Lightning McQueen Dresses

My latest sewing project was to make Lightning McQueen dresses for the girls.  They just love the movie Cars but the merchandise, especially clothing, is all geared to boys.  To be fair, boys don't get much merchandise to choose from when it comes to Cinderella.  There was a prince in that movie too!  That's ok, Mom to the rescue!  Gender-equity for Lightning McQueen!

I decided to keep it simple and avoid buttons and zippers.  I got a  new sundress pattern for Gracie that has a halter style top and an elastic waist. She has a dress this style already that I bought for her at Kohls, so I know it will work well.  I measured her and got it all cut out and sewn up fairly quickly.  Somehow, I still managed to get it too big around the middle.  I'll just add ties, I almost put ties on it to begin with but decided not to.  The pattern does not call for a waistband or ties.  I thought the waistband was cute though, because it broke up the busy fabric print a bit.

 

Libby's dress was easy!  I used the same pattern that I had just used on her Tinkerbell sundress so I knew it fit and I knew how to sew it already.  I made a couple of modifications, very slight.  I shortened up the armhole; I thought it was too big on the Tinkerbell dress.  And, I put the straps at the edge of the yoke instead of moving them in a bit.  With the Tink dress, I moved the straps in to be sure that the dress would stay up on her shoulders, and that worked, but, it made the yoke look goofy with the corners sticking out.  So, I shortened the width of the yoke and put the straps on the edge where they belong.  Ta-Da!  I also trimmed up the dress with some plain red to limit the busyness of the fabric print.  Lightning McQueen comes in some very exciting print!

The dresses turned out so cute! The girls were playing and dancing around me while I sewed waiting for me  to finish.  Very distracting! I decided to move my sewing machine to the wide space in the upstairs hallway. The light there is excellent. I can peek over the edge to see the girls downstairs, and I'm closeby to watch them if they are upstairs. Seemed like a good idea in theory.  But the space is small.

I've been sewing for 18 years.  My first machine was a Mother's Day gift in 1992 from my husband. He had no idea if I would even be interested in the slightest, and we sure didn't have the money for it! But he took a chance and it paid off. I love it!  For the first time ever, I got my finger in the way of the needle.  The needle went right down through the very tip of my middle finger.  It hurt!  I've had worse paper cuts, but in the moment I kind of forgot about that. The girls made sure I got a Dora bandaid and some kisses, ahhhh, all better!

I also tried to figure out how to work that serger of mine.  I still can't figure it out. I'm about ready to sell it and get a simpler machine. I wanted top-of-the-line so that I would never have to upgrade, but maybe that wasn't such a good idea.  I'm hoping to find a serger class, but so far I haven't had any luck with that either. I think my problem is tension, but maybe that is just the result of another issue. Hard to say.

In only one weekend, I was able to cut and sew the dresses!  Cute new Cars dresses needed an outing, so on Monday we went to Disneyland and California Adventure!  Highlight (one of many highlights) was seeing Lightning McQueen and Mater!

My Disneyland Birthday

My husband asked me the other day, "What do you want for your birthday?" And I replied with all sincerity, "I want to go to Disneyland!"  So, I did!

We have annual passes to Disneyland, but they are only good for 170 days of the year (as opposed to the 365 days that my calendar claims are in a year, but I'm way too cheap to buy the Premium Pass).  After being blocked out all summer, we finally were allowed back in! 

All week long it was over 100 degrees here.  I was afraid we wouldn't be able to go; we went last year when it was over 100 and I swore I'd never do that again! Way too hot!  But the weather worked out nicely for us yesterday. It was 94 when we left the house at 10am and it was 81 when we got there!  So nice!   Oddly enough, it was those same temperatures when we left and got home again.  Ten degrees warmer at home. I'm sure it was over 100 at home while we were in Anaheim, but we didn't have to suffer in it, so all was well.  The dog might disagree though, she had the unfortunate experience of being shut in the house after I turned off the air conditioner. Poor fur-ball.

The day was great! We saw a lot of characters, which surprises me since it was so hot. Gracie was hoping to see Daisy Duck. I don't recall ever seeing her, that would be fun. We didn't see her this trip either.  We saw Donald Duck, Chip 'n Dale, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts, Woody, Jessie, Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Snow White.  We were able to visit most of them, but a few of them we just waved instead of standing in line to see them.

We didn't go to many attractions. We went to the Tiki Room, Small World, Talk to Crush, and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. For some odd reason, we just didn't get into many attractions.  We did spend an hour or more in Bugland at Princess Dot's Splash Garden.  We've never done that before and the kids loved it on such a hot day! We did catch a little bit of the Glowfest show while we ate ice cream and then we caught our bus back to the parking lot.

The day flew by so quickly! 

Now that we've done so many different things at Disneyland and California Adventure, the kids want to do it all each time we go back.  We just can't do everything so I told them to think of one thing they wanted to do but we didn't get to and we'll be sure to do it next time.  Gracie said she wanted to ride "Winnie the Pooh".  And then I asked them what was their favorite thing we did all day long. Gracie replied "Princesses" and Libby said "Minnie Mouse".  They just love the characters!

Disneyland in Mismatched Shoes

Last week: Wyoming and Montana. This week: Disneyland. Next week: Catalina Island. May is a busy month for outings!

Going to Disneyland is a physically demanding day and I wasn't really feeling like taking the plunge into the pool of exhaustion that follows a day at Disneyland. But, if I was going to get the kids to the Happiest Place on Earth at least once per month, I figured I would just ignore my laziness and get going. I had another cup of coffee and mustered up some energy.

The kids slept great the night before, they woke up happy, ate a great breakfast of sausage and eggs. Libby filled up a diaper (always good before an outing!). They were clean and wearing matching dresses that they picked out themselves. My husband had to work late, so if we come home late they won't miss any Daddy time. My gas tank was full. The weather was perfect too! All signs pointed to a great day at Disneyland. How could I argue with that?

I didn't tell the kids where we were going; I just asked them if they wanted to go out and do something. They ran to the door! Guess they were done resting from our roadtrip and ready to go again. I insisted we all wear shoes, and the hunt for footwear ensued. I could not find matching shoes for Libby anywhere! I found one white, one red and one blue shoe. Three mismatched shoes. Oh well, I stuck a red and a blue on her - they were the same style and there was one for each foot. Good 'nuff! I put on the Minnie Mouse ear hat and took them out to buckle them up. Finally, Gracie said, "Are we going to Disneyland?" The ears were the big tip-off.

We parked in the Woody parking lot at 11:30am and we hit the freeway to head for home at 7:30pm. It was an 8 hour day and I'm sure feeling it today!

We managed to do quite a bit. Even found some new things we've never done before! I love discovering new attractions (new to us). Of course the first thing we did was walk up Main Street to the Castle and tour Sleeping Beauty's story. This is one of our favorite attractions and we never leave until Princess Aurora's dress is pink.

Then we made our way to the Princess Fantasy Faire to see the princesses. The line was as long as it gets! Gracie actually told me "Lets come back later". Fine with me! We walked right onto the Small World without waiting. As always, the puppets were awesome and the song never gets old. Both girls were singing along this time - I love that Libby sings now! She knows the tune and mimics the sounds well enough.

Then we went to Toon Town to visit Minnie Mouse. She was beautiful and sweet as ever. She even gave Libby some kisses.We checked on the Princess line again and it was just too long. Looked to be over an hour wait. Gracie was not excited about it one bit. I was shocked, but I'm not going to argue. We've met all of the princesses except Pocahontas and she is rare. Plus, the girls were not wearing princess costumes, so it was ok to miss the princess line-up. We made our way over to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell.

