The Crowdiest, Sweatiest, Expensivist (but I still love it!) Happiest Place on Earth!!

 We just got back from our trip to Disneyland. I have wanted to take Chloe for 2 years now, and we finally did it!  We had an amazing time.  Now we just need a vacation from our vacation.  It's true that Disneyland is a lot of work.  And exhausting.  And ridiculously expensive and crowded, yet I would do it all again next week if we could. (Don on the other hand...)
I did learn a few things in how to Disneyland right next time.
Do's:
* You only need the Park Hopper that allows you to do one park per day.  You pay extra to be able to switch back and forth, and it mostly just accounts for more walking.
*Bring Chelsey.  We got to the front of all the lines with her.  Except it still was somewhat of a wait.  If it wasn't summer, we probably would have not to wait much at all.
*Do go in the off season. 
* Do bring an adult that doesn't care about going on any of the fast rides so that no one minds sitting back and watching the babies.
*Do bring snacks.  Don't pay 10 bucks for a hot dog.  Go to the Pier and get Mexican food instead!
*Take a lot of breaks. Sit and watch the shows.
*Bring an adult stroller. ; )
*Do put comfort over fashion.  Arrange your outfit around your most comfortable shoes, not arranging your shoes around your outfit.
*Switch shoes half way throughout the day so your feet get a break.
*Go for at least 2 days so you don't feel stressed trying to get everything in as fast as you can.  It's exhausting.
*use a map instead of walking around the whole flipping park trying to find the good food.

We left AZ at just the right time of day.  The time of day when the sun shines straight in your eyes for 3 hours.  Macie covered herself with a window shade so she could watch her movie and keep the sun out of her face.

 

 

 we spent way too much money of souvenirs. Chelsey picked out this Goofy hat.  I am sure she will get a lot of wear out of that hat  It is a very versatile accessory.

 Macie and Chloe picked out some Princess Minnie Mouse Ears.  It was a really difficult decision for them.  For two days Chloe just kept asking to go to the "Princess Bowtique" where they put your hair in a bun for only a small fortune.  So I convinced her to get a crown instead.  When we ran into Cinderella, she desperately asked me again to take her to the Bowtique so that she could have princess hair when she met her.  I sacrificed the bobby pins in my own hair and did a shotty job at a bun in hers, and she was pacified for about 15 minutes until she decided that the bun was not high enough and that I needed to do it over again.  (This conversation happened several times over the course of our trip).

 See: Princess hair!

Chelsey wanted to meet Cinderella too, unfortunately I didn't realize that until after my girls were done. So we improvised and just had Chelsey photo bomb someone else's picture.

 

 
 

 The girls loved The Little Mermaid ride.  And Macie loved the Finding Nemo ride.  She put her hand on my arm, I think just to feel safe because it was dark in the sub, but she was captivated looking out through the window.

 Macie was in heaven on the caterpillar ride.  Probably because it drove by huge pieces of food.

 Both the girls fell asleep before we could leave the park.  That was fun trying to get them out of the park and into the hotel while completely asleep.

 Macie talked on some pay phones in Tomorrow Land, which I found ironic.  It's funny that Tomorrowland is really Yesterday land.  It's so retro.  But that's part of its charm.

They had a great time dancing with their new Minnie ears.

 

 And Macie did a little meditating on the tea cups.  Probably so she wouldn't throw up.

 she grew tired of the tea cups very quickly.  A common complaint of the tea cups.

 Small world and the train ride were a nice relaxing ride.

 This must have been when she saw Ursula.

 

 

 Other highlights:
Chelsey rode on the California Screamer twice and loved it.  She got all the way to the front of the line and was about to get on.  But I guess she was nervous because she said she had to use the bathroom first before she got on the ride.  So Don ended up having to get out of line to take her to the bathroom.
The swinging Farris wheel with all of us was awesome.
Chelsey rode on Space Mountain three times.

 

 Chloe's favorite ride was the new Cars ride.  She rode that one twice.  Cars land is really cute and fun. 
We loved watching the Bugs Life show.
Macie HATED the roller coaster in toon town.

 

We saw a good amount of both parks over the two days we were there. All in all, it was a success. 
On our way out of CA, we stopped at Joe's Italian Ice and our friend (and owner) of Joe's, hooked us up with some delicious frozen desserts.

 

 

 On our way out I told Don we needed to stop by the beach since we were so close.  And I take responsibility for the chain of events that happened as a result.  I only intended to stay for a few minutes and then leave.  But we ended being there more than 2 hours.  Which resulted in us all getting sunburned:

 

2 days at Disneyland in the sun and heat, and it was the 2 hours at the beach that did us in.
I don't regret going to the beach.  I just regret not wearing our bathing suits, not bringing towels, and not wearing hats or sunscreen.  Oh, and not having a place to go clean off after going to the beach. it was rather poor planning on my part.
Macie got pelted by a wave within the first 3 minutes we were there.  Got completely soaked and covered in sand.  She was not happy about that. 
But they loved the beach and playing in the sand.  Chloe was horrified by the seaweed and stayed far away from the water.  I was surprised at how quickly Macie recovered though, and let me put her feet in the water.
I think Chelsey enjoyed it the most of everyone.  She kept remarking at how good it felt on her sore feet to have them covered in water and sand. 
Unfortunately our little trip to the beach put us right in the middle of rush hour traffic trying to get out of town, which I think was Don's favorite part of the whole trip. 
My favorite part of the trip was Chloe not making it to the bathroom in time at Del taco and peeing all over herself and the bathroom floor. 
I just love cleaning up accidents in public restrooms.

