I feel like I keep telling you guys that I'm
finally feeling better, but I'm going to stop doing that. Because, really, I'm not. This pregnancy, even at sixteen weeks, well into what has almost always been the do-all-the-things part of pregnancy for me . . . has been hard. I'm still having first trimester-type nausea and fatigue, combined with early-onset third trimester stuff like heartburn and other things I won't go into. So, I'm just going to say that I'm not feeling great, but life and blogging go on, as much as possible anyway.
 |
| They are NOT barfy. Just bummed that Sleeping Beauty's castle was all closed off and screened over. |
So, even though I've been racking my brain for some "content" to go along with the Disneyland photo dump. I just don't got it tonight. And I didn't got it last night either. So, you get the photos. That is all.
If you
like the Catholic All Year page on Facebook, you've seen a couple of these. If you follow me on Instagram, (do you? it's my favorite.
I'm @kendra_tierney.) you've seen even more of them. But no one has seen them all. Until now.
Nana and Grandad take us all to Disneyland for each kid's sixth birthday (because they are they BEST.)
We've ended up going two Februarys in a row, since we went a couple of
months late for Gus's birthday last year, and a few months early for
Anita's sixth birthday, which is next July.
It also just so happened that we went on Betty's actual eleventh birthday. So, lots to celebrate.
We drove from our house in the valley down to Anaheim on Thursday afternoon, and spent the evening at Downtown Disney.
We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, which my kids believe to be THE fanciest restaurant on the entire planet.
Wait, who is that?
Oh. It's Frankie.
Betty got a birthday Volcano Cake, sans sparkler 'cause California is l.a.m.e. like that. I'm sure many a wildfire was set inside the Rainforest Cafe before someone finally got some laws passed against them.
Next stop was the Lego store. I love just watching the kids inside the Lego Store. They love it all so much.
Bobby had saved up for months to buy a Lego set for himself while we were there. He had a baggie o' cash, and a coupon he had clipped from his Lego magazine. (Do your kids
get Lego magazine? It's FREE!) It's was the adorablest.
Next day, Friday, we went to Disneyland. The lines usually aren't TOO bad on a weekday in February, but they were
really not bad on a weekday in February in the midst of a measles scare. If you vaccinate, seriously, get thee to Disneyland.
I know, Indiana Jones Ride, I know . . . but
I totally did anyway.
Haunted Mansion. VERY scary, see?
Jungle Cruise, mostly just adorable.
All four of our eligible kiddos got selected for Jedi training.
I love this photo so very much. Anita is utterly nonplussed, staring down Darth Vader.
There was a recurring theme all day of her insisting that she wanted to go on rides, then hating them once she was on them. Take Space Mountain here, for instance.
Fortunately, Grandad was there to make her feel better afterwards. And talk her into the next one.
Nine years to go Gus . . .
Thirteen for you TiggerFrankie.
Now Mr. Toad's Wild Ride she DID like.
The next day, Lulu awoke looking lovely and refreshed, from her pack n' play tent. We always try to cram the pack n' play into a bathroom, but it didn't fit, so the husband set it up under the hanging bar and draped all the random-piece-of-fabric-they-put-across-the-foot-of-the-bed-to-look-fancy-s down from the hanging rack over the pack and play, to make it a little darker and less hey-I-can-see-all-my-friends at night.
And off we went to Disney California Adventure.
The most amazing ride in the park, and maybe anywhere, ever, is
the Radiator Springs Racers. It's everything you love about Disney rides all rolled into one. It has the movie immersion experience of the classic Fantasyland rides, but also has a thrill ride component. And the technology is truly jaw-dropping. We booked it right to the fastpass line, and then the actual line, so we could go twice. But you have to be forty inches tall to ride. Frankie is 39.95 inches tall. So I folded up two maps into little squares and stuck them in the heels of his shoes. Voila. He loved it. Next time I'll remember to put him in his cowboy boots.
I do not recommend the Frozen Sing Along Show. Neither does Bobby.
Frankie was great and not at all cranky all day, except when Lulu and I needed to sit on the bench on King Triton's Carousel of the Sea, which meant that Frankie had to move from a green whale to a purple whale. It was THE worst. He was super mad.
But everyone loved the Green Army Men Show.
And the Play Parade. Lulu was pretty flabbergasted by the whole thing actually.
Cars Land is just not to be believed. We go to a different National Park each year with the kids, and I gotta say, Disney has done a pretty amazing job replicating nature here. At night, they have it all lit up like sunset.
And all the old neon signs are so fun. We went to Flo's V8 Diner for dinner.
Then basked in the orange glow of the Cozy Cone Motel and got some ice cream.
They have crammed a LOT of Frozen-themed attractions into California Adventure. They've replaced the very clever Muppet 4D movie with a super-lame Watch Clips of the Movie
Frozen show, they've replaced
the UH-mazing Toy Story Zoetrope with a chance to look at some ladies dressed as Anna and Elsa. Blerg.
But even
a certified Frozen-hater like myself could appreciate Olaf's Snow Fest. We went inside an arena, which was impressively decorated to look like a Norwegian village, and the kids got to play in REAL SNOW. Now, I know that for almost all of you, that sounds like a really terrible idea. But my kids (except for a two year stint in Chicago) have always lived in California, and for them, snow is really magical.
See?
The falling snow is just bubble snow, but it was still lovely.
And on the ground was real (man made) snow that you could use if it turned out that, despite all your Frozen-bashing, you DID want to build a snowman.
There was also a sledding hill. If you wanted to go sledding, you have to head over that that line right away, because they only let you stay in the snow area for a set amount of time. My kids all wanted to play in the snow, so they didn't get in line. So they didn't get to go sledding. Except for Gus, who charmed his way into the last sled ride of some gal's shift, because he is THAT charming.
And that, plus all the other rides not pictured, and corn dogs, and churros, and not waiting in line to meet costumed characters, because I do not get that, was that. We headed home Saturday night and our altar boys were on the job Sunday morning. It's nice to have a day to recover from a vacation.
I've got plenty more mailbag answers I can throw up here, and someday, there will again be content on this blog. But until then, I can always just take more pictures of the kids.
For more on our Disneyland habits, check out:
