A Sunday Afternoon

Ken and I had let the girls have some time with friends as their Spring Break came to a close.  After we picked them up, we headed to Disneyland for the afternoon.  We had a great time, and the girls are starting to understand that we can go for a few hours and not worry about doing everything because we can go back.

On the tram heading to the park - they are excited!

Jordan said she would carry my backpack for me, which was ultra cool for me

The girls have not quite figured out that we have annual passes, and we can go back to Disneyland almost anytime we want (their cards are the So Cal, so they have blackout dates).  They wanted to go on everything at the same time, so we went for what mattered most for today. The first stop:  Indiana Jones.


Jordan spent the entire time in line "not sure" if she was going to like this ride. Mandy and Taylor were losing their minds with excitement.

Taylor was supposed to be in this picture, but she didn't step backwards.  She's behind Ken, and if you look by Jordan's head, you can see her hand.  

Once we were done, we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean....of course!!!  Taylor was completely excited about this ride, and Mandy got her "pirate on."

Mandy getting her Pirate on "Argh!"

We zoomed out of Pirates and went over to the Haunted Mansion.  While the lines were long, the waits weren't very long, which made me happy.

I had wanted the sign in our picture as well, but Ken didn't want to trade sides.  Haha

While in line for Haunted Mansion, a really cute candid photo of Jordan

It was time to regroup and figure out what was next.  The girls chose Thunder Mountain, so off we went!  Ken actually rode this one with us again.  Awesome!  

The girls with Thunder Mountain behind them

We were heading over to Fantasyland when we saw two of the characters.  Jordan HAD to stop and take pictures, so her sisters were along for the ride.  First up, Pluto.

Jordan ran to give hugs

Jordan just didn't want to let go. (Love the leg kicked up)

We backtracked a few feet to wait for our next character.  Taylor and Mandy were starting to get bored with the waiting, and I had to remind Taylor that when she and I were here last, she couldn't WAIT to take pictures with the characters.  That got an "oh, alright!" from her.  Yes, the teenager is wanting to come out.  There's photographic evidence of this soon to come.

Another candid photo of Jordan

So, the only one who takes a seriously nice picture while waiting in line is Jordan.  The other two took major bribing (threats actually, but I was trying to be nice).  And then it's off to Donald Duck!

Mama had to get in on this picture

So, we started heading back to Fantasyland as we had originally intended, but we got sidetracked again with some more characters.  While waiting for the characters, however, Jordan was sidetracked by her own discovery - a goat.

I am not entirely sure what was so fascinating about the goat, but Jordan couldn't get enough of it.  We had to literally pry her away from the goat to take a picture with the characters.  


Taylor and Jordan were sitting on a rope, and suddenly, the "teenager" started to emerge out of Taylor.  While we know we have a couple more years, it doesn't change the fact that it has begun.  Here is the photographic evidence which is important - it's almost like getting pictures of Bigfoot - you have to prove it.

Look at Taylor's face!  See the surly expression?  There is NO way anyone can tell me that "teenagehood" has not begun!

And Taylor is fine once her sister is gone - go figure

Ah, so it was our turn, and off the girls ran to see Chip and Dale.  As always, Jordan ran up to them and hugged and hugged and hugged.  Even after the pictures were done, she kept hugging.  The parents behind us laughed when I told her to stop milking the attention.

We finally found ourselves in Fantasyland.  The girls really wanted to see Rapunzel, but it was a 90 minute wait - again!!  The girls were totally disappointed, and Ken gets credit for asking if his Assistance Pass would cut us in the front - but it didn't.  We went on the Pinocchio ride instead, but the girls were still sad.  Next time, we have to try to get to the park as it opens and go to the Tangled location first.


The cool part about the annual passes is that I don't mind waiting in the lines to see the characters.  I'm hoping that over the next year, we'll have pictures with all of the characters for the book.  


Ah, now it was time to start making important decisions: where to next.  We were running out of time for our afternoon, and the three girls could not make up their mind.  I was noticing that Ken was starting to get really sleepy (I'm sure it had to do with staying up late the night before with friends and the Bourbon), but he was trying to remain the hero and hang in there.  When the girls started arguing and fighting with each other, Mama made a command decision - Toontown it was!

When we got inside, the girls were getting restless.  There was another girl in line blowing bubbles with her wand, and that kept our girls occupied until we got into the cars.  I got amazing shots of the girls while on the ride!  

We let the girls play with the town, and then we wandered around to see what was here.  The roller coaster had been closed while they looked for something, so we were able to get right into the front of the line when it reopened.

And, as we were walking back to Fantasyland, we found Goofy.  Excellent!  The girls waited patiently this time, and then it was off to It's a Small World.

Now, I was being really nice by not taking pictures during It's a Small World, but I'll go ahead and talk about it anyway - Ken fell asleep on the ride.  He kept nodding off, and there was nothing I could do to keep him awake.  I felt so bad for him - he does so much for the girls and me, so I refrained from snapping a picture of it despite how cute he is when he's sleeping.  ;)


The girls were bummed, but they finally seemed to understand that while we were leaving after only a few hours - we will be back again soon!  That brought a smile to their faces.

Waiting for Dad and saying goodbye to Disneyland

We stopped for supper, fuel and then coffee to get us home.  The girls really wanted to eat at Downtown Disney, but Ken and I wanted to save the money and spend it later this year.  (Our plan is to see the World of Color, take the girls on the Princess Breakfast and for Mickey's Breakfast at different points this year.)


All in all, this was a great Spring Break.  Big Bear, sleep-overs with friends and Disneyland the day before going back to school - what more can kids hope for??