Our CA Vacation Chapter 1

We are now back in CO after 12 days in CA and boy am I tired. I think I'll need a vacation to recuperate from all the visiting we did. I figure with all the stories I have to share that I better break up the blog into chapters, so we'll start with the end of the vacation first and our trip to Disneyland.

Mom, Pop, Mikey, Shawn, Inara and I headed to Disneyland this past Sunday and are so very grateful for the passes we got from Grandma Di and Grandpa Tom, our dear friend Jason's parents. I can't thank you guys enough for helping us out. We got to the park around 9:30. On our way there, Pop was asking questions about where we park. I realized that my dad hasn't been there for a LONG time even before California Adventures was opened. This made me so excited to have him join us, especially given it was Inara's first trip. Let me tell you the girl did fantastic! Better than I could have ever imagined honestly. She was pretty excited to be at Mickey's house as I kept calling it for the past few weeks. We stopped at City Hall right when we got there so we could get her button that says First Visit. Have to get any freebies we can. Our first ride was Small World. Inara loved it. I died laughing when she would point to things and say George. Yes, sweetie, Curious George is friends with a panda bear. Yes, George does have a rug like the magic carpet Aladdin was flying on. Too funny. I'll confess at one point I totally got all teary-eyed and fought back the tears when I realized I was now sharing Disneyland for the first time with my daughter, and she was thrilled to be there. Yes, I'm sappy that way. Pop didn't go on the ride with us. When we met up with him afterwards, he had a surprise for Inara: he bought her a little Mickey Mouse doll, which she then carried around with her the rest of the day and has been sleeping with every night too. This made me sappy again. I loved that my dad got her her first Mickey doll. Funny side note: Pop bought a bag of Cheetos which Inara ended up eating half of. Too bad Mickey got dirtied with Cheetos crumbs throughout the day.

Next we went to Toontown and rode the Roger Rabbit ride. Of all the rides Inara went on that day, this was the only one she kinda got scared on. I understand. It is a weird ride even for me. We then walked around Toontown and saw Goofy. I tried to get her close enough to get her picture with him, but he was walking away. He did turn around to see Inara. When he put her hands on her face, she shivered and buried her head in my chest. I had a feeling she'd get scared with the costumed characters. This was proven after we walked through Mickey's house and got to meet Mickey Mouse. The second I got close to him to get our picture taken, she started screaming. Needless to say, I have a classic pic of me smiling with Mickey and my daughter crying. Poor baby girl.

Then we went on Autopia, which Shawn was excited to take her on. I must say those cars are small for 2 1/2 people. It was starting to get hot at this time, but not too bad that we couldn't stand being there. Also, I didn't think it was as crowded as I've seen it in the past. We had to wait in lines, but nothing obnoxiously long.

Next we had lunch at the Mexican restaurant. Tasty food but boy was it expensive.

We then headed to Pirates of the Carribean. Shawn really wanted to take Inara on Pirates. I wasn't sure how she'd do, but was willing to go along with his idea. All 5 of us went on this ride. Inara did surprisingly well and then suddenly Shawn nudged me to tell me Inara was asleep. The kid had fallen asleep on Pirates. Classic! I guess I understand: dark, slow, cool...perfect recipe for a nap. So right before our boat goes up the hill at the end of the ride, it paused and freakily the couple in the row in front of us jumped out of the boat and started running along the side on the actually ride. What the f? I got so pissed! Of course, a voice comes over the loud speaker to not leave the boat but the couple was long gone. They stopped the ride while security searched for them to no avail. The good news: this stalled us a little so Inara could get a bit of a nap in, so it kinda all worked out.

I really wanted Inara to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride, so we went to Critter Country and she was thrilled to see Pooh and the gang. I think this was her favorite ride. She kept yelling out the character's names and was smiling, having a grand old time. We then watched the costumed characters of Tigger and Eeyore from a far for a few minutes.

Next Pop, Shawn, Inara and I went on Jungle Cruise. She liked seeing the animals and even did her elephant impression as we passed them. We then checked out Fantasyland. Mom, Inara and I rode the carousel, which Inara always loves. It's the cutest thing watching her wave as she passes you. Then we rode on Casey Jr. Train. You know how much Inara loves trains. I really wanted Inara to see a parade, so after the train, I hussled to the area just outside the castle so we could catch the new parade, Celebrate. Inara was super excited to see Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, and the rest of the gang. She started bouncing in my arms as I held her and clapped after the songs were over. I just knew she'd love the music and dancing. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and by this time it was nearing 5pm, so we headed home. Like I said, the only time she napped the whole day was on Pirates, but she wasn't cranky and did fantastic. I was so excited! Even better was the fact that Mom, Pop and Mikey got to be there with Inara on her first trip to Disneyland. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!