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| The Happiest Place On Earth! :) |
We decided to keep the whereabouts of the day a surprise from Rylee. She knew we were going somewhere special and it was just going to be her with mommy and daddy but she knew nothing as to what we were actually doing. In hindsight, this was mistake #1. We thought a surprise would be fun and make the day more exciting, but in the end (and on the day of) I think it all overwhelmed her a bit. I guess we need to save the surprises for when she's a little bit older and stay in the "prepping and preparing" mode for now.
So the day arrived and Cindy came over in the morning to watch Jake and Brooke. {Let's just pause for a minute and send a HUGE thank you to Cindy who willingly and joyfully watched both kids all.day.long so that D, Rylee and I could have a fun-filled, no-time-constraint day. Such a blessing!} Darrin and I were both SUPER excited about the day and I just wanted to get out the door. Of course, we were later than I would have liked (mainly my fault) which put both D and I into not the best of moods. We got into a little tiff and by the time we finally got out the door and on our way to the happiest place on earth, we were already a little on edge. But we tried to put it behind us and turn out frowns upside down -- ready for an amazing fun day!! When we got close to D-land, Rylee said "hey, that's Disneyland." To which D and I screamed "DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!" And then Rylee joined in on the screaming and squealing with excitement. Yes, this is going to be the best day ever!
Then........we got to the park. And pretty much things went downhill fast. Like I said, I think everything kind of overwhelmed Rylee because as soon as we started walking she became irritible and shy. She was whining and complaining and overall...not so much fun. My friend Christiana (who got us in free, THANK YOU Ana!!!) met us at the front gates and Rylee just kept saying how she wanted to go home. :( Christiana tried talking to her about her favorite princesses to try to cheer her up, but little Miss was not having it. We barely got her to crack this smile for a photo with Ana. But, we did get it! :)
We thought a snack might be needed, so D and Rylee ate something while I went on over to City Hall to get Rylee her Birthday Button (which allowed all the cast members to excitedly tell her "Happy Birthday Princess!!" all day long. She loved it. One time she stopped and asked "Mom, how do they know I'm a Princess?!! hee hee hee so cute). We then headed down main street which is filled with lots of shops, filled with lots of things. All things that Rylee desprately wanted. We explained to her that she could choose 1 suvenior and we'll buy it at the end of the day. That thought just didn't sit well with our almost-4-year-old and she had about couple meltdowns before we even reached the end of Main Street. greeeat.
But we made it through and were ready to have some fun on the rides! The lines weren't that bad and we were able to go on lots of different attractions! Rylee was still being kind of a grump, and mom and dad weren't in the best of mood still, either. But we charged ahead, getting cotton candy and riding the Carasoul and all the rides we could in Fantasy Land. I loved going on the Storybook Ride in which you enter through a large whale's mouth. Rylee said "It's like we're Jonah!" :) We really had a nice time that morning. Not the day we were expecting, but still a great morning.
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| The Birthday girls sharing some cotton candy!! |
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| Inside The Castle. Did you know that you can actually go INSIDE and tour the castle? I did not. It was awesome! It had a bunch of hologram images of the Sleeping Beauty story! So neat! |
Lunchtime rolled around and when we asked Rylee what she wanted to eat-- "You can eat anything!" we told her -- she asked for a Happy Meal. Really? A Happy Meal? But we figured that maybe a little bit of rest in the car would do everyone good. Plus, she REALLY wanted this Repunzel dress that was $69 at the Disney store but I saw an exact replica at Target for $20. So we left the park for a Happy Meal, some down time and a Target trip!
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| Snuggles with Daddy on the tram ride back to the car :) |
While we were out of the park, D and I were talking about why we were being so grumpy. There were a lot of valid reasons as to why the first half of our day wasn't as fabulous as expected, but we reminded ourselves that although we can't control Rylee's attitude, we CAN control ours. So what if she wanted to ride a certain ride a couple times in a row? Who cares if she wanted a lollipop? This was her day and we needed to start saying "yes" a whole lot more. the day might not have gotten off to the greatest start, but it doesn't have to end that way either!
It's amazing what a little bit of perspective and an attitude change can do. The rest of the day was awesome! We had a BLAST! We gave Rylee her (Target) Repunzel dress, which she wore the rest of the day. We let her pick out whatever lollipop she wanted and ride whatever ride however many times her little heart desired. When we were leaving and she begged for just one more ride, we said "sure!!" and ran back. We let her choose 3 different suveniors and even got a couple before the day was up! :)
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| On Pirates with her Lollipop! |
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| It's a Small World After All! |
Rylee's favorite part of the day was going to Toontown and walking through all the Characters houses! Of course, Minnie Mouse had the best house!! :)
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| Happy Birthday Rylee!! "I'm FOUR!!" |
And as soon as we got home, she eagerly told Grandma Cindy all about her day and the toys she bought and all the rides we rode! Then she passed out! :) Goodnight Princess and Happy Birthday
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