Our trip to Disneyland was planned to celebrate Gracie's 8th birthday. It is a family tradition to go to Disneyland every year and we wanted to celebrate with her! It also happened to be Kristin's first trip to Disneyland which made it extra special.
All the kids thought we were going golfing for the day. Uncle Justin had asked Grandad & Alberto if they wanted to go golfing the following weekend (which meant Disneyland) Gracie and Dalena said they wanted to go golfing too. So the whole week all the kids thought we were going to go golfing on Saturday, boy did they have a surprise coming!
We met up for breakfast at I-Hop in Temecula and then headed over to the park, I mean golf course. When we got into the disneyland parking lot Uncle Justin, loving to keep the joke going, said the golf course was in Disneyland and Gracie still believed him, lol : ) It wasnt until we got in line to go inside the park that she really knew we were actually going to Disneyland and everyone wished her a happy birthday.
Once we got into park we started heading towards Tomorrow Land. Nana pointed Tigger out to Katelyn (4 years old), her reply was, "Oh! Nana! I see Cinderella! I see Cinderella!!!" There were two girls sitting having lunch wearing tiaras. Forget Tigger, its all about the princesses! (even if they were not really the Disney ones in constume!)
Kristin was such a good girl. She behaved so well and was so into people watching and observing what was going on. She didnt even cry! The only thing we were surprised about was she didnt show as much excitement or emotion like we thought she would, but she didnt freak out like we thought she might either, which was such a blessing. We were amazed at how well she did. It really makes us look forward to the next time, but we will see if she is any different then.
All in all we had a great time and look forward to taking part in this, what seems to be a new tradition, for years to come. Below are some pictures of the day and also some additional stories. Enjoy!
Breakfast @ I-Hop
Uncle Justin & the birthday girl!
Counsins, Gracie, Dalena & Cassie
Kristin waiting to get into Disneyland!
Family Photo: Alberto, Lauren (behind the map), Vickie, Katelyn, Gracie, Dalena, Cassie, Floyd, Justin, Kristy & Kristin
Kristin & Mommy waiting to get on her first ride, the Astro Orbitor
Family Photo of Justin, Kristy & Kristin
Kristin on her first ride @ Disneyland! The Astro Orbitor in Tomorrow Land!
Nana & Katelyn on the Astro Obitor in Tomorrow Land
Kristin on the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrow Land. She liked putting her hands over the air vent. It was nice and cold. She liked it a lot and was talking and banging on the window. But once the submarine submerged she got really quiet and just sat in mommy's lap with her head on my arm. We plugged her ears and covered her eyes for some parts of the ride we found might scare her, but overall she seemed to have enjoyed the ride.
Daddy & Kristin at the beginning of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Family Photo: Katelyn, Floyd, Alberto, Cassie, Dalena, Gracie
Katelyn wanted a picture with Goofy at Toon Town, but he was done taking pictures. Katie was so excited that he turned around and waved "Hi" to her.
Katelyn calling Mickey on the Toon Town telephone
The Girls on the Toon Town fire engine
Cassie & Dalena (as well as Nana, Katelyn, Gracie & Kristy) on the Gatget Go Coaster in Toon Town.
Grandad & Kristin in the Toon Town shade. She had just woken up from her nap. When he was watching Kristin later in the day so Mommy & Daddy could go on Splash Mountain he was caught red handed feeding Kristin an ice cream sandwich! lol : ) We love you still Grandad...especially Kristin!
Mommy & Kristin outside of The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh in Critter Country.
Kristin, Daddy & Mommy on The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. It was a common theme for Kristin throughout the day that whenever she was on a ride she would sit in mommy or daddy's lap and lay her head down, we couldn't tell if she was afraid of anything or just tired when it was dark inside the rides, she didnt show any other signs of fear so we think it was just her being tired, or perhaps just not really understanding what was going on since she is still so young.
Kristin on her first King Arthur's Carrousel ride! Daddy was on the horse next to us taking pictures. We couldnt get really any good shots of Kristin, and we videotaped the ride thinking we were going to get a big excited or freaked out reaction out of her, but nope! she was just staring and had no reaction whatsoever. It was getting late, so we are sure it most likely because she was tired we didnt see any strong reactions.
Kristin with her first Disneyland Mickey Mouse hat! We had her name sewn onto the back and tried to get her to wear it, she was not into that at all! she kept taking it off and thus we couldnt get any good pictures of her with her Mickey ears hat.
Kristin on her first King Arthur's Carrousel ride! We love this photo. You can see the wonder and awe of all that was around her. In the background you can see why! Lots of lights and mirrors and other horses going up and down! She was not affraid of going up and down like her mommy was. But we will see the next time we go if that changes at all.
Katelyn & Nana on Alice and Wonderland in Fantacy Land. After the ride was over Katelyn asked Nana, "Is that it?!", Nana said yes and asked if she liked the ride,Katelyn just said, "No, not really." She liked all big rides, like splash mountain much much better. Wasnt big enough for K-K!
