Day 71

Wednesday October 27, 2010

Our morning at the happiest place on earth did not start off very happy! Quite the opposite...it started off miserable. At 3:30 am Nina woke up with a headache. At 4 am she proceeded to vomit twice. We gave her a bath and Todd ran to the store to buy children's aspirin. Thank God after her bath and Tylenol, she was able to fall back asleep at 5am! So much for starting off on a happy foot! I lay there, consumed with worry! What did this all mean??? Were the symptoms coming back super quickly? I commanded my mind to stop and just concentrate on the happy things were going to do that day! I didn't dare say a word to Todd! I knew what was racing through his mind. It was racing through mine and I didn't need to add fuel to the storm brewing in him!

Although the early morning was rough, the rest of the day was lovely. We slept in until 10am and ordered room service. The kids were totally stoked with the Mickey Mouse shaped waffles and gobbled down each last bite. We got dressed and went downstairs where we met our lovely Ambassador Katie. Katie was a doll and the most helpful guide. We are constantly amazed by the generosity of people around us! Kathy Ireland had heard about our sadness through our Pastor Jim and out of the absolute goodness of her heart, given us this great gift! What a blessing!

Once we entered the park, Nina and Teddy proclaimed that Pirates of the Caribbean was the first ride on the agenda! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!!! Off we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. Nina has always loved this ride! I will never forget the first time she went on it. She was two years old and she sat between Sosie and Adelae in the front row. She was not scared...not one bit. Teddy clung onto Todd and me, but Nina just sat with her cousin and even put her tiny arms up into the air when the girls commanded her to do so at the little drop in the beginning. I was terrified when I saw her doing this so I reached up from the second row and held her by the shoulders. When we passed the drop, she turned back to me and glared....gave me the stink eye! How dare I question her capacity to manage a little ride!! Even at two Nina was the bravest girl ever! Not much has changed with our honey-girl....but then again everything has :(

 With our guides assistance, we covered all the classic rides and the kid's favorites: the Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Poor, Buzz Light Year, Space Mountain, etc. This time all four of us were able to go on the Indian Jones Ride. Nina was so excited. She had always wanted to go but had never been tall enough. I was worried that it was going to be too bumpy but she loved it! She screamed the entire time and held onto me :) Teddy of course was a toughie. None of the rides scared him any more :) At least that is what he tried to convince me of. The expressions on his face told me otherwise. I especially like the look of concern when we jumped onto the Matterhorn ride. It said trepidation! I video taped the entire thing, which made him worry more because he thought I'd lose my phone :) My sweet Teddy! I can't post the video (which is hysterical) because Teddy forbid me, but below is a photo. It says it all :)

We had a lovely lunch, then I took Nina on an hour long stroller ride where she napped. During this time, Todd and Teddy went on more rides with Katie. Teddy was in heaven. He proclaimed that this was the best Disneyland trip ever! We were happy to hear that. We desperately want to build happy memories for him. In fact, we have never gone to Disneyland just the four of us. We've always gone with family or friends so this was a special treat and Teddy relished all the attention!

By the time Nina woke up from her nap, our friends the Dawsons had joined us for the afternoon. I had surprised Teddy that morning by telling him that we were going to Goofy's Kitchen with the Dawsons to celebrate his birthday. We always get together with our dear friends for our kid's birthdays. As Teddy said, it's not a birthday without Niels :)

Just like our kids, Niels and Sander were completely impressed with Katie and not having to wait in line. We went on Nemo and a few more rides all together before visiting Tinkerbell and her friends. Nina was very overwhelmed and basically high-tailed it out of there! I'm not sure why she was overwhelmed. She has been obsessed with everything Tinkerbell lately. I guess it makes sense; when you are so in love with someone it can be daunting to actually meet them :) Sweet girl! Although Nina was overwhelmed, the boys were overjoyed, especially Niels! Yvonne and I laughed at how goofy they were. They pretended to not like the fairies but sure had a hard time not starring :)

Waiting outside of Pixie Hollow

Beautiful Silvermist and silly boys!

Nina won't stop to chat....a quick hello is all :)

Goofy boys hiding from the fairies!

Nina laughing at silly boys!

Pretty Fairies....silly boys!

We said goodbye to Katie and the boys and I went to get our fast-passes for the Indian Jones ride. We then raced back to the hotel to get dressed in our costumes. With our costumes on, we joined the rest of the gang in the hotel lobby for some popcorn and drinks. The kids loved the fancy lobby, especially the kid size leather rocking chairs in front of the gigantic flat screen tv! 

Silly Sander

Funny Nina!

Pirate wenches!

Our dinner reservation was approaching so Todd, Nina, Yvonne, Robert and Sander made their way to the restaurant while the boys and I went to ride Indian Jones. Nothing like going a jarring ride to increase the appetite :)

Dinner at Goofy's kitchen was a blast. The kids loved the buffet but most of all they loved Goofy's surprise appearance. We all got up and danced along with Goofy while he made the silliest cake ever! Nina really got a kick out of this and couldn't believe how fast Goofy was able to make his cake. I told her it was magic and she smiled that most amazing smile! After dinner, we strolled through Downtown Disney and then Teddy and I walked our friends to their car. It was so special to spend the evening with them. Last December, we had all come to Disneyland for the Christmas Fest. I am so glad that we did that! We've had the tendency of putting things off, why I don't really know, but we have nonetheless. Yvonne had insisted that we go because Christmas time at Disneyland is spectacular. She was right and now we have those most incredible memories forever!

After we had walked our friends to their car, Teddy announced that he wanted some Mama and Teddy time! Honestly, I'm not making this up. The kid just says the most incredible things. He explained that he  wasn't tired yet and wanted to get his legos and return to the lobby to have some hot chocolate and just hang out. How could I refuse? He insisted on going to the room by himself so I explained how to use the door key. I texted Todd to make sure he arrived within a reasonable time and he did. Nina was already asleep and Todd was ready to go to bed too! In a flash, Teddy was back and we hung out in the lobby until midnight. I could tell that he felt so grown up :) He built his lego set and drank his hot coco while I drank my Kahlua and cream on the rocks and worked on my email. We were just happy to be together. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous day!