The big hurrah of our California trip was going to Disneyland. After many discussions on the topic, we finally decided to leave Carter at home. That, of course, meant that one of us had to stay home with him. And since Daniel's objection to bringing Carter was stronger than mine, he opted to be the one to miss out.
In order to get to the park as soon as it opened, we all--me, Aubrey, my parents, my sisters, my brother-in-law John, and all of my eight nephews--drove up the night before to stay in a hotel near Disneyland. When we arrived at the hotel and were checking in, I told Aubrey that we'd be going to Disneyland the next day to meet the princesses. She got really excited and said, "Okay, let's go! They're this way!" as she grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. I had to explain that the princesses were all asleep then, so she'd have to wait. Never thought I'd have a daughter who was into the princess thing, but hey... what can you do?
Aubrey and I shared a room with my parents, which put me in the same bed as her for the night. That was fun. We didn't arrive at the hotel until really late, and she had no intention of going to bed. But finally, after lying next to her for over an hour, I finally got her to sleep. I, however, didn't really sleep much myself, seeing as how she slept horizontally across the bed, digging her feet into my chest/back (depending on which way I was facing) and requiring me to sleep on the very edge of the bed.
Anyway, we let Aubrey sleep in as late as she could. Then we hurried and got ready so that we could get breakfast downstairs. And then Aubrey tried on Grandpa's hat. Adorable.
Because of letting Aubrey sleep in, we didn't arrive at the park as early as the rest of the family, but we did get there soon after it opened. Everyone else was riding the "big-kid" rides, so we took the opportunity to meet one of Aubrey's favorite princesses, Rapunzel, and her man Flynn Rider. My mom waited in line for us while we watched a live production of Beauty and the Beast, which Aubrey was pretty into.
When it was our turn to meet Rapunzel and Flynn, they were so great with Aubrey. I love that they got down to her level. When it came time to leave them she said, "No! I don't want to!" I think she was a fan.
Meeting Tiana, however, was a completely different story. She freaked out. We're not sure what made her scared, but after we left she asked to go see Tiana again. Go figure.
This was the best photo we got:
After Tiana, we met up with everyone else to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. Here are some of the grandkids waiting in line with their matching Minion shirts.
Aubrey was really excited to ride Pirates until we went down the first hill. I warned her about it, but she still got really scared. When I said there was just one more, she said, "No! I don't want to!" and started crying. Then she spent most of the ride with her face buried in my mom's shoulder saying, "I want to go home!" We did get her to look up for this picture though:
And she calmed down once they started singing "A Pirate's Life for Me." In fact, she started singing it randomly a few days later (calling it "the treasure song"). After Pirates we went on Haunted Mansion. And amazingly, that one didn't scare her. This was her face pretty much the whole time:
Next we got water and churros (which Aubrey actually liked!), and then we split up again. My mom, me, Aubrey, and my nephew Colin went to meet some more characters. This is how Aubrey and Colin walked together:
I don't remember who started that, but it was adorable. Anyway, our first stop was to meet Aladdin and the Genie. Aubrey loves the movie Aladdin, so we had to take the time. She was a little wary of the Genie...
... but she liked Aladdin.
After Aladdin, we headed back to the castle to meet more princesses. On the docket were Snow White...
... Ariel...
... and Jasmine.
Aubrey acted pretty much the same with all of them--shy but interested. And Colin wanted nothing to do with them, haha. Aubrey asked about Cinderella and Aurora, but sadly they were nowhere to be found.
We had a bit of time before our lunch reservation, so we went on the Snow White ride. Aubrey had a hard time waiting in line, but she liked the ride. She didn't get scared, which I was glad about.
Next stop was lunch. And the amazing happened: Aubrey ate french fries! A form of potato entered her mouth, and she didn't spit it out. I actually sent Daniel this photo from Disneyland as proof:
Once we had eaten (or in Aubrey's case, not eaten... punk) our lunch, we (my parents, Aubrey, me, Grant, Colin, and Bennett) went to the carousel (at Aubrey's complete insistence). And while we were going around and around, Aubrey spotted the Dumbo ride next door. Again, she was very enthusiastic, so we went. But then, for some reason, she got terrified. I had to force her onto the elephant. My dad thankfully caught her reaction on film:
She, of course, liked the ride once it started. Silly girl. Anyway, from there we went to Toontown. Aubrey loved Minnie's house and would have played in her kitchen forever if I'd let her. We missed actually meeting Minnie by a matter of minutes, which was sad, but Aubrey rode (and loved!) the Toontown roller coaster. That's my girl!
We then decided to find a bench while we figured out our next move. Aubrey and Colin didn't rest though, opting instead to run around some more. Weirdos.
The only big ride I wanted to go on was Space Mountain. Unfortunately, the ride kept shutting down, and every time we went to get Fast Passes, they told us no. Then they "ran out" of them. So finally we (me and my dad) decided to just stand in line for an hour and 45 minutes. And it was worth it! So awesome. Still my favorite ride.
My mom stayed with Aubrey, Colin, and Bennett in Toontown for awhile, and then they went to get a good spot for the parade. I brought some glow sticks from home (Target dollar section for the win!), and they went over well with all the kids.
Aubrey loved the parade and would sometimes gasp and point when she saw characters she knew. Mostly, though, she just stared with a little smile on her face.
Here's a video of her watching as Olaf goes by and Minnie and Mickey approach. At the end, she points and says something cute, but I can't quite tell what it is. Perhaps, "Oh, over there!"?
As soon as the parade ended (around 9:00 or so), I put Aubrey down in her stroller to give my arms a rest before the fireworks started at 9:30, and she instantaneously fell asleep. It was impressive.
The fireworks ended up being canceled due to wind, so it worked out that she fell asleep. But seriously, one day we will show that girl fireworks! One day...
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