California Days 4 and 5

On Thursday my parents journeyed on to Northern California, and Genevieve and I spent the day relaxing at the pool.  We stayed all week at the Residence Inn next to the convention center.  Not exactly my pick, but it was a great location for both the parks and T's business.  It was also great to have a separate kitchen and living room.  G fell asleep most nights by 7, so T and I retreated to the living room for at least another hour. 

I was out by 8 local time after all of that walking!

They had a rooftop pool and splash pad.   

G got a cramp from swimming laps and had to eat a banana.

Snarf.

The three of us went out to dinner at Roy's.  It is a chain restaurant, but the ambience was fun and they catered big time to my ants in her pants child!  

Our waiter's name was Jesus, of course pronounced the Spanish way, but he lived up to his namesake.

He was beyond kind and patient with Sassafras.

She had pineapple upside cake, which was amazing.  My child is obsessed with pineapple.  

She also enjoys taking pictures now.

Friday was our last full day, and Trinity was done with the conference.  

We called a car service to move us to the Grand Californian for our final night.  

Staying on property is really the way to go.

It was so convenient.  The hotel had tiny rocking chairs and played classic Disney cartoons.  

We left our bags at the front desk and were able to get in early as guests before the Magic Kingdom officially opened.  

My child actually loved Pirates of the Caribbean.  I remember thinking that ride was scary, because I thought it was scary when I went on it with her!  

We hit up some attractions that we didn't get to do with Mom and Dad like the Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room.  There was also a fairly short line for Dole Whip, and Trinity had never experienced that excellent fluff.

Genevieve was a fan. 

She ate the whole thing.  

We skipped over to California Adventure and used our final Bibbidi Bobbidi torture tickets to jump the line for Radiator Springs.  

You can see G's excitement here-

my child is going to be a rule breaking wild woman.

I just know it.  

We waited in line for something else, and G captured the essence of her parents.

I got nostrils 'n knees, people.

Nostrils 'n knees!

I should patent that phrase to describe my look!

We ended our day on the Soaring ride, which was my favorite of the whole trip.  We were soaked on the Grizzly River Run ride and dried off whilst eating toddler hot dogs.

We were exhausted and dunzo by 6:30.

We were snuggled in bed by 7:30.  

I brought a snack. 

That was a chocolate and M&M covered rice krispy treat on a stick.

It was excellent.

Duh.

We slept amazingly well on the super comfy bed.

We had an early flight out on Saturday morning.

To our dismay, we discovered our bag was 30 pounds overweight.  

Oh, for shame.

I have no idea how this happened, because we (Mom and Dad) bought the Elena dress and I bought a blouse.  Yes, I still use the word blouse.

It's a dying word.

Alas, the kind Frontier airlines lady brought us a box and we shoved 30lbs worth of stuff in it.  Genevieve wrote her name on it.

Then we were off back to Indiana.

It was a wonderful trip!

California Day 3

Trinity was finished conferring by 11:00 on our third day, so we left Anaheim and drove to Newport Beach.  We lunched at Pelican Hill, the beautiful resort we visited when I was pregnant with Lady Genevieve.  We stayed for a week in June of 2012, and I have been itching to get back ever since.  On this trip, I settled for lunch by the gorgeous pool.

The view was breathtaking.

G did not understand when I told her she had been there before. 

She was quite content at our table overlooking the pool.  

This is the evolution of a conversation between YaYa and G.  

My parents also spent a week at Pelican Hill after my glowing recommendation.  My mother was in heaven too. 

California at its finest!

We stopped by Sprinkles on our way back.  

I'm so predictable.  

Day 2: California Adventure

 We were up early for day 2 at California Adventure.  I loved that park!  

Genevieve spied Daisy as soon as we walked through the gates.

In true YaYa fashion, my mother bulldozed her way through the crowd to be first in line for a photo.

I've learned that not many people mess with a 6 footer with silver hair.  

We used our first fast pass to ride Radiator Springs in Cars Land.  This was by far my favorite ride.