The line for Tinkerbell was pretty long too. But the waiting area is fun and you have some elbow room. The line is a bridge over a little pond complete with ducks and ferns and fairy statues hiding around the foliage. Today they had water shooting from one side of the sidewalk to the other over the top of the people. The girls just loved it! When it was our turn, Gracie got super excited because she saw *gasp* The Blue Fairy! She was beautiful! We rounded the corner and visited with Tinkerbell herself. She blew kisses back and forth with Libby and gave Gracie several very nice hugs.

Gracie wanted to go see Winnie the Pooh next. He's a long walk away from Pixie Hollow, so off we went. On the way, we stopped at the Tiki Room. I thought I knew where the Tiki Room was and headed for it, but Gracie was pointing and telling me to "go that way!". Sure enough, she led me right to the Tiki Room. Who needs a map when you've got a 4 yr old Disneyland enthusiast?

Singing with the birds and flowers and drumming with the totem poles is a highlight! The girls sing and whistle and pat their knees. They love the Tiki Room! Gracie is getting good - she covered her ears right before the clap of thunder. She is still amazed that it stopped raining when we go outside. One of these days, she'll figure that out too.

Right next to the Tiki Room is a meet-and-greet area for Aladdin and Jasmine. Today, Jasmine was there and the line was exceptionally short! We hopped in and got to visit Jasmine. She's been the favorite princess around here lately. Gracie loved seeing her and Libby loved, well, herself. Libby stood right in front of the Disney Photopass photographer and said "Cheese!" He ignored her for a bit, focusing on his job to take photos of the princess. The people in line behind us were Ooohing and Awwwing over Libby's antics.


As we passed by New Orleans Square, Gracie searched the area for Princess Tiana. No sign of her, but wait! Who is that! Singing pirates! We stopped to watch them play music and sing pirate songs, they were great! The girls watched with caution, just in case. They were pirates, after all.

By the time we got to Critter Country, Pooh and his friends were gone. Aw, pooey. We just flipped around and headed back the way we came. On Main Street we saw a quartet of singers, they were fun to watch. Then we headed over to California Adventure.

In California Adventure Park, we found some new things to do. We went to the Muppet 3D Movie where Gracie laughed her head off! And we went to the Disney Playhouse show which was awesome in so many ways. Mickey and friends puppets, singing, and bubbles fell from the ceiling - the girls were beyond thrilled! When we came out of there, it was time to find a spot to sit and watch the parade. We had a great spot for viewing, but Libby fell asleep in the back of the stroller so she missed the whole parade. Gracie sat in the front seat of the stroller and I parked it so she was right on the front line and I sat on the sidewalk next to her. We had a little picnic while we waited for the parade to start.

The parade was the best! It was the Pixar Play Parade. Characters from some of Gracie's favorite Pixar movies marched right past us. Boo from Monsters, Inc. came right up to Gracie and a dancer gave Gracie a high five. We saw characters from Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Bug's Life, Toy Story and Cars. When Gracie saw Lightning McQueen from Cars, the real Lightning McQueen, she got super excited!


After the parade, California Adventure was closing and the entire mob of visitors headed out. Most went back to Disneyland. I suggested we go home now and Gracie was having none of that! So I took them back to Disneyland. Rather than fight the crowds on Main Street where the California Adventure visitors were entering and the Disneyland visitors were gathering for the Celebration Parade, I parked the stroller at the train station and we hopped on the train. We rode it all the way around the park. Gracie lit up with excitement when we traveled through the Small World! After the train ride, the girls were ready to head for home. Perfect timing since the crowds were staying for the parade (same one we've seen three or four times now).

Both girls slept all the way home. When we got home, Daddy pulled in the driveway before I even had the doors open to get the girls out. Gracie never did wake up, she slept all night long too! Love that! Libby just had a nap in California Adventure, followed by a nap all the way home, so she was ready to rock and roll when she got out of the van.

It was a really fun and wonderful day! So glad I didn't give in to laziness and just stay home today. The weather was perfect all day long and the girls were so well behaved and happy! Can't beat that!

One of the funniest things about the whole day was Gracie telling everyone we met (attraction workers, bus drivers, people in line, anyone who could hear her voice!) something new. Rather than her daily declaration that it's her birthday today, she changed it up a bit. She told people, "This is my new dress I got for my Grandma's birthday. It has stripes." I'm so glad she found something new to say instead of "Today is my birthday, I'm turning 4" and I was really glad she didn't whine about not wearing a princess costume! Double bonus!

Disneyland or Taxes

The girls and I escaped to Disneyland on Tax Day. Keith stayed home to do our taxes and we didn't want any part of that! We gave him a nice quiet house so he could argue with Uncle Sam without interruption. He also had papers to grade, lesson plans to write and other work. Good thing he took the day off!

We were approaching Disneyland on Ball Road, about a mile to go when Libby pointed to the road in front of us, gasped, squealed, clapped and said "Yay!" She was bouncing and smiling in her carseat, waving her little arms! She knows! How does a 19 month old know the road to Disneyland? This makes me feel good knowing her days at Disneyland are wonderful enough for her to take notice of the route.

Honestly, Disneyland smells great! The parking structure, eh, smells like exhaust. Cough. Cough. But then you get into the Happiest Place on Earth and the wonderful scents are everywhere! Breathing deep at Disneyland makes my heart and soul very happy! Main Street smells like candy and cookies and wonderful unimaginable sweets. Do not arrive hungry! The rides have smells in them too. In the Caterpillar ride you can smell watermelon and cookies. Sweet! And the best: Disneyland flowers! Oh the landscaping is not only beautiful but very fragrant. It is so nice to walk around and breathe deep. So good for the heart and soul when you fill your lungs with the best perfumes in Southern California!

The girls wore their Princess Jasmine outfits again. I let a friend borrow Libby's Snow White and Sleeping Beauty dresses and we don't have them back yet, so Libby only had one costume. Gracie wanted to wear it anyway, so it worked out very nicely.

In fact, the Jasmine costumes were perfect for the day! We saw Princess Jasmine three times! First we saw her at the Princess Faire along with Belle and Tiana. Then while we were in the Tiki Room, she must have gone to get Aladdin and we saw them both just outside of the Tiki Room. Two Jasmine hugs! Twice the fun! (Shhh, don't tell the girls there were two different Jasmines) Then we went to California Adventure to see the Aladdin show and guess what - Aladdin and Jasmine were there too! They had to be there, they were in the show.


The Aladdin Show was amazing! And because the girls were so adorable in their costumes, the gate attendant said to me, "If you take them out of the stroller we'll park it for you and you can follow me. Little Jasmine, would you please carry the lamp? Be careful, the Genie is inside!" So we followed her to the VIP seating line which was very short. We should have been in the mile long line for the door like everyone else. Gracie gave up the lamp and we got to go right into the theater and choose any seat we wanted. After about 20 minutes, the handicapped people came in and then the mob. The show was awesome! They are ending this show in August, so if you haven't seen it, hurry!


As always, we left happy and exhausted. When we got home, the taxes were filed, Domino's Pizza on the table and my husband poured me a cold beer. What a magical day!

Disneyland with Princess Jasmine x2

This was such a fun trip to Disneyland! One of the best! Katie and Andrew came with us and we loved having them along to share our day.

