the line for the Fantasy Fair (you see we had a fail-proof plan). Nemo: no line, Lydi was a little scared but she really liked it. And Jack loved it. (Jack we really enjoyed taking you too but you are only 1, and so far without any weird fettishes like Lydi so sorry that this is mostly about her:)

We went straight over to the Fantasy Fair to find Aunt Jenn and Lala FIRST in line. It opened at nine so Jarom ran to get a little autograph book for Lydi. Since pictures speak louder than words, here you go:





Yep, the 3 best, most classic princesses were there! AND BEAUTY (Aurora) was one of them!! I was bawling of course, we're talking full on tears as Lydi held out her dress with Princess Aurora. It was so cool. I loved seeing Lydi, who is so very shy, muster up the courage to say "hi" and answer some of their questions. Hence "the best of times".


sThe good times continued as we enjoyed classics like the Teacups, Pirates, Storybook land etc... and Kyle got picked to be a Jedi (also cried during that). He actually got to fight Darth Vader! So cool. My day was beating my imagination so far. It was so awesome.

The first slight bummer occurred just after lunch. We just barely missed Princess Tiana. But that was ok, Lydi at least saw her for a sec. We had more fun seeing Mickey and Minnie and doing other rides. Then she started to say she wanted to go home. WHAT??!! I just kept thinking she is tired and she'll perk up. But she just got worse.

Then the worst of times: in line at Its a Small World (the ride I was confident would be her favorite) she was just laying on me and saying she didn't feel good. We got on the ride and she was liking it a lot but just not as perky as I wanted. She then just kind of coughed up a little throw up. I just told myself, "naw she's fine, it was just a little bit, we're good". Oh yeah but did I mention that Jack threw up the night before?? But he was fine now! So she would be too! During the ride she started to get excited " look Princess Jazmine! Look at the dollies!" And then big gags and vomit. LOTS of vomit. All over me and her beautiful Beauty dress. She was throwing up so much we had everyone on the boat looking at us and we had to tell the people in front of us to lean forward so they wouldn't get sprayed.

My mom happened to snap a shot in the line at Its a Small World right before the vomit fest:

Here she is on the way to the hotel in the stroller: (you can't tell but her pretty little dress is covered in puke)


Here's where I admit what a horrible mom I am (with good intentions). Jarom thought we should just call it a day. NO WAY! Our hotel was in walking distance and the parade was starting in an hour and a half! So this pregnant body RAN to the hotel (afraid we would miss the parade) with Lydi lying in the stroller covered in puke (as was I) while Jarom carried Jack. I thought my legs were going to buckle a few times. When we got there she was asleep. He tried to convince me to stay but I was convinced she would be ok. So I woke her up, rinsed her off and told her all about the parade and that she would feel better (I know I sound completely psycho now). I had only one pair of jeans so I literally had to wear Jarom's sweats to go back. But I didn't care. We packed back up and started our sprint back to the park. In the parking lot, disaster struck again. More throw up - this time more contained so after a wipe down... back to running. We got there just in time. She was pail and tired but she actually remembers the parade and said she really liked it. Here she is:


I was a nervous wreck the whole time, full of anxiety. Once it was over we took her to buy a souvenir and I agreed with Jarom that we should not wait until the fireworks and just go back. I was sad to leave but I know that we'll go back someday and ultimately Lydi had a great day. When we got back she threw up three more times. We got her bathed and warm and in bed and then opened the window just as the fireworks were going off. She could see them from her bed and she said, "dose are pretty mama". Good enough for me!
Jack loved this light sabre so Lala couldn't resist getting him another souvenir!


Here are Lydi and Kimball by the Beauty statue, she looks so sick poor little thing!

I had all my clothes puked on so I had to wear jammies when I got back. One last shot of Jenni, my mom and me before me and Jarom called it a night.



The next day we wanted to go to the beach for just a minute since my kids had never seen it. Lydi threw up in the parking lot. But she enjoyed sitting with dad in the sand and relaxing with the breeze.


A cool side story is my old college roommate and BFF Stacey just happened to be in Huntington Beach that day. She lives in Seattle but for some reason I decided to text her that weekend. Crazy! So that was so fun to see her. She even witnessed the pukage.


 Jack was an angel and the poor boy got sick again when we got home, 2 more vomits and lots of diarrhea. Are you feeling sick yet? If you seriously read this whole post you are a champ. He loved his light saber and meeting Buzz. He loved the Buzz ride and toontown too. I can't wait to take him back when he's older.

So maybe we'll get a re-do in a few years but all the puke clean up (by the way I had to do laundry in the hotel because I had not one thing that wasn't covered in vomit) and the feeling bad for the Goose was so worth it. Seeing her and Jack so happy just made my year. Jarom too- he even made us all by Mickey ears! Now we'll have them forever so I'm glad we did! So there it is, it came and went. Now I think the whole fiasco is a good memory. All I can say is we got more out of Disneyland from 8-5 than most people get from a whole weekend cause we had Matt and Jenni as tour guides. Lydi asks everyday when we are going to Disneyland again. I told her when we can earn a lot of money! She has been finding change around the house and giving it to me and telling me to put it in our money jar for Disneyland. So cute. So there is our adventure. What a memory!