Emma Visits The Magic Kingdom

Have I been a little vacant this month? I am so sorry. We were preparing to go on a week long trip, we just got back on Sunday, and then we were gone on vacation and I didn't have time to schedule posts. So sorry! Also, I wrote Emma's 8 month update on the airplane and blogger didn't save it!!! :-( So here we are. March and I am posting about our trip to Disneyland that we took in December! Ahhh! I still need to write about Christmas and New Years also.

We of course needed to take Emma to Disneyland, and it of course needed to happen during the Christmas holiday because that's the most magical time of the year for me. We decided that we were going to make the hour long travel during her naptime, but about halfway there we stopped to buy a bike lock because we forgot ours....which proceeded to wake her up. Sigh. Then the new bike lock broke before we even got into the park. Thanks Target!

Anyways, we made it there parked, fed and diaper changed lil miss and we made our way into California Adventure. We proceeded to immediately get in line for The Little Mermaid ride. Once off her very first ride, grandma had purchased her a baby Ariel and baby Flounder souvenir.

We tooled around in California Adventure for a bit, but then made our way into Disneyland for some shopping and of course a photo in front of Walt, Mickey, and the snow covered castle. We had some lunch and then went and watched the Christmas Fantasy parade, which I once stared in! Emma wasn't super impressed, probably because it was naptime and fell asleep in daddies arms.

While she napped we hit Big Thunder Railroad and did some shopping and snacking. We also went on It's A Small World, once she was awake and she thoroughly enjoyed that! Because it was Christmastime the park was super busy. We spent most of our time waiting in lines or walking through people, but we managed. Once it was dark we made our way back over to CA and used our fast pass to ride the new Cars ride. It was fun and I had a lot of fun taking photos in the new land!

We tried our trusty front pack and she was happy as a clam and eventually fell asleep on daddies chest. We moseyed back over to DL and attempted to go on Winnie the Pooh, but it was closed. So we shopped some more and then went to ride Haunted Mansion, but miss Emma had other plans. She was officially done and told us so. Even though we didn't do everything we wanted, it was still so much fun to bring her to Disneyland and to have that wonderful first experience!

"Will You?" "I Will!"

When you fall in love and spend the time getting to know one another its natural to think about the next step. Over the course of our 3 year relationship Darin and I had the same discussion. I asked where our relationship was going and he answered with "I want to marry you." Of course that wasn't his proposal. Oh no, he made me wait. Every time we walked past those silly jewelry stores in the mall he would grab my hand and we would walk away. Only one time did he let me go in and peruse the styles, which was a shock to me.

Over the course of time I waited and my birthday came around. Me being the person that hates surprises I bugged D for weeks to know what was going on for it. He kept saying were going to Disneyland and left it as that. He did however let the cat out of the bag to the 2 worst people on the planet. His best friend J and my cousin B. J was overseas with the Army at the time and the ways that we all conversed was on instant messaging. I pressured him to tell me so much that when I said "It's an engagement ring isn't it" he said something to the effect of I plead the fifth. Which of course means yes in my book! A couple of days later I receive an instant message from B also stating "Your REALLY REALLY REALLY going to like your birthday present!!!!" So of course the anticipation was KILLING me.

The week of my birthday rolls around and D and I make plans for me to spend the night so we can get up bright and early to go to Disneyland. He went and purchased my ticket and then met me at his house. I was such a pain that I kept asking when I would receive my present. Yes I know, I am NOT PATIENT. He finally gave in stating he wanted to wait until tomorrow, but he would let me have it so I would stop bothering him. He retreats to his closet and pulls out a medium sized box. I had a quizzical look on my face. When I opened the box I saw a picture of a coffee mug with Sleeping Beauty on it. I was even more confused. Yes I love Sleeping Beauty, but I never drank coffee. So being slightly disappointed he said to open the box. When I opened the box inside the cup was my entrance ticket to the park and a black jewelry box. I opened the box to find a beautiful solitaire with channel set diamond ring. I looked up at him and he said the infamous words. Of course I said yes! Even though it wasn't the way D hoped to do it, I am glad that he and I had our intimate moment, alone so that we could take in each other and really understand what was going on. We then went to dinner to celebrate our engagement and the next day at Disneyland we celebrated my birthday in euphoria! I think it was the best birthday ever!

And Caroling Bells Ring

The hubbs and I have various traditions when it comes to our own tiny family Christmas. We usually paint a ceramic together. Watch Home Alone 1 & 2 (we need to get on this), decorate our apartment together, and bake Christmas cookies while listening to music. We also love to go to Disneyland for the holidays. Out of all the places in the world....Disney does it right. The decorations and atmosphere really put you in the mood. So the first weekend in December we and our annual passes made the trek to Anaheim. When we got there we saw that we came on the weekend that they were doing the Candlelight Performance. This is where a person reads the scriptures of the first Christmas and choir members sing caroles. This year it was read by Gary Sinise, one of my favorite actors. I told the hubbs that if we didn't do anything else that day I wanted to watch that.