When we were approaching Disneyland and sitting at the red light on the corner of Harbor Blvd and Ball Road (you can't really see Disneyland yet because an overpass is in the way), Libby starts pointing and squealing and waving her arms in excitement. She knew! She knew where we were! She is 18 months old and she knows the approach to the Happiest Place on Earth - How cool is that!

We ended up parking in the Jesse Parking Lot, not the best, but it wasn't too bad. There were plenty of buses shuttling people from the Toy Story parking lots as opposed to the minimal number of buses that transported people from the Pongo parking lot last November. I don't like having to park in the overflow parking lots because that just means the whole day will be nothing but crowds and long lines. This was true in some parts of the park, but in other areas it really wasn't bad at all.

We got in the ticket line because I needed a new annual pass. There wasn't anyone in the lines for tickets! We were at the window swiping my credit card in no time. This time I added the parking pass to it. It was expensive, but taking these little princesses to the Happiest Place on Earth is well worth it when they are this enchanted by the Disney magic. And, we made Walt happy, right?

We went up Main Street, through the castle, up and inside the castle to see the Sleeping Beauty story, rode the carousel, went through the Small World, saw the Princesses, toured Toon Town, rode Winnie the Pooh, and went to the Tiki Room. All of those things were very very fun. But the highlights of the day were the Celebration Street Party Parade where Gracie got to dance with Pooh Bear and the Princess Tiana Show where Gracie got to go up and dance with Tiana and play a tambourine! We also tried two rides for the first time: The Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland caterpillar ride.

The Pirate ride was pretty dark and scary, but we made it through without any crying. A wee bit of screaming, but that was just me. You ride a boat through this ride, very similar to Small World. But as you go into a dark tunnel, your boat takes a dive down a steep slope. Not far, but far enough that you sploosh at the bottom of the slope and get splashed. Then, it happens again. This is right where Libby woke up from her nap. In the dark pirate cove in a boat, splashed with cold water while falling down a river. She was wide-eyed and clung to me fast and hard through the whole ride. Gracie clung to Katie for dear life through the first half of the ride, then when we finally got to the cute puppets, she was fine and had fun. When we left the ride, Gracie was singing "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me", so I think she had a good time on that ride.

The Alice in Wonderland ride is one I've never been brave enough to try. The reason is: back in June of 1997 when Katie was 8 and Lexie was 6, we stood in line for this ride. It was a hot day and the shade of the two big trees was refreshing while standing in that long line. We worked our way back and forth toward the front of the line when the unthinkable happened. Directly overhead, a big fat bird in the tree released all of his pent up poop and it landed ON MY HEAD! This must have been a 5 gallon bird. It was all over my head, down my neck, on my shoulder and down my front and my back and on my arm. I screamed under the white slime and the crowd parted like I was Moses. I ran screaming and people pointed the way to the bathroom as I ran by looking like a horror film character. The ladies room had a line, but everyone backed away and let me through and I stuck my head in the sink and tried to wash up as best I could. Of course, nobody helped me, ewww, yuck. Luckily, my long hair was pulled back tight, gelled and braided, so it didn't penetrate much through my helmet hair. I was able to wash off pretty good but now my shirt was poopy and wet too, so I ran over to the nearest gift shop and bought a new shirt. When I got back to the Alice in Wonderland ride to meet up with my husband and daughters (pre-cell phone era, I was just hoping they'd be there), I saw them emerging from the ride on a caterpillar. The girls were all smiles. Since that day, I haven't been brave enough to stand under those trees in the Alice in Wonderland ride again.

Today, we did it. We waited till it was dark to avoid birds. It worked! We successfully made it to the caterpiller cars and boarded a pink caterpillar! Poop Free! The little car went into the ride and just as we entered the "rabbit hole" and went over the little peak for the gentle drop into the rabbit hole and Alice's Wonderland when our caterpillar car jerked to a complete stop. We were maybe 3 or 4 feet into the ride. All the lights came on and an announcement that the ride was broken, stay put and a Disney cast member would come help us soon. 20 minutes later, they found us in the rabbit hole and let us out of our caterpillar. We had to walk through part of the ride and they opened an emergency exit door and let us out.

Score: Alice 2, Mary 0.

Oh, by the way, the Princess Jasmine costumes were a big hit! The girls were comfortable, the costumes held together and they were just adorable! We heard comments from people all day long about how cute the little Jasmines were. Here is a pic of both of them. Libby didn't get beads, but now that I had to spend a day man-handling her all day, I'm glad I skipped the beads on her outfit. Here are both the girls in all their Princess Jasmine Glory.

Disneyland - What an Expensive Bargain!

We just barely got our February trip to Disneyland in before February turns into March! I'm trying to go once a month and it seems like we were just there for our January trip. The February outing was our 7th trip to Disneyland. My pass expires in mid-March, so I'm hoping to get our March trip in before my pass fizzles out.

My pass was $134 last March and I wasn't sure how often we'd get to go, I was hoping for 3 trips in a year. Because I wasn't sure, I didn't buy into the parking pass too. I figured I would come out ahead or even if I just paid for parking at the gate each time. Parking was $12 and now it's $14. If I can squeeze in one more trip to the park, my pass will average out to $16.75 per admission. Plus, I've "hopped" over to California Adventure twice. I'm not sure how much that would have cost to hit two parks in one day, but it's more expensive than just paying the one park entrance. A one-day admission to Disneyland or California Adventure is $72. I'm glad I've been getting in for less than $17. What a bargain!

I had to buy a pass for Gracie in November, and I paid for parking each time, a few souvenirs, one churro, a couple of lollipops, and a few meals. It was never a $20 day, but it was never a $100 day either (ok, yes it was, but only twice). I think we did pretty good as bargain tourists!

When I renew my pass, you know I have to, I can't just spoil these girls rotten and then say "that's all folks", that would just be so... so.. Warner Bros! Anyway, when I renew my pass for another year, I'll have to pay $169 for the pass. Prices skyrocketed at Disneyland. I have the cheapest annual pass option that they sell which allows you in the parks on 170 days of the year. I am ok with that, the days that I'm blocked out are the busier days. Since I'll be paying more, I should squeeze in one or two extra trips to get more bang for my buck, right?

It's funny how Disneyland admissions and merchandise all went up in price, but all of the other Southern California theme parks reduced prices for annual passes. You can buy two years of Seaworld admission (365 x 2) for $109 and that includes parking. You can get a year (365) at the zoo and Wild Animal Park, bring a guest every time for free, receive 4 coupons for guests to come along free for $99 which includes parking. Universal Studios is giving a one day pass to all teachers. And Universal Studios is offering a deal on annual passes too: Buy a pass and your kid gets a pass too. They have three options for annual passes and the most expensive one is $99 which includes a free guest and free parking. Knotts Berry Farm has always been the least expensive park and I haven't heard that they've raised any prices.

For what I'm paying at Disneyland, I could be going to the Zoo, SeaWorld, Universal Studios and Knotts. Ugh. Knowing that makes me wish I hadn't done the math. Then again, none of those places have the Disney Princesses or the Small World boat ride.

