tania + jason: Disney magic

**Disclaimer: Blogger (the tool I use to create this blog) overhauled their entire website recently and I've lost the ability to post vertical photos. I've tried EVERYTHING and they all revert to horizontal. So you'll have to crane your neck sideways to properly see some of the pictures below.**

This past weekend we surprised Isabelle with a trip to Disneyland (specifically Disney's California Adventure park). On Friday night we drove up to Anaheim around 8:00 p.m. after traffic died down--we got to the hotel in about an hour, and were happy to be upgraded to a two-level loft suite at the Marriott Residence Inn. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a full kitchen!

Our goal Saturday was to get to the park prior to it opening at 10:00 to avoid the worst of the traffic and parking. We took advantage of the free breakfast buffet and then drove the 10 minutes to the park, where we announced to Isabelle what her "special adventure" was. Naturally she was excited - I'm hoping to post the video, but the file is so large I'll have to see whether I can upload it...

Anyway, the Disneyland Resort is like one giant campus that contains two separate parks right next to each other - the original Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure. A friend recommended we try California Adventure first because it's newer and (relatively speaking) less crowded, plus it's more adult-friendly with nicer restaurants, etc.

After parking in the massive structure we took a tram to the park entrance, and for the next 12 hours we walked, ate, walked, went on lots of rides, walked, ate some more, and saw a spectacular show called World of Color that's hard to describe but involved water fountains, holographic images, fire, and music.

Isabelle's favorite ride was Ariel's Undersea Adventure, which she rode five times during the course of the day. She also enjoyed some of the rides in sections of the park geared toward younger children, like "Monsters Inc." and "A Bug's Life."

A scene from the "Ariel's Undersea Adventure" ride--
all of these sea creatures were singing, dancing and twirling

The scene with the song "Kiss the Girl" - you can't tell from the photo but the
air was filled with glowing lights (like fireflies) and the fish were water fountains

Ursula the sea witch

We had decided to break up the day with two sit-down meals, and luckily made reservations in advance so we didn't have to wait in long lines. Ariel's Grotto offered a character dining lunch where the most popular Disney princesses went from table to table and took photos with the kids. So she got to meet Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty! She was disappointed not to see Mulan or Jasmine, but I told her they must have had the day off...

Our Belle meeting another Belle!

Prior to our Disney trip, Jason overhead Isabelle saying she doesn't like
Snow White because her clothes don't match. She seemed to have forgiven
her fashion choices when meeting her in person.

We got some really cute video of Isabelle hugging Cinderella -
I will see if I can post it!

Isabelle was most excited to meet Sleeping Beauty, who commented that she
and Isabelle were wearing the same colors

Jason had a hard time getting Iz to look at the camera after she spotted Ariel

We also had a nice three-course dinner that evening at Wine Country Trattoria. Surprisingly they had a nice kid's menu - Isabelle had her own three courses of grapes and carrot sticks, a plate of spaghetti, and a mini chocolate tart (which she thoroughly enjoyed - she ate half of Jason's when our dessert came out!).

Mom, this chocolate is sooooooo good!

We also learned that Isabelle takes after her daddy and is going to be a whiz at carnival games. I sat on a shady bench to feed Olivia at one point while the two of them explored some of the games, and they came back with a giant bag full of roughly 10 stuffed animals!

Isabelle stayed awake until the very end - after World of Color we stopped by one of the gift shops to buy her an Ariel music box she'd had her eye on all day, and as soon as we put her in the stroller to trek back to the park entrance, she fell fast asleep and didn't wake up until morning. Wait - I take that back, she didn't wake up until 4 a.m. when she suddenly sat upright in bed and started shouting, "I saw princesses!!!" I had to climb in bed with her and calm her down until she fell back to sleep....