Day Six and Seven: Back to San Diego!

After we were done with Disney, we headed south back to San Diego where Garry had some meetings for work. If you thought that as we went south we would warm up . . . you thought wrong. San Diego was still freezing! Luckily, we were staying at the most beautiful hotel -- the San Diego Hilton Resort & Spa. It was right on the beach which would have been wonderful if it had not been, have I mentioned?, FREEZING? I would take the girls to the beach in the morning and we'd be in swimsuits, toughing it out, and people would be walking the boardwalk behind us in sweats and jackets. Hmmmm....one of these things is not like the other. We were on the first floor and had our own private wet bar and veranda. It was great!

We also had our own firepit. On Wednesday night we went back to Sea World but on Thursday night we built a fire and made S'mores.

On Thursday night we also went to take the girls to the San Diego temple. It is very beautiful! Garry and I were last there six years ago when we flew out to watch a Lakers game. Who knew that the next time we returned we'd come back married and with three girls!

Day Five: Say Goodbye To Disney!

We had a great time at Disney but knew that our time was running out. But before we left, we had to say hello to Mickey! We had to visit Minnie at her house and say hello!

We had to go to the parade and dance in the streets. Go, Emma, go!

We had to check out the Sword in the Stone. . .just in case.

And we had to ride It's a Small World, one last time.

Thank you, Disney! We had a great time!

Day Five: California Adventures!

After seeing the Princesses and spending some time in Toon Town, we were off to California Adventures -- the park across the parking lot. Here we are at the entrance. Macey is looking at the map. Very closely.

Emma is in there somewhere.

Sing with me now! Handy Manny. . . do do do do do Handy Manny. . . .do do do do do Handy Manny.

California Adventures has all of the Pixar characters. They also have a great Pixar parade -- everything from Nemo & Cars to Ratatouille.

Day Five: Meet the Princesses

The biggest disappointment with Monday was that the girls only met one Princess: Jasmine. She has her own house in Frontierland. Oddest placement in the world, but. . .bygones. We thought that we'd see more Princesses in the night parade, but there was not a night parade, just fireworks. I broke the bad news to Macey and said, "We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the Princesses, is that alright?" Her little eyes filled with tears and she nodded her head an emphatic no. Is there anything worse than seeing your baby cry at Disneyland? So I called Garry, who was waiting in a line to ride a rollercoaster, on his cell phone and told him that tomorrow there would be Princesses. Lots and lots of princesses. And there were! We waited FOREVER in line to meet three princesses. They rotate and so we were not sure who we would get to meet. Mulan was a fabulous surprise because the girls are on a Mulan kick right now. Macey asked her a couple of times to sing her favorite song: Reflection.

Sleeping Beauty is Emma's favorite and so thank goodness she was there! Look at the joy on Emma's little face!

Snow White. She was very nice.

In Jasmine's Meet & Greet in Frontierland.

So, one obvious Princess is missing: Cinderella. The girls did not make it to her line fast enough and she said she could not take a picture because she was late and Prince Charming got upset when she was late. My sister thought that I should have called her out -- that I should have said, "I don't think so. In fact, I do not think Prince Charming even exists. So say cheese, lady." That would have been interesting.

We would have understood 'line restrictions' and the need to stay on schedule but another employee saw Macey biff it on the sidewalk (the Grace curse, again) and cry and had asked Cinderella (Brenda) to make sure to talk to her and take a picture. I would not have thought much about it, but my girls still talk about it. Emma has such a big heart -- she told me the other day that she hoped Cinderella made it on time. Grrr to Brenda!

Day Four: Disney -- the tour guides!

After we rode one of Macey's favorite rides, the ride to Storybookland, we met up with Garry's brother and his family. Aren't they a beautiful family? Amber is from California, and I believe that she is an expert at all things Disney. After we met up with them, we could put the map down and really hit the rides we wanted . It was great!

Here's all four cousins together.

One of the last rides: Winnie the Pooh! Macey went through the whole ride waving at the characters and saying, "I like your show!"

Day Four: Disney -- My Favorite Part of the Day

We always ask the girls what their favorite part of the day is. Usually we are surprised that it's the little things they really enjoy. My favorite part of Disney was Emma training to be a Jedi.

We had lunch right next to Tomorrowland and there was a Jedi training show that was going to start in an hour right where we were eating. We talked to Emma about how to wave her hands and shout "Me! Me!" because we knew about 30 kids would be picked from the audience. Though there were over 100 kids begging to be picked, Emma got selected to Come On Down! Evidentally, the force was very strong with her, and she was a natural pick. (It didn't hurt that there were only three girls in the audience.)

Emma learned to activate her light saber, hit left, hit right, strike down, duck and deactivate. The training was intense.

After the training, Emma had an opportunity to prove her skill against Darth Vader or Darth Mal, but she sat the actual fight out. She's a lover, not a fighter. And hey, Luke didn't want to fight him, either.

Day Four: DISNEY!

On Monday morning we headed out EARLY to Disneyland. When I was last there, over 20 years ago, I remember eating at IHOP and getting Chocolate Chip pancakes. Who'da thunk -- chocolate chips in pancakes! I was amazed. So, I made Garry stop and have breakfast there again. And I had chocolate chip pancakes. The girls in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle! We got there right when it opened and headed off to the Nemo submarine ride. Then Garry took the girls on the cars and we went to go meet Tinkerbell. Finally, off to the castle!

While Garry took Emma on Dumbo, I got Macey a sucker. Shaped like Mickey. Is there anything better?

The circus train! Emma insisted that we ride in the monkey cage.

My beautiful Molly. Check out her Minnie shirt.

My Dad's favorite ride is the tea cups. He asked that we take a spin for him. So we spun and spun and thought about Grandpa!

One of Macey's favorite: the boat ride to Storybook Village. You enter through the mouth of a whale. Where did my Macey who was scared of everything go?

A little overwhelmed by It's A Small World.

More pictures to come. The girls collapsed after the fireworks. What a day!