I'm trying to make our Disneyland outings as much of a bargain as I can and take some of the guilt out of the big splurge. But, really, when I see these little faces light up and these little eyes get as big as saucers trying to soak it all in at once, I know the trips to Disney are worth every penny and every bit of exhaustion too. This is the face that makes makes me forget how much admission and parking cost:

January Disneyland Trip

I'm trying to get the girls to Disneyland once a month, and I just barely squeezed in the January trip! This was our 6th trip (my 8th trip because I went when I was 12 in 1977 and when the big girls were 8 and 6 in 1997). Hey! Stop doing the math! I'm still very young! The weather this month has been chilly and wet, not very conducive for having little ones out and about all day long and staying healthy. Finally we had a beautiful day, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Blue sky, sunny, and 76 degrees!

As usual, we try to see lots of the characters. Main Street was full of them! And we found a variety of characters all around Disneyland. We still have a bunch of characters that we've never seen but we'll keep trying. We saw some fresh faces this time including Donald Duck and Mary Poppins. Libby was a lot more interactive with the characters, she's getting used to this. Gracie really wanted to see Prince Phillip because she had to tell him something. I have no idea what was on her mind, but we did see Prince Phillip one time and she wouldn't go near him. We didn't run into him. Oh well.



We also explored areas of Disneyland that we've never seen before and made a quick run through California Adventure. We sure have lots of new things to discover in that Disney Park! We rode the Casey Jr. train and the Storybook Land boat ride for the first time. They were a lot of fun and the girls enjoyed them quite a bit! We also did the favorites: Sleeping Beauty's Story in the castle and the Tiki Room.

The Small World was still closed for Holiday Decor Removal. Try explaining that to a three year old who cannot get enough of Small World! She would ride that one ride all day long if I let her.

One of the most exciting new things Gracie did this time was.... drum roll please... she went potty at Disneyland! She never does, she holds it all day long. No matter how much juice I give her, I don't know how she does it, but she is a strong willed child. She does not like public toilets, they are big and scary. I always take her to the Baby Center on Main Street where they have little miniature flush toilets for young children, but she won't even go on those. I really prepped her for our trip and told her repeatedly for a couple of days that Disneyland is a Magical Place, even the toilets are magic: Nobody falls in! Ever! They are magic like that! She totally bought it. She went potty on a big toilet with an automatic flusher (scary!) not once, but twice during the day! I always bring along an extra outfit for her in case she wets herself in all the Disney excitement with her full bladder, but she's never had an accident. We always stay all day long too.

I do keep a potty chair in the back of the van for emergencies, and every trip to Disneyland she's used the van potty as soon as we find our parking spot. Then of course, I have a long drive home with a very full potty! I prevent spillage by sticking a diaper in the potty and sacking the whole thing up in a large plastic bag, then I have a lovely cleanup job to do at home, but hey, it works for the ride. Not anymore, I took the potty chair out of the van and make it very clear that the potty was staying home. We would use the magic toilets at Disneyland. It was risky, but the potty gamble paid off!

The most exciting part of the day for me was meeting up with a fellow online mama! I finally met Lori! I "met" her on a pregnancy forum back when I was pregnant with Gracie, roundabout 4 years ago. I was fortunate enough to "meet" some very nice ladies on the forum and have stayed in touch via instant messaging, facebook, email and a parenting forum. Sounds like I spend my every waking hour socializing online doesn't it? You're right, I do! My poor neglected children suffer for my online social life. Anyway, we spent the day together roaming Disneyland and California Adventure with our daughters and it was very very fun! I must say, having a buddy is much easier than doing Disney by myself with the girls. Gracie had someone to play with in every line - not that the lines were long, but some of them required some patience. Now we can say we are real life friends. Awwww!

It was another wonderful day at Disneyland for us! Can't wait for our February trip!

A Magical Day

I took the runts to Disneyland again. It was another magical day in the Happiest Place on Earth!

After my last Pongo Parking lot experience, I decided to leave earlier and have a chance to get into the Mickey and Friends parking structure to start our day off right! We arrived at Disneyland at 10:25am and the parking structure was closed already. Rats! I quickly prayed to park in a better alternate lot than the Pongo lot and did lots of wishing that we could park soon. Last time it took over an hour to get from the closed Mickey and Friends lot to the Pongo lot. Not fun. I followed the signs and was routed to the Anaheim GardenWalk parking structure. It was nice and close and the parking structure was nice too! We were parked within ten minutes of reaching Disneyland, so my quick prayers that I said at the red light worked! Yay! We boarded a red trolly type bus and rode to Disneyland.

Boarding the shuttle trolley was a challenge with two little ones and a double stroller and a diaper bag, picnic bag, jackets and purse. First I have to unload and fold up the stroller so the Disneyland people can watch me load it into the shuttle, amazingly, this guy picked it up and loaded it for me. He must be new. I like him! While I'm doing that, the other people board the bus. Ok, what is it with people? Why do the first people in line sit in the front seats? Then everyone has to squeeze past the filled seats to get to the empty seats in the back! After loading my hummer of a stroller under the bus, I grab my kids and bags and get on only to find (happens every time) that the bus is full and the only empty spot is the last seat way in the back. To all of the nice people who don't have enough sense to take a back seat when they are first to get on, I apologize for boofing you in the head with my bag as I walked by. I got almost everyone!

We didn't have to buy any tickets today since I got Gracie her annual pass on our last trip, so we were able to just go through security and then go through the front gate. We were in by 11am! Wow! We were off to a great start!

My mission for the day was trifold: 1. Visit Santa 2. Catch the Princess Tiana Riverboat Show and 3. Ride through the Christmas Small World. Today was such a beautiful sunny day and the last day for SoCal Select Annual Passholders to visit until January, so I knew it would be crowded - very very crowded. The crowd actually wasn't too bad, seems like the crowd was mostly adults and teenagers, not so many little ones. That's fine though because they prefer the rides and attractions that we don't go to. For example: the haunted mansion had a line a mile long!

Over the course of the day we managed to accomplish all of our visit goals and then some.

Visiting Santa was great! The little girls first saw Mrs. Claus. They both really liked her! She was great! Then we waited in line to see Mr. Santa Claus. He was great too! Libby didn't have the same opinion, so Gracie got to visit him without any competition for attention. Then we saw Pluto who was wearing Reindeer antlers. So cute! Libby woofed at him and he blew Gracie some puppy kisses. We also got to see all of Santa's reindeer. They were loitering in the hay, just taking it easy while Mr. and Mrs. Claus were at Disneyland.



We walked over to the Riverfront to see Princess Tiana. Not sure how this riverboat show will go, I wanted to get a great viewing spot so that the short ones could see. I took a spot on the edge of the crowd right next to the water. Turns out, it was a poor spot because the boat moved in front of us and then stopped, we could only see the back of the boat and cough in the fumes. I quickly ran the kids to a better spot even though we weren't right up against the fence, we could see just fine. The girls were mesmerized! At the end of the show, they shot confetti into the crowd; Libby caught quite a bit of it! For the remainder of the day, I picked confetti out of the stroller wheels.



Not even 2 o'clock and I've almost got my mission completed for the day. We have plenty of time to do lots of extras! We went to the Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, caught the last half of the Tiana show again, watched the Christmas parade, and... oh let me stop here and tell you about the prelude to the parade.

Libby is 14 mths old, not exactly the age of patience. She walks fast and in any direction except where I want her to go. That's why I put her on a leash, so that when she does get out of the stroller to walk a bit, she won't get lost. This wasn't her idea of fun at all.