It wasn't a very crazy day that day, but we decided that we didn't want it to be a traditional Mickey day. We wanted to do things that we normally don't do, including some of the rides. We went into Innovations, and on Autopia....a ride I haven't been on in 10 years. We watched the portion of the Christmas Fantasy parade that was my float, and I sung and danced a little choreography while in line for AstroBlasters. We even went on the Ferris Wheel inside California Adventures (for me that was a big deal!) We met a very nice family from Australia and spoke with them about the differences between here and there. We even got a chance to see my cousin, her husband and son too. They were going to the park the next day so they were staying at a nearby hotel for the evening.

At 4:00 we went back inside to claim our spots for the Candlelight. We were in the perfect spot for the flag retiring ceremony; we all stood and sang the National Anthem. Watched the lighting of the Christmas tree too. I stood and talked with a girl that worked in the parades too. We joked about all the fun things that we did. Once the ceremony started hundreds of choir members took their place in front of the train station on Main Street. The singing and scripture was so beautiful that it brought me to tears. When they had us join in singing Silent Night, I felt truly honored to be apart of it, with all the people that were watching and singing along. This is the spirit of Christmas. To be joined in unison, whether in song or otherwise and remembering who have come before us and what will come in the future. I was truly moved.

Afterward we ate dinner and walked over to where Santa's Reindeer were taking a break from flying practice. Went on a couple of more rides, then went and got some hot chocolate/coffee and picked out our places on Main Street for fireworks. We snuggled together to keep warm, and played Eye Spy with a little girl who was there with her father for the day. It just helped me see into the future of what a good father my hubbs is going to be. We watched the fireworks and listened to the music and when it started to snow (although I know that its soap) you couldn't help but look up in wonderment and feel that giddy kid feeling inside that this time of year brings. It was a wonderful day and helped us to get into the holiday spirit.

New shades!

Flag Retiring Ceremony

Flag Retiring Ceremony

Tree lighting and hundreds of people

The choir

2D at Disney

For Darin's birthday we decided that since we both had the day off we were going to spend it at Disneyland! One of our favorite spots to go, and now that we have a season pass, a more cost effective day trip item. We contacted his family and his mom agreed to drive us to the park and spend the day with us. We arrived with little to no traffic (much to our surprise they finished the road construction) and parked in the giant structure. We made a pitstop at La Brea Bakery and had a quick bite to eat for breakfast. Then we hit the rides. First stop, Star Tours. Since the ride had recently been refurbished and has new 3D graphics so we wanted to check it out. The hour long wait turned into and hour and forty five minutes, for a 5 minute ride. :-S Needless to say, it wasn't worth the wait as it was essentially the same ride. At least we were able to fast pass Space Mountain while waiting. We then moseyed over to Big Thunder Railroad saw how long the line was, and decided to fast pass it, since the return time was only 35 minutes later and went over to Pirates. We hit both those rides and then went over to the Haunted Mansion. I mean within the course of an hour and a half we hit every major ride in the park, because we just know how to play the game! :-D

Afterward we headed over to California Adventure. Had some sourdough bread and went on the new Little Mermaid ride. We did some shopping and decided that it was time for some celebratory beverages and dinner. We headed to Downtown Disney and met up with Darin's brother and a friend at Tortilla Jo's. Then we went back into the park to go on The Haunted Mansion and watched Fatasmic. One last ride was to be ridden before the park was to close. That was Indiana Jones. For those of you who have ridden it, you know how jerky it is. One second you are speeding along and the next your completely stopped. So we decided to make it a game. Hands and feet in the air at all times! We totally burned off those burritos and margarita's! My Ab's hurt for days afterward! All is all it was a wonderful birthday for my lovey dovey and can't wait for our next Disney adventure!

House of Mouse (Part Two)

I must apologize to everyone for my lack of blogging lately. Some things have come up recently that have needed my full attention but now I am back! :-) As you recall in my previous post, House of Mouse (Part One) Trevor and I had both received parts in the Christmas Fantasy Parade. We were ecstatic! We soon discovered though that we received full time parts. We both had to re-arrange our school schedules to fit in the rehearsals and our working hours.

Our first day was surreal to say the least. Who would have thought that we would not only have working jobs as dancers, but at the Magical Kingdom? We walked in and were promptly given our name badges and a tour of the backstage areas. Very hush hush. You see, Disney likes to preserve the "Magic" so at all times you are called Cast Members and are never to be out of character when guests are in your presence. We learned all the rules and a couple of the secrets! Like there are actually 5 people who play Mickey in Fantasmic.We then received our rehearsal schedules and were on our way. Rehearsals are done differently. You arrive at the park around 8PM and learn your routines in the backstage areas. Every so often a person will be pulled out to be fitted for their costume. After a couple of days of indoor rehearsal we had to go out and actually learn to travel the routine. At the time I suffered from really bad asthma and to perform the same, insanely crazy and hyper, routine over and over was very difficult. I would die by the end of our rehearsal. Then it came for us to rehearse in our costumes! 3" thick foam costume with a 24" diameter head with a mesh covered opening for air! AHHHH! Needless to say, my lungs got strong quickly and I lost a few pounds over the course of the season. Soon it was time to rehearse in the park. We waited until the park closed and the cleaning crew did their thing then we went out costumes and all and performed to a dark, empty park. It was very creepy!

