out and about: disneyland 2011

We spent last week goofin' off at Disneyland and had the. BEST. time. The weather was great and the crowds weren't too bad (less in the fall, but still okay).



Here are a few of our favorite

Yes, I had some extra time on my hands while Elles and Lynn waited in line for rides. I walked around the area finding "letters" in the architecture. It was a lot of fun for me. Can you see "memories" spelled out in the photos above?

 

 

Of course the princesses are still at the top of our favorites list. I figure I have at least another year of princess-mania and then it will end. :( Aurora is a definite favorite, but Ariel is right up there. When Ella walked up, Ariel said, "Well hello little twin sister." Oh my, she had Elle's heart from that point on. As we walked away, Ella whispered to me, "Mom, Ariel is real...I touched her skin!" So sweet. I loved it.

And Lynn loved riding Dumbo nine times! Woo hoo! (Add sarcasm as desired.) It had to be a pink one each time.

We may have broken our personal record with 11 times in a row on King Triton's Carousel. That doesn't include the carousel in Disneyland either. Lynn was looking a little nauseous at the end. :) To make up for it, I took Ella back to the hotel early that night and sent Lynn off to ride some grown-up rides.

Someone stole our bottled water from the stroller while we were on the carousel. Weird, huh? We had refilled our empty bottles from the day before and I'm sure there was plenty of backwash from a five year old, so they got what they deserved. :)

My favorite part of the Disney adventure is always the parades and shows. I LOVE them. I will admit that I actually got a bit teary the first time I saw the Lion King parade. I thought it was amazing. And I loved the Celebrate! parade two years ago with all the dancing and singing.

We were in the park for the first time EVER the new parade went down Main Street USA. How fun is that? Ella loved Disney Channel Rocks! (even though she was a bit cranky at the time) and wanted to go back again the next day. I know it's crazy that I know all the songs.

Our little fishy loves the water. This is the kiddie pool at the hotel were we stayed. It was GREAT! We walked all 250 yards from the Disneyland entrance back to our room in the afternoon and swam or relaxed for awhile. Then when it cooled down, we went back to the park.

Before we left on our trip, my friend Shauna, mentioned the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. She said Ella would LOVE it. Oh. my. goodness! Uh...yes! I can't believe I didn't know about the fairy godmothers-in-training who turned little girls into real princesses!

We made an appointment, and Ella kept asking every five minutes what time it was. She kept saying, "I'm going to miss my appointment!"

At the back of the boutique, they have a salon. Ella's hair was styled like a princess and sprinkled with fairy dust. She got to choose which tiara she wanted. Any guesses which color she chose? (Hint: if it's not pink, I don't want it!) Then they did her make-up (she chose purple and green eye shadow like Ariel) and applied fancy face gems. Oh she was delighted! She also got a sash and a giant pink gem ring. She left with a special bag (pink, of course) filled with the tools they used and all the leftover make-up, gems, etc. Ella is still using them.

What a happy memory! Every little girl should feel like a princess. Thanks, Shauna!

Besides Ella being older, there were some things that certainly made our Disney adventure more enjoyable this year. I'll share some and the second half of our trip in my next posts.