We arrived to the parade viewing area ten minutes before start time and there was a spot open right along the curb! How that happened, I do not know! Magic! So, I parked the stroller and we went to sit and wait for the parade. Most people claim their spots and sit for an hour at least for the parade. Libby decided one minute was long enough, two was too many and she wasn't going to sit still for TEN! She pitched a sreaming crying kicking fit that made all the people around me groan in agony. Two different people offered me food for her. I gave her a cracker but she just used it as a weapon. The screaming was loud and I thought she was going to clear the whole area of people. We might get to watch the parade all by ourselves! That didn't happen, but I imagine some people, or hundreds of people, were wishing I'd take little Miss Screamer and leave. As soon as the parade started, she flipped a switch and instantly sat up and waved saying 'Hi" in her sweet little voice. She was so happy! Waving her little hand off and dancing to the music, smiling and being cute! The parade was great! And Libby was too! Gracie was very well behaved and she waved her little hand like mad too. So cute!



We managed to see quite a few characters this trip. In addition to Santa and Tiana, we saw Woody and Sally from Toy Story, Pooh and Tigger, and... well, it seemed like more. They were all in the parade, maybe that's why it seems like we saw them all. We didn't go see the princesses this trip. First time!

Another first, Gracie rode a horse on the carousel! She was brave enough to get on it while it was stopped, but as soon as the ride started, she changed her mind. You can't get off in mid-ride though so she had to tough it out. When the horse was on its way down, she was all smiles and having fun, but when the horse started to climb up, she wanted off. My little bench rider is growing up!



The days are so short now, I knew it would be dark soon so we headed on over to the Small World. Wow, that was crowded! We might only ride it one time. First I had to find parking for the stroller. Found a sea of strollers and right in the middle them were two signs that said "Please No Stroller Parking". I found a lot of humor in the irony of the sight, so I snapped a quick photo of one of the signs, couldn't even see the other one as it was on the other side of the stroller sea. I kept moving and parked where strollers are supposed to park, you know, a long long long way from the Small World attraction.


The line for The Small World was super long. It wound around and around and across the path around over that'a way and back, we must have walked five miles before loading in the boat. I was glad that the line was always walking though, that's so much better than standing still. As expected, the ride through the Christmas Small World was amazing! Well worth the wait and the long walk! We only rode once, the line was way too long to do it twice. But I ran the video camera all the way through the ride. Hopefully I have some video worthy of watching. Knowing Gracie, we'll watch it a million times.

After the ride, the attraction wasn't lit up yet. It was getting dark and we did everything we set out to do, and I was wiped out. So, I headed for the front gate. Now that it was 5pm, the crowd was thick as pea soup! This is when all the annual pass-holders fill the park! Right after work! It was way too crowded, I could barely push the stroller through the crowd. Ugh! And now I could see that behind me, they lit up the Small World. I had a little argument with myself about turning around and going back to see it lit or continuing on toward the gate. The Good mommy won and I twirled around and went back so Gracie could see it all lit up.

I am so glad that I did. We walked toward it and she was so happy and excited! Next thing I know, I' m up against a rope and the crowd it so dense that I couldn't go anywhere at all. Stuck. Turns out the rope was set up because there was a light show and "Snow" on the Small World frontage. Cool! We had a front row spot for viewing! That was Disneyland Magic! The light show and foam soap bubbles snow were awesome! I'm very happy that I went back! What a wonderful way to end the day!

But, I was stuck in that crowd. It was nearly impossible to pass through and it took me 45 minutes to get from the Small World to the front gate. People were everywhere! Shoulder to shoulder! And on Main Street, they were lined up for the 6:30 pm parade. Fireworks were scheduled for 9:30 and I wasn't sticking around that long, crowd or no crowd. By the time I got to the end of Main Street both kids were asleep in the stroller, so I knew it was really time to end our fun and head out. I wasn't the only tired girl.

We boarded the bus to the Gardenwalk Parking structure, this time we had a seasoned bus driver - he watched me juggle two sleepy kids, bags and load the stroller myself, then he asked if he could help. Ay, ay, ay... I can only shake my head and wonder what ever happened to the morning gentleman driver. Wonder why they don't hire more like him.

We got to the van and loaded up, Gracie finally decided she would go potty in her van potty chair. Ugh. Why won't she go potty till we get to the van? I can't figure out how to force her to go potty during the day. I sit her on the toilet and she doesn't go, we get to the van and she finally goes for the first time since we left the house. I'm baffled. I couldn't just dump it on the ground because we were in a nicely lit parking structure with security guards driving golf carts around, so I stuck one of Libby's diapers in the potty chair and put the whole thing in a plastic sack for the ride home.

We left the parking structure at 7pm, Crazy, we left the Small World at 6:00pm. Got home shortly after 9pm. The 91 freeway was a jam packed slow going river of cars. Luckily, I went East on the 91 rather than West like I did last time. I had a hard time finding the East exit off the 5 North. All kinds of signs pointing you West, no wonder I took the wrong exit last time! The East 91 exit had one little sign and it was behind something. I nearly missed it!

Another magical day at Disneyland is done. The kids are making wonderful memories and once again, the hassle, the lines, juggling two little kids in the crowds, diapering and nursing in public, its all worth the hard work and the hours on my feet.... the smiles and amazed looks in their eyes, it's magical!

No Turkey or Stuffing - A Day At Disney Instead!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are not having the big traditional dinner today, we are holding off until later because my husband does all the holiday cooking and he is out hunting today. I'm not going to knock myself out cooking a feast for just me and the little girls, and they don't know the difference. Gotta get away with sliding by while I can! Won't be long and they'll catch me breaking the rules like this!

Can't let the holiday go without some fun though. So I took the girls to Disneyland on Tuesday. We had a blast! The looks on their faces when we are there is so precious, it is worth all the money and all the hassle. It's just pure happiness!

That kind of happiness is more expensive, again. I noticed the parking and the entrance prices all went up. Funny, I noticed that last month too. I went ahead and got Gracie an annual pass so that I don't end up in Mickey Mouse jail for sneaking her in as a child under the age of 3. She doesn't look under 3, and I'm not going to risk it.



Parking was a nightmare! The Mickey and Friends parking structure was closed so once you got there you were rerouted all around Anaheim in circles until you got to the Pongo Parking Lot, which didn't look like it was anywhere near Disneyland. And since it took over an hour to get from the parking structure to this temporary parking lot, I assumed we were nearly home again. Then we boarded a bus to Disneyland which took another 15 mins. The bus was overcrowded and I had to squeeze me and Gracie and Libby all into one seat, plus the diaper bag, my purse and the snack bag. My double stroller was underneath the bus in the storage bin, but they wouldn't let me toss my bags in there too.

Finally we got to the Happiest Place on Earth! Stood in line for the security check, then stood in line for Gracie's ticket, then stood in line to show the tickets and get inside the park. Lordy. I was so thankful that Gracie didn't have to go potty! That could have really thrown a wrench into all this patience we were practicing. We did really well with patience, I must say.

I only had a temporary pass for Gracie, had to go get her picture taken and get her plastic card at "The Pavilion" on Main Street. Getting a pass isn't as easy as it sounds. I didn't see this place and was sick of standing in line for no big thrill, so decided to come back to Main Street and do it later.

My camera was flashing low battery in red. Which usually means I have 2 or 3 pictures left and that's all that I'm gonna get. Darn it. I managed to get quite a few pictures and we got the Photo Pass card.

We made our way down Main Street slowly. It was so crowded it was unbelievable! Today was going to be a day to be very very patient. Very patient. It was 2pm and people were claiming their spaces on the curb for the parade at 3:30. Yikes. Here we are on Main Street, look at the stroller in the background on the left. There are two kids in it! One is getting squished.