Cast of "A Christmas Fantasy"

Once Thanksgiving rolled around it was time to open the show. We performed 2 parades daily for all the kiddos and their parents. It was the most wonderful experience. The cool thing is that there was a cast member family night where we soft opened the parade and they filmed the whole thing. My mom and Aunt came down to see and enjoy the parade and the completely empty park. The next year when California Adventure opened the introduced a new ride called Soarin' Over California. At the end of the ride our parade from that night is featured! I am forever emblazoned in a ride! Well at least until they change it! It was the most awesome experience and I will have these memories forever!


Please enjoy the video of our parade, you can't tell who is who; but it is me and Trev!

Joyous Times

As you know I have yet to have children, but Darin and I are lucky enough to have a god-daughter. Last Monday we were lucky enough to experience first hand what it is like to have children and go to a theme park. My cousin and aunt were coming down to go to Disneyland and we decided to join them. Not only do you have to have an extraordinary amount of stuff with a baby you have to deal with all the other people who have an extraordinary amount of stuff with a baby. You have the diaper bag, the stroller, all your stuff, and of course THE BABY! It was a zoo at the park, but I didn't expect anything less considering they have a new ride, new shows and it's summer! We spent half the day walking around with the stroller and trying to keep everybody cool, including Charlotte. At one point my aunt told Amy, Darin, her friend Wendy and I all to go onto Soarin' Over California in California Adventure while she took care of the baby and tracked down her sister. We didn't have a fastpass so we stood in the line, which was a good 45+ minutes. Then we walked back over to Screamin' to meet up with everyone. When we arrived, we saw that Charlotte was having a meltdown. She was crying so hard and my aunt and her sister looked very frazzled as having not been able to soothe her. Amy took the baby and went to feed her, but mostly to calm her down. Everyone all went on rides so I was left to sit with the stroller and wait. When Amy emerged we did some shopping and waited for the rest of the group. When Darin and my aunt showed back up she had two turkey legs in her hands one for her and one for Darin. They looked so barbaric eating them, but I thought it was amusing.

After a little more shopping we went to go see the new Little Mermaid ride. I had been a long wait all day, but we decided to bear the line, I mean we knew it was going to be worth it. They had told us that we could bring the carseat on the ride, but that Charlotte would have to be taken out while it was in motion. So once we got to the front, Darin picked up Charlotte out of the carseat and went to get in the clam shell. I grabbed the carseat and told Amy to go and sit with Darin. We did a back and forth of you go you go, until they finally told us the bar went down already and we couldn't go on the ride with him. So we both crammed into the clamshell with the diaper bag, the carseat, my camera bag, and both of us! It was crowded. Darin got to ride with Charlotte on her first ever theme park ride....all alone! Damn him! It's ok though cause she LOVED it. It was so cute to see my love enjoy the baby on the ride.

Afterward we did a little more shopping and then went to the car to get the frontpack. Basically a backpack for babies it was a godsend! Charlotte decided that was time to take a nap. We had dinner and then went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which she also loved. Then we made the trek over to see World of Color. After the show the group decided to go onto Tower of Terror. Now I am a big chicken so I told Amy if she wanted to go on the ride that I would take the baby so she could. When it was time for them to go we did the baby pass and I put the front pack on. Which in turn woke up poor Charlotte. She had a full out melt down outside the ride. I felt helpless and like everyone was looking at me like "what a horrible person letting that baby cry!" I bounced, rocked, sang, rubbed her back, NOTHING was working! I decided to take a walk away from everyone so that they wouldn't have to listen to her cry and as soon as I did that she stuffed her hand in her mouth and stopped crying. So I just kept walking until she was completely calm. Whew! Crises averted! I was thinking, "Oh no! She can't be crying when Amy comes off the ride! She'll never leave her baby alone with anyone!" I felt so proud of myself, the veteran mother's couldn't calm her down but I (not a mother!) was able to do it! Score one for me! Hehe! When they came off the ride she was great and calm! :-) It was then time to leave. We walked toward the exit, and my aunt got stopped by a survey taker so we were held up at the gates. While up there California Dreamin' was playing on the speakers and I started to sing to Charlotte and dance with her. She was looking at me, smiling and singing back with her little coos. It warmed my heart and I felt so happy to be her godmommy at that moment. I thought to myself, "this is why people have babies, what a joyous feeling this is." It was a special moment that I shared and Darin got his special moment too! I cannot wait to have more special moments with her, as well as my cousins! Please enjoy some photos from the trip!