It was so cute and so fun!  It reminded me of drag racing down Wabash Avenue in high school:)  

You can see the people racing behind us.

We rode this three times during our visit.  

Yes, I'm wearing leggings as pants.

That's  a big no no.

I'm also wearing Minnie ears, so there's that.

Fashion at its finest. 

Next up we rode in dancing Luigi cars. 

We went nonstop all morning in Cars Land.

We moved on at a slower pace with Doc McStuffins.

Mother normally eats like a bird.

On this trip she ate like a bird whose food was stolen by a kid.

We saw Mickey!  

Mother and I used our razor sharp elbows to uppercut others.

Ha!  

California Adventure had a sneak preview for Disney's new film, Moana.

It looked so cute.

Anything with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in it is clearly an Oscar contender.  

At that point Bob bailed and returned to the hotel for a nap.  The girls soldiered on.

The Bug's Life rides were all geared for G's age group.

This was Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.

Disney likes a pun as much as I do.

It topped out at about .25 mph.

Mother took this picture of us and I recall thinking about what a great photographer she is.

In horrified fascination, I watched her zooming in on the family behind us.

As we got off the ride she was like, "I got a great picture of you all!  I'll text it to you!  What's your number?"

Oh, mother.

She has never known a stranger but this era of social media and texting has elevated her friend making game.

Where's G?

Just lounging around. 

She's a natural in front of the camera.

Mom staked out this primo parade viewing spot.

At this point Bob had rejoined our party, but not the wanting to be in a picture part of the party. 

Mom and I started on vino.

G and I were with my parents in Disneyland for two days.  We had one full day with Trinity at the end of the week.  

I found it interesting that people plan lots of dining reservations.  I owned those two parks by fueling up on Dasani water and churros. I also ate at least two toddler meals.  

Those are for ages 4 and under, but no one checked my ID.

True story.

More to come!  

Bibbidi Bobbidi Honey Boo Boo

I scheduled an appointment for G on Monday afternoon at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  YaYa and Bob treated my child to an afternoon of glitz and glamour.

Well, friends, things started off pretty rocky.  

Our appointment was at 2:40 and this little fairy godmother did not come to get Genevieve until 4:10.  It was not good.

We were given a pager that extended to Peter Pan's flight, the carousel, and Dumbo.  

My parents purchased the "Castle Package," which was the top option, and boy was my mother happy to be given that pager like we were at Texas Roadhouse.

Their scheduling was way behind and they accepted walk ins during the morning, which then backed up all of the appointments in the afternoon.

Jane was ready to go Mama June on everyone.

However, we maintained our composure, and waited it out.

I mean, we were at the Happiest Place on Earth, dammit.

I had a lovely conversation with a Disney woman wearing a strikingly serious pantsuit.

After voicing my displeasure about our "royal waiting room time," she handed over 4 skip to the head of the line passes for our crew.  

Disney aims to please.

That poor woman's job can't be fun, but she has a magic pass book so she can tear out passes to appease disgruntled grandparents.

Our fairy godmother in training came to escort G to the boutique.

I followed behind looking like something the cat coughed up.

Genevieve's hair was styled in a bun that was so shellacked it appeared that she had rolled around in Crisco.

She received a tiara and a special Minnie sequined hair clip!

She was sprinkled with pixie dust or glitter or something.

She was quite excited.

Check out that sash!

She was quite smitten with herself.  

She chose Elena of Avalor, the newest Disney princess.  She is the first Latina princess.  

We were then herded over to Fantasy Faire to meet the princesses. We were ushered in front of the 2 million people waiting so we could be first.  You see, you get VIP treatment if you spend a ridiculous amount of money to have your kid greased up.

Cinderella was ever so delightful.

Ariel was a bit shocked that Ursula had lost a lot of weight and was standing next to her with a small child.  

We closed out our package with a photo session.

She sat in a lovely carriage.  

This will look good over the fireplace, I think.  

Maybe this one?

Flora and Fauna?

Astroturf and a fake rabbit?

The whole situation was ridiculous, but she loved it!

Thanks, YaYa and Bob.