Got to the castle and we went up inside to see the story of Sleeping Beauty. This is always our first attraction. Gracie loves most of it. We don't look in the windows that have scary parts of the story. At the end, the princess is dancing with the prince and her dress turns from pink to blue over and over again. We never leave until it is pink. Then we boarded King Arthur's carousel. Libby rode a horse and Gracie ran straight for her favorite spot: the bench.

We moseyed along and found ourselves a great spot for the parade that was to start in 20 minutes. Great spot right on the curb and great timing! We sat next to a family with several kids who had bubbles and bubble guns, so they entertained Gracie and Libby as well as a few other children who were all right there. Note to self: bring bubbles next time. Great idea!

The parade was amazing! We saw several characters, the dancers were better than great, all of the Princes and Princesses were in it and it ended with Santa. Couldn't have been better! Libby really wanted to get out there and join in with the dancers, but I held her back. Gracie would like to be a roller skating snowflake when she grows up, but she needs to practice. I think she will be a very pretty snowflake someday.





Next stop, another long line of course! This time we were waiting to see the Princesses. This is a terrible line to stand in because you cannot use your stroller, there is nothing to lean on, and it takes an hour at least. Again, I had to nurse Libby standing up in line. Gosh, I'm good! There are three princesses to see, and you never know who you will get to visit with, it's a triple surprise! And well worth the wait. Each princess spends a little time with each kid and they get a little visit, a hug and maybe even a twirl around. You can look down the line and see total amazement and awe in little faces as they visit the princesses! So cute! Libby didn't want anything to do with any of them, she still thinks her mom is the best! Awww, thanks Libby! We saw Mulan, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.



We then made our way toward Toon Town. I was only going to concentrate on touring this one section of the park today, since I have never gone to this part of it before. Oh gosh, it was so crowded you could barely get around. Gracie recognized Minnie Mouse's house and wanted to go in, so we parked the stroller and got in line. Only one family got in line behind us and then the line closed down. Minnie would be making an appearance on Main Street and so they closed down the line to visit her. Another family showed up to get in line and they had a little girl about 2 or 3 years old dressed like Minnie Mouse and the guard didn't let them in line. I just about cried when I saw that little girl's disappointed face! I sure hope she got to see Minnie Mouse sometime during the day.

Minnie was cute! I handed my dying camera to the Disney worker to take a photo and hoped it would fire off a shot. It did. Just one. And it's blurry. Her house was adorable! Just a few rooms. Gracie and Libby had fun making the dishwasher go. Next door was Mickey's house and no line, I think you just go from one to the next, so we already stood in line and were just following. I had no idea Mickey's house was a mile long maze with no escape. We were in there for an hour at least, nudging our way forward. I ended up having to nurse Libby while standing in line inching forward and keeping Gracie near me with my foot. I didn't kick her, I just used my foot to reach to her and get her attention. Yes, that's me, the mom who is in line at Disneyland, standing on one leg while breastfeeding a toddler. I think I'll write that on my next resume.



We finally got to see Mickey Mouse! He was great! Libby wanted nothing to do with him, but Gracie gave him some love. The Disney photographer took some photos. These photos never did make it to the Disney Photo Pass web page, so I haven't seen them. Hopefully they will show up soon. Usually only takes an hour and your photos are there. The princess photos showed up a few at a time over the past couple of days. I'll check again tomorrow for Mickey photos.

By the time we got out of there it was dark! We left Toon Town for Small World. It was lit up with a billion lights! We parked the stroller and got in line for the Small World boat ride. The line was encroaching on the entrance to Toon Town. Wow! This line moves though because they are constantly loading and unloading boatloads of people, so at least you don't just stand there. Once again, I found myself battling a wiggle monster in my tired arms, and ended up nursing in line again. This time she fell asleep.

Gracie could have stared at the Christmas lights all night, they were beautiful and this was her first sighting of any lights this holiday season. We rode the boat through and Libby missed it all because she was fast asleep. It was great! The entire ride was decorated for Christmas, so many pretty details! The puppets sang bits of Christmas songs intermixed with the Small World song. It was so sweet to see Gracie's big eyes trying to absorb it all. At the end of the ride, she asked to go again, so we got back in line. This time the line was a lot shorter, it ended at the gate where you are supposed to enter to line up. And as we walked along the line, the parade went past. This time it was all lit up and since we were in line, we were on an elevated platform! Score! Gracie got to yell and wave to Santa again! Of course he winked at her and waved back. Libby slept through this and the second ride. We called Katie from inside the ride and left her a message, Gracie said "Katie! I'm at the Small World!" The music is pretty loud, so I'm sure she got an earful of that too.

Now it was 7:30 and I was worn out. Gracie seemed to have forgotten about the fireworks, so I was going to let her. They start at 9:30 and then its mass exodus from the parking lots. I thought sneaking out early might be a great idea, especially considering getting out might not be so easy, getting in was sure difficult! I strolled the kids across the park, down Main Street, and where is this Pavilion? Up and down Main street, and I asked, finally found it. Got there for Gracie's pass and she was sound asleep in the front seat of the stroller. Libby was wide awake, but Gracie was not waking up for anything. I held her head up and they took her picture like that. Her pass looks pretty funny! The lady said "Next time come when she's awake". Sure, great idea.

We went out and headed for the bus pick up area. Had to wait quite a while there. Wasn't too sure how I was going to get on the bus holding a baby, carrying a sleeping kid and fold up my stroller too. Somehow, I managed. I had to wake up Gracie and she was so groggy she wasn't sure what was going on, but I got her on the bus. This time we got 2 seats. yay! Found the Pongo parking lot, and I asked the bus driver how to get to the freeway. She said to Take a left, go a block to Harbor Blvd, take a right and it's a couple of minutes to the freeway, stay in the right lane. Really? It took me just a couple of minutes to get from Pongo to the freeway! Why did it take over an hour to get from Mickey and friends parking structure to Pongo! A Disney mystery.

Anyway, when I got to the van, Gracie finally had to go potty. This is the first time she said she had to go since we left the house! I asked her a bunch of times all day, but no, she won't go on big toilets. Good thing I keep a little potty chair in the van. The girl has a bladder of steel!

I was so glad to get into the van. My arms were ready to fall off! I had to carry Libby a lot because you can't use your stroller in line, and we spent more time standing in lines than we did strolling. Libby is definitely leash-ready! Next time, I'm bring a leash for her so I can put her down a bit here and there. Save us both some frustration. She is 22 pounds of pure wiggle!

I followed the bus driver's instructions to get out of the Pongo Parking lot, and she was right - I was on the 5 North in no time! She said the 5 goes to the 91 in only a couple of minutes, and that's the freeway I needed and sure enough, I found it! I merged and hopped onto the 91 West. Drove and drove, Gracie was wide awake now and Libby was fast asleep. After a while I thought, hmmm, these exits don't have familiar names, I must have a long way to go yet. Then I started to drive right into some fog and I saw a sign that said Long Beach Blvd. Oh no! The Beach! I drove WEST! I needed to go EAST! Oh Lordy!

I pulled off on the next exit, and in a panic I called Keith who was in South Dakota, he pulled up a map and said I could flip around easily there and head back. Then he said, "Wow, you drove a long way in the wrong direction". I made it to the edge of Compton. Went about 12 miles west rather than east. Ugh!

