I’m Going To -- Canada, No DISNEYLAND!

Avery wasn’t too sure she wanted to miss a day of swimming, golf, and golf cart riding for a trip to some place called Disneyland. No matter how much I tried to convince her she wanted to go, she didn’t understand until we were there. Now she’s all about Disneyland! She was completely overwhelmed, but loved it. It took her awhile to get into the spirit – for the first hour or so she was very serious, trying to take it all in. But in the end, she was sold. We rode on the train around the park and got of at “It’s A Small World” – which was magnificently holiday themed. Then we rode the Tea Cups, the caterpillars in Alice’s Wonderland, and flew around on Dumbo. Luckily, except for Dumbo, the lines were quite reasonable, although by our Vancouver standards, the park was still pretty packed.

We also got to spend the afternoon with our friends Safaa and her daughter Maddie. Maddie is just a couple of months younger than Avery, and the girls were fast friends. They were real troopers, especially considering the ~10-mile hike from the parking lot to the gates – and back! (Somehow we were guided to the only parking lot without transportation to the gates).

And yes, the girls both wore harnesses. We felt a little silly while hiking through the vast, empty parking lot & past the hotels & theaters, but by the time we entered the park, I was thanking my lucky stars we had them. There was tension on the “leashes” the entire time we were there – we would have lost them in 3 seconds flat I’m sure. Luckily they didn’t seem to mind, and even decided they wanted to trade with each other midway through the day. [Avery’s was a monkey, and Maddie just had to hold the tail. It was extremely cute.] They even enjoyed “trading” mommies off and all day.

Now, instead of “I want to go to the jumble-gym” or “I want to go to Canada,” I forsee a lot of “I want to go to Disneyland.

Avery, Safaa, & Maddie. They don't know to be excited as we're just getting into line for "It's A Small World" -- our first ride.

Avery was so focussed on taking everything in that this was her overwhelmed/happy face for much of the day.

Maddie loved holding on to the "monkey tail," & Avery didn't mind.

The Tea Cups were the ride of the day for Avery!

One of the few ways to pass the time while standing in lines was to let the girls take pictures. Avery took this one of Maddie.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. . . .

They both agreed that it was pretty silly to ride in a giant caterpillar.

Flying elephants? We've never heard of that before! Despite the long wait for this ride, it was Maddie's favorite.

It was Christmas time all over the park.

Time for a cool snack -- just as the sun went behind some clouds & the cold wind started to blow -- Burrrrrrr

The last ride of the day -- tibby up horsey! (as Avery would say)

Ahhhh, the bobsled run. That's the one I would have liked to try, but we ran out of time. We'll have to save it for our next trip.
Finally, a place to sit! Maddie unwinds after the death march to the Simba Parking Lot (warning, no transportation provided to and from the gates from Simba).