But. We did get one night in a hotel and 2 one day passes to Disneyland. And we wanted to use them to do one last little family getaway. On Monday, April 3rd, after getting packed up, we drove down to Anaheim and checked into our hotel, the Clarion. Daniel had a little bit of work to do, so the girls and I watched tv for a bit as we waited, and then got ready and went down to the pool. He came out when he was done, and we spent a little time in the pool (I'm thinking this is when and where the baby turned... just being in the pool, where I didn't have so much pressure on my belly, he was maybe able to turn around on his own).
After a while, we went back up to our room and changed and then walked down to Downtown Disney. It took us about 15 minutes to get there, and we were all pretty hungry by then. We had a gift card that we could use at one of the restaurants in Downtown Disney, and we chose a little Mexican place. It was really good, and so fun to have dinner out together as a family (which we hardly ever do). The girls even got some balloon animals, which is a funny story:
The girls saw the balloon guy and asked if they could have a balloon, and Daniel and I are all, "Mmmm, wwweeeelllll...." But our server heard Brooke talking about it, and so he told us that he would send the balloon guy over to us next. And Daniel and I just looked at each other. "Do you have any cash for a tip?" "No, I didn't bring my wallet with us. Do you?" "Umm.... (he checks) I have a dollar." "That's it?! Well, ... That doesn't seem quite enough of a tip." "I know, but what do we do?" So the balloon guy comes over, and Daniel hems and hahs a little, and asks how much; to which the balloon man responds that there is not fee, but tips are appreciated. So, Daniel says, "Okay." And the balloon man makes the super AWESOMEST balloon creations I've ever seen! Like, seriously. He made Brooke this super-fancy flower, and a cute and detailed dog for Camille. And when he's done, Daniel hands him the one dollar, all rolled up so he can't see how lame a tip it is, he pockets it without looking, says, "Thank you very much." and strolls off. And I'm dying from embarrassment! I just hope he didn't see that lame tip and connect it with us ... and those 2 awesome balloons he did. Yikes.
We finished dinner and strolled along down Downtown Disney back to our hotel room. We then proceed to do a very short Family Home Evening, get the girls ready for bed, and attempt to put them to bed. It takes all night to do so. Camille wouldn't calm down to sleep, even when Daniel laid down with her, trapping her under his arm so she couldn't move. And of course, while Camille is bouncing off the walls, Brooke can't sleep. Daniel sends her out with me onto our little balcony while he tries to get her to sleep. And eventually, he takes Camille out of the room completely, to go for a walk and hopefully tire her out, and I have to battle Brooke to get in bed and stay in bed. All in all, it was a rough night. We didn't all quiet down and go to sleep until it was almost midnight. And even then, I was dying from heat, Daniel's back was bothering him, and Brooke grinds her teeth in her sleep. So, we didn't sleep well that night. None of us.
I woke up first, around 6 the next morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and started to get ready. And even though I tried to be quiet, I woke Brooke up. We both got ready and ate breakfast, and then left Daniel and Camille to pack up and get ready, while Brooke and I walked to Disneyland. Poor Brooke. We walked there, and she was such a trooper, more excited than focused on the long walk. But then, we got to the gates, and the line to go through security was RIDICULOUS. It took us almost an hour to get through security!! I'd never experienced that, and it was awful. Brooke had a really hard time with that, complaining almost the whole time. And I'll admit, I was really frustrated as well.
When we finally got in, Brooke really wanted to try and get on the Peter Pan ride, which she's never done because the line is usually ridiculously long (and Daniel and I usually don't want to wait that long for a ride). The line was only 45 minutes (which is amazing for that ride), so we hopped in line. And Daniel came up with Camille a short time later. And then when we were almost to the front, Hillary Erdmann, Elliot and Olive came and found us, and we all went on Peter Pan together. It was fun for Brooke to see one of her friends at Disneyland. They hung out with us for a few rides, and then we went our separate ways.
We had a lovely day at Disneyland. We went on all of our favorite rides, and even some new ones. Brooke is finally tall enough to do some of the bigger kid rides, so Daniel took her on the Toon Town roller coaster, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain while I hung out with Camille. Brooke LOVED Space Mountain and HATED Splash Mountain. I think it was the big drops in Splash Mountain that she didn't like very much. But I was excited for her to be able to go on some of the big rides. Camille and I hung around Fantasyland, we went on the teacups and the carousel before I walked her around in the stroller until she fell asleep. And I got to just sit on a bench and snack while she slept, and enjoy the beautiful day. It was glorious!
After Camille woke up, I saved a spot for us to watch the parade and waited for Daniel and Brooke. Camille and Brooke loved the parade, and it was so cute and fun to watch Camille dancing and clapping her hands to the music. She loved it!
The rest of the day, we hit a few more rides (Finding Nemo Submarine, Dumbo, Buzz Lightneer (as Brooke calls it)) and then, when we were all tired out, we headed out. It was pretty late by the time we left, and we were leaving just as the Light Parade was going, so it was a little crazy navigating our way out.
We had a really wonderful time together at Disneyland, our little staycation before Baby comes. I'm glad we got to have a little family trip!
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