So I got turned around and got home just fine. I really need to learn the difference between East and West! Someday... someday...

We got home at 11pm. We left the house at 11am, making this a 12 hour outing. I was beat! And of course, the girls were wide awake now and ready to play! They'd been strapped down too long and needed to wiggle and be free of constraints. Guess we could have stayed for the fireworks after all. We were up till 1am when I finally declared an end to this long exciting day. It was great, but Disneyland was tougher than I was that day.

Watch out, Disneyland, the parking nightmare, crowds, long lines without use of a stroller, lollipops that shatter on the sidewalk, and trapping me in Mickey's house didn't do me in! I'm coming back for more! And I'm bringing a fully charged camera battery and a toddler leash!

Small World

I bet I hear this song a thousand times a day. Well, at least a dozen. As long as it is the favorite song in our house, I figure we might as well change it up a bit and hear the different versions to keep dear old mommy from going totally out of her mind. After some extensive googling, I found some variety for the lyrics. Yay! (Hopefully the lyrics are correct, I have no idea)

Sing it with me:

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears;
It's a world of hopes and a world of fears;
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware

It's a small world, after all.
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a small, small, world.

There is just one moon and one golden sun,
And a smile means friendship to everyone;
'Though the mountains divide,
and the oceans are wide,

It's a small world, after all.
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a Small World, after all;
It's a small, small, world.

Spanish

En el mundo hay risas y dolor
Esperanzas y hay tambien temor
Mucho hay en verdad, que poder compartir
Entre la humanidad

Muy pequeño el mundo es
Muy pequeño el mundo es
Debe haber mas hermandad
Muy pequeño es

Una luna hay solo hay un sol
Para todos brillan sin distincion
Y aunque muy grandes son, las montañas y el mar
Muy pequeño el mundo es

Muy pequeño el mundo es
Muy pequeño el mundo es
Debe haber mas hermandad
Muy pequeño es

French:

Au bout du Pole Nord ou sur l'equateur
Il y a un jean qui rit il y a un jean qui pleure
Du soleil due midi au soleil de minuit
On a tous la même vie

Car le monde est tout petit
Devant le ciel on se dit
Que nous sommes des fourmis
Le monde est petit

Au bout du Pole Nord ou sur l'equateur
On a toujours l'air de venir d'ailleurs
Mais quand on fait le tour de nos joies, nos ennuis
On a tous la même vie

Car le monde est tout petit
Devant le ciel on se dit
Que nous sommes des fourmis
Le monde est petit

Nihongo!

Sekaijû dare datte,
Hohoemeba nakayoshi sa,
Heiwa inori te o kumi arukô,
Chiisa na sekai.

Sekai wa hitotsu,
Sekai wa onaji,
Sekai wa marui,
Tada hitotsu.

Kotoba wa minna chigatte mo,
Minna no kokoro wa onaji,
Katakumi atte mirai e arukô,
Chiisa na sekai.

Deutsch!

Es gibt nur einen Mond, eine Sonne scheint,
Und mit Läscheln ist bloss nur Freundschaft gemeint,
Trennen Berge und Meere und Grenzen querfeldein,
Diese Welt ist ja so klein.

Diese Welt ist klein, so klein,
Diese Welt ist fein, so fein,
Diese Welt ist klein, so klein,
Diese Welt ist fein.

Italiano!

Mari e monti non ci dividono,
Luna e sole sempre risplendono,
Se un sorriso farai in risposta tu avrai,
Amicizia e simpatia.

E un mondo piccolo,
Dopo tutto è piccolo,
E un mondo favoloso,
Ma è piccolo.

Happy First Birthday, Baby-Cakes!

A few days late on the birthday blog post, but that's my style. Hard to believe my brand new baby is a year old already! What an incredible year!

Rather than throw a birthday party and invite people over for cake and beer, make them bring presents, ruin their plans for a lazy evening of unwinding from their own stress... I have been saying No to throwing birthday parties. We can hold off on those until the kids want them rather than pretending the kids want them now. In lieu of the birthday party, we have been going on Birthday Outings. For Libby's first birthday we went to Disneyland! (Daddy couldn't go, he had to work)

This is Libby's 3rd trip to Disneyland, she went on Gracie's birthday in March and my birthday in August. She just loved Disneyland! We all did! And we still haven't seen it all, three trips and we have only just begun! Libby's favorite things at Disneyland are the Tiki Room and It's a Small World. This trip she slept through the Small World ride, but she fought that nap so hard that even the Small World puppets didn't wake her. We also rode the submarine, the train and the Monorail. Fun stuff! Since the girls were doing great and it gets dark earlier, we stayed for the fireworks show. It was amazing and the girls watched with big wide eyes and ear to ear smiles. Libby had a great day and was asleep before we got out of the Mickey Mouse parking structure.







Our day at Disneyland was on Wednesday and on Saturday we had her little party at home. We had a moment when everyone was here, although it was late, we stuck a candle in her cake and had our little celebration. I know it took a few days to get to doing the party but I had to buy a cake!

I looked at SuperTarget and their cakes were ugly. They must not have a skilled decorator, the cakes were frosted and then plastic things just stuck on them. Went to Albertson's where I normally buy our decorated cakes. The cakes were ugly there too! All the piping was crooked and not well done. Flowers or blobs? Hard to decide. They had one nice looking cake but it said, "Happy Bithday". I just refuse to swipe my credit card on a misspelled birthday cake.

Found a cake at Stater Bros. The handwriting wasn't great, but it was good enough and the cake was pretty. They also had mini-cakes so I got a white one for the little birthday girl. I still have my suspicions about chocolate and her hives being somewhat related.




I was glad that we finally had her party because I wanted to give her the pile of clothes that I got at Children's Place. I did sneak a few outfits out of her birthday stash and she wore them early; I couldn't wait! I just love all the bright colors.



She didn't get much for toys, but she doesn't need any! This house is filled to the brim with toys. She did get a few little things to play with which is fine. Her big sisters gave her a pig that has the look and feel of a sock monkey. Very cute!



Happy Birthday, Baby Elizabeth! It's been a great year!

Serging like a Newbie

My sewing skills are rusty, but my serging skills are just plain "New".
*update: "Define serger" ok! Click here!

I made the first little dress for Gracie and then I made a pinafore dress and bloomers for Libby, a sundress for Libby, and the two Snow White dresses. I also serged up some tears in my favorite worn out jammie pants and I sewed patches on Lexie's jeans. That was on the sewing machine though.

I've been able to find little snippets of time to get in my sewing room and spent some quality time (that's using the word loosely!) with my machines and patterns and scissors and fabric... love it! I love the room. It's too dark in there at night, I need a better lamp. But otherwise I just love the room!

I finished the Snow White dresses just in the nick of time! I decided Snow White's sleeves were too hard to mess with, so I incorporated a red ribbon at the waistline to give the dress that bit of red that it needed to make it authentic. I omitted the white collar and didn't make a red cape either. Gracie said she needed a red cape, but I told her it's ok, Snow White doesn't wear her cape except when she goes in the woods and we weren't going to the woods.

I made them from a light glitter infused satin. Satin is hard to sew! It frays so badly. Both girls' dresses had issues with fraying. Gracie's dress frayed right through the threads and got a hole in the shoulder seam. I was at Disneyland and kept focusing on that hole. It drove me insane! And Libby had a spot right on the front neckline that wanted to fray out. That'll teach me not to topstitch!

