Is this not the best birthday "party" ever? I'd go to Disneyland any day instead of having a birthday party at home.
Initially, when asked what she wanted for her birthday, Alexis said "unicorn", but upon pressing, Disneyland came next, and we couldn't say No to that. So William took a half day off, and we took off right after the kids got out of school. It was late when we got to Anaheim, so we went straight to bed, but the kids actually all did awesome during the 5-6 hour drive.
The next day, we woke up early to get into the park right as it opened in order to make the most of our 1 day at Disneyland. We went straight to Tomorrowland to do Space Mountain, because it's a really popular ride. I was surprised that the entire section of the park seemed... "dead". We could have gone on the ride multiple times without waiting in line super long. But we didn't, because we wanted to go on as many rides as we possibly could.
Around mid-morning, William took the older kids to the Indiana Jones ride, while Alexis and I went to a Rapunzel show. It was fun to see the amazement in her eyes, of seeing a real-life princess.
Later on, William also took the older kids to the new Star Wars land. People who are into Star Wars typically don't just "like" Star Wars, they are OBSESSED with it! While he was there, Alexis and I stood in line to see more real-life princesses. I was thankful for the very kind woman being me who kept our spot when Alexis needed to use the bathroom. We had been in line for 40 minutes and probably only had about 20 minutes left. With the bathroom super busy, we actually made it back with just 5 more minutes of line. Alexis was a little star-struck with Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. The only princess she knew well was Ariel, but she knew of Snow White and Cinderella. All of them were great, though. They really do have the best job in the world.
We met back together in Fantasyland for a little snack, and pretty soon after, Kendall got a tummy ache. I took her to the bathroom, where she stayed for 25 minutes. When we got back, Taylor had to use the bathroom, where he stayed for 15 minutes. And when we thought they'd gotten it out of their systems, we got in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Logan started feeling sick. This time, William took him, and he stayed in the bathroom for 50 minutes! When they got back, we realized that the only ones not feeling sick were Alexis and I. It turns out that William had bought green and blue milk in Star Wars land, and somehow, they all got sick from it. William did say that the green milk didn't taste as cold as the blue. Mystery solved. Don't drink the milk if it's not cold.
That night, we were going to stay for the late night Fantasmic, but we decided to go to the earlier one and head back to the hotel. We'd gone on every ride that we'd wanted to go on, at least once, and we were getting tired. Sure, Alexis took a nap while William and the other kids went on the Haunted Mansion and other "big kids" rides, but the rest of us were running low on energy.
The show was amazing, as it always is. We didn't have the best seats, but they were good enough. Alexis, of course, got to ride on my shoulders. She had the best seat!
It was a great day! I loved every minute of it. No one complained. Everyone had fun, besides the diarrhea part. And we created some really fun memories. I'd be okay doing this for Alexis' birthday every year...
The next day, we went to Goofy's Kitchen. William and Taylor had gone before, but the rest of us hadn't. It did not disappoint. We told them that we were celebrating Alexis' birthday, and Minnie spent some extra time with Alexis. The two of them seriously had the longest hug in the history of the world. As a mother, it was really special to witness. I felt like Minnie cared about Alexis as much as I do. I felt like she loved her as much as I do. I felt like she didn't want to let go of that hug and could have stayed in it all day. I felt like Alexis was the most special kid she'd ever met. Minnie sure knows how to do her job :-) Chip and Dale were awesome, too. I love that they actually spend time with each child, not rushing to get to the next one. And I love that they high five the older kids who are "too cool" to hug, but that they love on the little ones. It truly was a special, heartwarming experience. I hope Alexis remembers it, because I know I'll never forget how Disney made Alexis' 3 rd birthday truly magical.
