Rory napped until dinner, watched some Sleeping Beauty on her little DVD player (best invention ever), and then slept till we arrived at the hotel.
We stopped in Gila Bend for dinner and ate at Space Age. Not the best food in the world, but it beats fast food. We spent a little time letting Rory run around while we were waiting for our food and then while paying.
Rory was wide awake after we pulled up to the Hotel. It was like 10:30! She was just soooo excited about everything! She was especially excited about the beds. It was too cute.
After her bath next morning she just wanted to lounge around. Lol. If she only knew what we had planned. I kept trying to tell her and would sing "It's the Mickey Mouse Club House! Come in side. It's fun inside." But she would just scream at me to stop. Weird. She usually loves my singing.
It was a little rough when we first arrived. Rory isn't used to having to ride in a stroller and was not having it. We picked the Small World ride to go on first. It's my least favorite due to it being especially creepy, but Rory seemed to like it.
Lunch was awesome. Expensive, but awesome. I think you have to expect to spend a ton of money on food. Otherwise, it will just make you cranky. I went for a hand dipped corn dog, Landon had fish and chips, and Rory had the toddler meal (forget what it's called) that consisted of a little yogurt, cheese stick, apple slices, gold fish, and a juice. I was surprised they had such a healthy lunch choice, but it is California.
We only stayed till 3:00 that first day. We had planned on coming back, but were too tired. We did stop for a picture with Goofy on our way out. Rory really like seeing all the characters. We pointed out Pluto ealier in the day and she started barking at him. Lol.
She was OUT after that first day. When we got back from dinner she slept through us changing her clothes and diaper. Crazy.
We arrived a little earlier than our friends the next morning so we decided to wait in line to get a picture with Minnie! We did have a huge family cut in front of us and everyone else because their time was more important than all of ours. I usually say something, but the mom was pretty scary looking and probably would have punched me, so I just left their fate to karma.
We had sooo much fun with our friends. Again, Landon know J.D. from his mission and I had met him and his beautiful family at a wedding we had all gone to a few months earlier. They live about 30 minutes from Disneyland and have season passes - lucky. Their little girl, Laura, is a few months older than Rory so they knew all the great rides and how to navigate D-Land with a toddler. I'm so happy we were able to meet up with them and celebrate Valentine's day.
Rory had a lot of fun on all of the rides. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her on the Tea Cups. She would not stop screaming and laughing on that ride. It was by far her favorite. She also had a blast watching Micky's Playhouse at California Adventure. It was a mix of Micky's Club House, Handy Manny, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Little Einsteins. They were just puppets that came up out of the stage, but Rory's eyes almost popped out when she saw them. It was like all of her favorite cartoons were REAL!
We ended the day with Landon and J.D. on the rapids ride at California Adventure. I thought they were crazy because that water had to be freezing, but they insisted. It was funny to see them soaked after they got off.
We had hoped, the trip back would be as easy as the trip up. It started out that way, but didn't last for long. It was worth it though. The trip was AMAZING. We had so much fun. I'm so happy we didn't listen to all the nay sayers telling us we were crazy for taking an 18 month old. Rory was the perfect child. I wish we could go back again and again. It was really the best vacation we've ever taken.
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