I wonder about my serger knife. It doesn't cut well with gathers and thicker seams. If there is a spot where the fabric is doubled, it seems fine, but if there are more than two layers of fabric, the knife often times does not complete the cut, making the seam absorb the excess and sew a big lump.

I need to learn how to use the differential feed.

Here are the dresses. I did receive several compliments and comments on them, but best of all, the girls loved wearing the dresses!

Disneyland was Super Hot!

Literally!

I took the little girls to Disneyland yesterday, we got there at noon and it was 102* when we got there. I'm sure that wasn't the high; I don't even want to know what the high was. Despite the heat, we had a good time. Lines weren't bad at all and there were plenty of characters everywhere we went!

We also found the Baby Care spot - was a nice break! In case you were wondering... It's behind the Photo Store on the end of Main Street, go around the corner and back behind the corn dog stand. It hides back there. In this air conditioned lovely place are two helpful ladies, stalls for nursing (but they looked really small) a play area (with no Mommy sized chairs, oh well) and a room in the back full of nice large sturdy and CLEAN diaper changing tables. There are also two toddler toilets - they were so cute! Not any bigger than a little plastic potty chair, but look just like a real public toilet and they flush and everything. Gracie refused to go potty. In fact, she didn't go potty all day long! She's got a bladder the size of a basketball and amazing control when she wants. They also had a high chair area.

Since I had the two girls by myself, any rides we went on had to be baby friendly. Even with this limitation, we had plenty of things we could do! And we did!

Gracie loved Main Street. We had to look in all the shop windows. They are great, full of fun things to see. We found City Hall and got my birthday button and my gift card. Since I have an annual pass and it was my birthday and I had the free admission ticket for that, I got my choice of a full day Fast Pass, a free pass for another day, or a merchandise gift card. The gift card was for $70! I got the girls a big lollipop and each of them got a doll. I still have $28 on my card.

Finally, she spotted the castle. And she was instantly the happiest little girl ever! She hopped out of the stroller and grabbed her Cinderella costume - she must wear it NOW! She wore it all day, in fact, she's wearing it now. She did take it off to sleep, but that's it.

We went inside the castle and toured through Sleeping Beauty's Story. Then we went to King Arthur's Carousel and rode the bench. Gracie tried to sit on a horse, but she thinks they are too scary. Then we went to the Tiki Room where the birds sang words and the flowers crooned. The Jungle Cruise was next. We rode in a boat and had a great time! Next we hopped aboard a honey pot and rode through the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Very fun for the littles! Then we set sail on a Pirate Ship, the little girls didn't especially like the little bang of the canon firing, but it wasn't too bad. They loved the cruise. Our last ride was It's a Small World. Riding these boats is a must!

We also wanted to ride the train around the park. It's a 20 minute ride but we were just out of time and energy. We'll do it next time!

In between all the rides, we saw lots of characters! Really, Lots of them! I felt bad for them in that heat, but I'm sure they were swapping 'em out every few minutes. We didn't have to stand in line to see most of them this time, we did spend about 45 mins in line to see the Princesses, but the normal wait time is 90 mins - 2 hours. First character we saw was Goofy. Gracie didn't really like him, she said she likes the other dog (Pluto) not that one. Next, we saw Mickey Mouse. We just waved at him because his security crew was moving him - I'm sure he'd been out in the heat long enough. Then we saw Chip and Dale. They are so cute! Again, we just waved. Gracie didn't want to get too close.

The next character we saw was Cinderella's Fairy Grandmother. Since Gracie was dressed like Cinderella, and she just loves the Fairy Grandmother (I know, she's really the Fairy Godmother, but we call her the Fairy Grandmother) Gracie was willing to go see her. There wasn't a line at all, she was ready for us! Gracie talked and talked to her. She showed the Grandmother her "pinkernails" and told her that Lexie painted them Cinderella Blue. The Grandmother loved her beautiful dress and manicure. They discussed magic and smiled at each other a bit. Gracie was truly having a Disney Moment! While we were there, Peter Pan came along. He was great! He also had a nice long visit with Gracie. They discussed the square trees and he told her Disneyland is a magic place and the trees can be square or other shapes. She liked his ballerina tights. And she introduced him to her little sister, Baby Yibby.

Our next real life Disney encounter was with Aladdin. Gracie was suddenly shy and coy. She did manage to muster up enough courage to ask Aladdin where the Genie was, but she spoke so quietly he didn't understand her. That's ok, she was very happy to see him.

The next couple of characters we saw were heading into the back area, I assume they were trading off with other characters. We saw a fox (I think) I really don't know who it was, and we saw a bear that looked a lot like Baloo, but was wearing a vest. I couldn't put a name to that one either. And that's also where we saw Rabbit. We didn't get to visit any of these characters, but they were friendly and gave us a friendly wave on their way in and out of their secret hideaway.

We saw Chip and Dale again. This time they were wearing scarves and western vests. Again, no visitors so they spent a good deal of time with Gracie. Libby just watched from the stroller. Gracie told the chipmunks that we have a gopher in our yard and Daddy is trying to catch it. It digs holes. She wasn't afraid of them at all this time. They blew her kisses and we were off to see the Princesses.

The Princesses are in a special place, and the line is long! But the payoff is HUGE! We saw Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and she asked Gracie if they've met before. Gracie got to twirl with Aurora and she got a nice hug. Aurora didn't want Libby to sit by her without me holding her, so I got my picture taken with Princess Libby and Princess Gracie too. Next, we saw Princess Mulan. Gracie didn't really know her; I guess we have another movie to see. But she was beautiful and friendly. She wouldn't let Libby sit by her either, so I got to squeeze in with another pretty princess for a photo. If only I had worn my tiara! Lastly, we saw Cinderella! And Gracie was wearing her Cinderella dress too! So precious! Cinderella let Libby sit by her and we took some pictures of the three of them. Cinderella and Gracie had such a nice time together, it was magic!

During the parade, we saw Woody and Jessie, Pooh and Tigger, Peter Pan and Wendy, Chip and Dale (again!), Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, and the others passed us by too quickly. The ones I just mentioned danced in front of us and we had a great view of the show. They pulled a few audience members to the street to dance with them and Gracie was one. She took a few steps out into the street and danced a bit. The parade was great and filled with characters - just the perfect way to end a magic day!

When the parade was over, we strolled down Main Street to the ice cream shop. Hit the spot! It was the only thing all day that Gracie would eat. She drank juice all day, but she wouldn't eat a thing. Same with me, it was just too hot. The ice cream was the best ever! I had a scoop of Mocha Almond Fudge and Gracie had Rainbow Sherbet. Yum!

Much to the disappointment of two little princesses, we headed for the parking lot tram. The trams took forever! It was 7:30 when we got in line to board and 8:30 by the time we go to our van.

If you ever go to Disneyland with little bitty kids, I now have a few tricks that will make your day easier: 1. Freeze juice boxes the night before and bring them in a cooler, they thaw and are nice cool yummy drinks! Just the right size too. 2. Bring plenty of water! 3. Bring snacks. This makes your day cheaper and easier to have munchies at hand when the hungries strike! 4. Use the Baby Care Center. Nice place to take a break for mom and the tots alike. 5. Bring Disney toys with you, you know they are already in your toybox, ease the urge to shop and bring 'em along!

My blog post is long enough, so if you want to see photos go to my picassa site.

It was a great trip to Disneyland! Can't wait to go back again. But, we'll wait for a cooler day. As I type this, the thermometer outside in the shade reads 107.