Our first family vacation to Disneyland had a rough start to it but all in all we had a great time :-)
On Friday we picked Hannah up from school and told the kids we were going to the States to do some shopping and stay in a hotel overnight so they could go swimming. This was all true... we just didn't tell them where we were going in the morning! Both girls fell asleep in the van on the way to Seattle...
They were pretty tired after swimming in the hotel pool that evening so they went to bed in the hotel no problem! Saturday morning we woke them up at 5am and told them we were going to the airport to fly to Disneyland :-) They were very surprised... I videotaped them when we told them and I will try to upload it soon but it is a big file.
We took the hotel shuttle to the airport and arrived just after 6am... our flight left at 8am. The kids were really good on the plane. Victoria slept most of the flight and Hannah watched a movie and did some colouring. The lady sitting beside us actually came up to me after the flight and told me that she thought the kids were very well behaved! Who would have guessed that?!?!
That morning before we left for the airport I noticed that Hannah had a plugged up nose and was a bit congested. I thought she might be getting a cold but other than that I wasn't too worried. During the flight she complained that her ears were sore... I figured it had to do with the altitude and I gave her some gum to chew on.
We arrived at our hotel and the kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing at the Pirate's Cove water park. They had lots of fun although I did notice that Hannah wasn't her usual energetic self and she was still pretty congested.
We went to the hotel room after a few hours to get changed and wait for Christy to arrive. She was coming up to Anaheim to have dinner with us and take me to Target to pick up some snacks and groceries. Hannah was quite lethargic and just laying on the floor of the hotel room. Shortly after Christy arrived Hannah started throwing up!
So Christy, Victoria and I went out for dinner and Dave stayed at the hotel with Hannah. Hannah had stopped throwing up by the time we returned from dinner but she was still listless and not feeling well.
That night around midnight Hannah woke up crying in pain. She was very hot, feverish and crying that her ears were thumping. I gave her Advil every 4 hours all night long but it didn't seem to be helping... she was up the entire night crying and moaning. Sunday morning we decided she should see a Dr. so we had a Dr. come to our hotel room to check her out. He determined that she had a bad ear infection and an infected throat plus she had began coughing by this point as well. The Dr. gave her an injection of antibiotics (in the behind!) and that was an ordeal! Then she was to continue on oral antibiotics for the rest of the week as well as some ear drops and cough syrup. The total medical bill for Hannah... $515!
Later that afternoon we went over to Disneyland for the first time. The kids were excited but Hannah was still pretty lethargic. She spent most of the time in the stroller.
Later that afternoon we went over to Disneyland for the first time. The kids were excited but Hannah was still pretty lethargic. She spent most of the time in the stroller.
So for the first few days Hannah wasn't feeling too good but she was a real trooper! She still managed to go on some rides and met lots of characters! Victoria was really into keeping her eyes peeled for characters around the park. We were expecting Victoria to be a bit scared of some of the characters but she did awesome! She didn't cry or get scared not once the whole time we were there :-) She actually quite enjoyed meeting them and getting autographs.
After a couple hours we went back to the hotel so Hannah could rest. Then we went back in the evening and rode a few smaller rides and watched the fireworks. Victoria really liked the fireworks... Tinkerbell flew across the sky which was a highlight for her! Hannah slept through the fireworks in the stroller despite how loud it was... that is how bad she was feeling those first couple days.
After the first few days Hannah perked up and both of the kids rode lots of rides. Hannah's favourites were Splash Mountain and It's a Small World. Victoria's favourites were Winnie the Pooh and the Mad Hatters Tea Cups. Hannah went on every single ride at Disneyland except for Indian Jones because that was the only one she wasn't tall enough for.
One evening we had dinner at Ariel's Grotto which is a Princess themed dinner. All of the Princesses were there and came around to each table to take pictures with the kids. Surprisingly for being one of those over priced character dinners the food was actually good!
When we first arrived there was a photo op with Ariel at the door. Hannah went and stood beside Ariel and then Ariel turned towards Victoria and said "Come take a picture with me Baby." Now Ariel meant 'Baby' like someone would say 'Sweetie' or 'Honey' but Victoria took it literally and she was MAD! She put her hands on her hips and said "I'm NOT a baby, I'm a BIG GIRL!" back at Ariel. Everyone was laughing... it was pretty funny!
This 'little person' was a busboy at the restaurant and Victoria thought he was a character! She ran up to him and asked for his autograph and a picture! LOL
Mid week the weather cooled off and it was quite windy for a couple days... there was a few rain storms but mainly in the evenings. The good thing about the cooler weather was that there weren't many line ups for rides. Hannah turned out to be quite the daredevil... one day at California Adventure Park she went on the Tower of Terror! It was a scary ride!
This was a common sight towards the end of each day.... both kids asleep in the stroller! They were tuckered out :-)
Thursday morning we got up early for our magic morning entrance to Disneyland... you get one morning where you get admission one hour before the park opens. We all got on the elevator at our hotel to head over to the park and the elevator got stuck! So we spent our magic morning hour trapped in the elevator while the Anaheim Fire Department was called out to rescue us!
After getting out of the elevator we had another fun day at Disneyland and California Adventure Park. Saw the Aladdin musical which was really good too!
Christy and Jeff met us at Disneyland on Friday :-) It was Jeff's "21st" Birthday so we celebrated with them at the Happiest Place on Earth. By Friday we had already seen all of both of the parks so we enjoyed the day at a relaxing pace re-visiting some of the kids favourite rides. We also saw the parade that afternoon while eating yummy Gibson Girl ice cream :-)
Saturday we spent the day at the hotel pool and water park before flying home that evening. All in all a very memorable trip :-) We are looking forward to going back again in the next couple years when Victoria is 40 inches tall...
I told you it would be a long blog entry!! Back to reality now....
