Report from Disneyland

OK, I'm reporting from our hotel near Disneyland. Sophia is passed out cold and I'm trying to entertain myself with something other than a nap. Today is Day 3 of our vacation adventure.

Let's begin our story with Day 1, Thursday. It was a bright sunny morning and our house was busy with packing - but not frantic. We left before 10AM... totally on schedule. Though I packed a variety of toys for her, Sophia most enjoyed playing with toys she picked: her pumpkin candy bucket from Halloween and a stuffed Chick-Fil-A cow that she insisted was a panda. We drove a couple hours and stopped for lunch. None of us ate much because the meal was only satisfactory, but at least we ate. Sophia caught a nap for a couple of hours and woke right as we got to the Grapevine. We made a pit stop, gave Sophia a quick snack and then let her run around. Back in the car. A couple hours later we got stuck in rush hour traffic near L.A., which was our own fault for not leaving earlier (to account for stops). Oh well, we tried to make the best of it. Then Sophia got sad. Then Sophia threw up. I then did some fancy acrobatics getting to the back seat in under 10 seconds. The pumpkin bucket became a trashcan for yuck-filled napkins. Franco quickly maneuvered the car off to the nearest exit and miraculously found a McDonald's parking lot (in a sketchy neighborhood in "little Mexico"). Sophia got a bath with handy wipes, a new outfit and felt better. Franco took the car seat out and cleaned out the bigger chunks that I missed. Back in the car. Somehow managed to get back to the freeway. An hour or so later we were washing car seat straps in the bathroom of our hotel room. Unfortunately Franco's throat was getting scratchy and his sinuses were getting plugged. He caught Sophia's head cold. Good thing I insisted on bringing the humidifier. Everyone slept as comfortably as you can in a hotel room.

Day 2 was a little slow to get going, but we were all in pretty good spirits. Franco had some Tylenol and was feeling decent. We had a good breakfast at the hotel and headed off to Mickey's house as soon as we got all situated. We decided that we wanted to go to the It's a Small World ride first because we knew that Sophia would love it. It was closed! They're getting all ready for the holidays in Disneyland, so it takes like two weeks for them to change all the doll's clothes. OK. We instead went to Toon Town to meet Minnie and Mickey. Sophia enjoyed this and we got pictures (I'll post them when we get home). Then we rode a few rides and came back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. My folks arrived around this time and we all headed back for some more fun in the evening. Sophia isn't used to being out at night and was very clingy. However, she enjoyed the Dumbo ride, the carousel (twice - no waiting), the submarine and she LOVED the parade. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped at Denny's to have a bite to eat. Sophia ate more than half of her grilled cheese sandwich, a hand full of grapes, and various bites of our breakfast dishes. She slept like a rock and didn't wake up until 6:45, even with me getting up at 6 to shower.

This morning we added Franco's parent's to the mix. Franco said he was already feeling better. We all went to breakfast and then took the bus over to the park. Franco and Sophia went on the rocket ships in Tomorrowland (I took pictures) and the grandparents went on Star Tours. Then we shopped for a few minutes, met up with Franco's brother, and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Sophia didn't freak out, but she did NOT like it. She hid her face and covered her ears. It was pretty loud. She did like the jungle cruise, the little Winnie the Pooh ride, and the big riverboat show we saw as we ate lunch. After lunch I headed back with Sophia and Franco's dad for some quiet time at the hotel. As we walked to the gates, Sophia dropped a little tiny Minnie Mouse (on a key chain)that my mom had bought her a couple hours before. Dominic stayed with Sophia in the stroller as I quickly double-backed to the last time I saw Minnie - of course she was gone. (I don't know why I bothered.) Fast forward to my panic attack as I could not find Sophia and Dominic. When I left they were by the Arcade on Main Street, but they were NOT when I came back. They were only about 4 stores down, but that was a long minute and a half as I realized that he did not have a cell phone on him and I had no way of knowing how far he had gone. Though not a truly dangerous situation, Sophia was badly in need of a nap and I did not want to miss the next bus back to the hotel. We barely made it. Sophia fell asleep about 3 minutes after getting in bed. She was even more tired than I had thought!

Despite a few kinks, we're having a great time. I look forward to heading back this evening for more Disney fun.