The hyperest place on earth

For Spring Break I wanted to take the kids for their first visit to the Happiest Place on Earth. First we (me, 3 minions, Mom, and Marcus) stopped at the Chinese Theater to give Marcus a little taste of American culture.

The next day was 13 hours of DISNEYLAND!

Claire is more of a dare-devil than I expected. She loved our first ride: the Matterhorn and it was her favorite ride for most of the day even though the red-eyed monster scared her.

Iris' favorite ride of the day was the teacups that she went on with "your mom" (that's how she refers to Grandma these days).

The Storybook Land boat ride through the whale's mouth freaked out Iris and she wasn't afraid to let the world know. Even after we went out the other side she kept asking whether we'd have to go through it again.

Jedi training. Darth Maul came over to Claire on repeated occasions and hissed at her (this guy took his job way too seriously). She smiled back, but later told me that she almost pulled a knife on him. Astounded, I asked her what knife she planned on using. I was even more astounded when she produced a pocket knife that I had confiscated from Elijah. That's my girl! But seriously, could I have gotten thrown in jail for smuggling a knife into Disneyland and arming my child with it?

The girls loved Minnie's house.

Elijah and Marcus spent a lot of the day together going on the bigger rides. Here's a pic of Elijah dancing a jig in New Orleans square. He proved that the Disneyland motto should be changed to the Hyper-est Place on Earth. I haven't seen him in such form since the terrible 2/3s.

Space Mountain made me realize that I don't hate roller coasters as I had previously supposed. They may even be worth the minor headache. I'm pretty sure I suffered from Shaken Baby Syndrome after that one.

The parade was absolutely amazing. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Iris, who shakes when she is excited, was shaking most of the day, especially during the parade.

Elijah absolutely loved the Haunted Mansion and insisted on going through twice. And he rode Splash mountain about 5 times that day. The last 3 were in the last hour that we were there.

I have a history of bad pictures on rides. A ride on the Space Needle in Las Vegas when I was in college resulted in a picture that was hung over my head as blackmail for several years.

As we left the park, I told the kids to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom, because they wouldn't see it again until they are 30. It was a fun day, but exhausting. I definitely couldn't have done it without my mom and Marcus.

The next morning we played at the beach before heading home.

 

 

Iris' swinging mood:

The seaweed princess emerges from her sandy lair:

I'm so glad my mom came with us--it really made the trip extra special. On the way home we had perhaps one of the most memorable moments. Claire suggested we combine forces to tell a story. That effort produced repeated rolling laughter from the 4 participants (Iris and Marcus were asleep).