All in all, we had a really fun trip and I am sad it is over so soon.  But luckily it is 118 degrees here so that's nice.

 Tan lines...oh, and she's a girl.

 Chloe got her very first blue ribbon! We are so proud! She has made HUGE improvents in just one week.  The last two swim meets the highest she placed was 3rd, but last Thursday she got 2nd place in Backstroke, and today she got 1st in Backstroke and two 2nd place ribbons! She is liking the taste of victory.  She is so excited to race and compete and is having so much fun.

I found a disgusting ant village in my backyard.  I don't know why I find it so gross.  I feel tingles in my head whenever I look at it.  How in the world can ants move that much dirt?  I felt sort of bad destroying their city.  It always makes me think of a Disney movie when I kill bugs.  I picture them years down the road saying, "Remember the Flood of June 2013, when almost all of our ancestors were killed?"  Gee, I hope they can't talk.
But I am posting this video just because I love Macie's smile so much at 12 seconds.

"The Office" used to be my favorite show...I felt so nostalgic when it closed up shop.  This was my favorite line and so true.

Grandpa Joe was so generous to buy the kids a playhouse.  Don had to put the whole thing together from scratch. He said that the directions were one step away from just saying, "Go to Home Depot and buy some wood."  The directions were awful and nothing came preassembled.   But he did a great job.  And the kids love it.  We've turned it into a water slide because well, it is hotter than a stir fry here.   

Macie was looking through a Disney princess book and she saw the villain from Sleeping Beauty, and says, "Yuck!"
And then she turned the page and saw the evil queen from Snow White and said, "Uh oh!!"
The funny part is she has never seen Sleeping Beauty nor Snow White.

Yesterday Chloe said to me out of the blue, "Mom, how come I was the only one in my class that voted for Mitt Romney?"
And I said, "I don't know." (enter own's political affiliation joke here. For example: Republican-  "Because people are dumb."  Democrat- "Because people are smart."  Independent- "Who cares. They both were rotten."
So I asked, "Chloe, why did you vote for Romney?"
She replied, "Because I like the color yellow."
And I replied, "What does yellow have to do with Romney?"
And she replied, "Because! He has yellow hair!"

So...she must have written in Hilary's name.

I made a dress!  Correction. I tried to make a dress...and my friend fixed it.
I don't think I will be getting called by Project Runway anytime soon, but it's not a total lemon.

Chloe had her first two swim meets last week.  One on Thursday, and one on Saturday morning.  We are so proud of her.  She got 3rd place in both meets doing freestyle.  She's been doing that stroke the longest.  The other strokes (backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke)...hey at least she tried! I loved watching her do the butterfly.  It is hilarious watching little kids try to swim the butterfly. She is probably better than I am at it though.
I need to get a picture of her attire before the swim meets.  She looks more like a synchronized swimmer. She wears a pink suit and a pink cap. And she wants her hair in a tight bun, then she adds a couple bows.  And finally she puts on blue eye shadow and blush. She finishes her warm up outfit with a pink, ruffled towel dress and pink flip flops.
And these are the reasons I love Chloe.
Macie loves going to the meets as long as she has her bag of doritos and a bottle of gatorade.  Despite it being 106 degrees outside, she's got her snacks, and she is in heaven.
(P.S. I don't think you can see anything in this video...BUT you can hear me screaming like a psycho for Chloe)

Chloe wanted to make sure that I wrote this down:

In Chloe's words:
"I was looking for some tape and I couldn't find any! So then I said a prayer!  And I heard a voice say, 'go left...then right...then left...then right...now, go into your room!'
And when I went into my room, I found the tape!!!

I didn't hear the voice in my ears (points to ears)! I heard it in my mind (points to mind)!"


Also:
At Chloe's first swim team practice, it was a battle to get her to do it.
It involved quite a bit of bribing.
But she finally agreed.
By the time she finally agreed, the other kids had already lined up and were swimming their very first time across the length of the pool.
One by one they jumped in and raced to the end.
I sat nervously as I watched from the sidelines.  Chloe was very last and all the other kids in the lanes had already finished their swim.
Chloe hesitated (and I cringed a little for her, and felt the hesitation in my own heart)...and then...she jumped in!
I watched her swim that entire lane by herself with everyone watching, with a small pit in my stomach.  I remember being a kid and having moments like that- and I just hoped that this would not be one of those childhood memories (aka peeing your pants in the middle of the media center because you were too freaked out all day to ask your teacher if you could go to the bathroom).
But Chloe did it, and she got out, and she beamed.
I was so proud of her.
I loved seeing her doing something hard and overcoming her fear and seeing her confidence grow.
I also loved watching Macie act like she was also on the swim team.
She just got right in line with the other kids as they waited their turn to jump in the pool. And joined them on their towels for stretching time.
She loves going to the practices with me, and so far she has been too chicken of the water for me to have to worry about her jumping in unexpectedly.
As long as I have a bag full of snacks she is happy as a clam.
Speaking of snacks-she gorged herself on juice and fruit snacks last Thursday, and then threw up all over me as we were leaving practice.
And since Chloe had another one to go to, I just stayed in my throw up clothes.
I really enjoyed that day.