But, I am going to skip all of that and jump ahead to this past weekend because we just returned from an impromptu trip to Disneyland! Upon realizing we had no plans for Mother's Day, and knowing that his daughter is obsessed with Minnie Mouse, Sameer motivated and organized a last minute weekend for us to visit Disneyland. We flew down Friday night, got up early to be at the park for "Magic Hour" starting at 7am on Saturday, criss-crossed between Disneyland and California Adventure all day Saturday (with Sonia and Sameer taking a nap break while I kept going), and then even motivated to get a babysitter to go out late that night. On Sunday, we again got to the park early (7:30am this time), met up with the Desai family later in the morning for some more fun, sat in the hotel lobby while Sonia took a restless nap, caught an evening flight home, and finally walked in the door of our house at 10:30pm. In a word, it was exhausting...er...I mean magical.
Actually, it was pretty great (and tiring too). Sonia was probably too young to go and won't remember it when she's older, but there are lots of things Sameer and I will remember:
- Sonia's expression on her first ride ever (Dumbo, the Flying Elephant) - excited, but definitely a bit scared (note: she got over that and we did it 2 more times and it was her "favorite" by the end of the trip)
- Sonia getting to hug Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse (3 times!), Pluto, and Winnie the Pooh among others...and knowing that she really believed she was meeting them
- Sameer and I exchanging the "we're idiots" look on Pirates of the Caribbean when we realized that while the ride itself is toddler-friendly (slow moving boat) the imagery is a bit gruesome (for the record, Sonia seemed to enjoy it -- you can take your child on pretty much anything as long as she is not afraid of the dark)
- Seeing Sonia completely freak out in terror when a real live duck walked up to her (randomly hanging out near Tom Sawyer's island) and realizing that she found that scarier than every ride she went on in Disneyland (in her defense, it was a pretty aggressive duck)
- Sonia's complete look of wonder at all of the live shows, especially the parade at Disneyland and the Disney Playhouse Live show at California Adventure (this last memory is a bit marred by the tears and "no...I don't want to go" moment after the show ended)
- Taking Sonia to the bathroom more times than I could count, fueled by a near endless supply of juice boxes. At the time I was pretty bummed when we had to bail from the Autopia line after waiting in it for 30+ minutes and then hearing "I have to pee pee" when we were within 5 minutes of actually getting on, but the bitterness of this memory has already started to fade.
- Hanging out with the Desais on Sunday, especially getting to jump in line with them for the super cool Toy Story shoot-em-up ride after they had already been in the line for 40 minutes (yes, they are saints)
- Sonia's refusal to go to sleep on Sunday because she was too excited and sensed things were ending (she finally crashed in the Enchanted Tiki Room because it was dark and apparently singing birds aren't worth staying up for)
- And my favorite -- Sonia's expression when we returned to Disneyland on day 2, and she saw Main Street and realized that she was going to see everything again, and she literally started to laugh out loud, danced a bit, and then grabbed my hand and said, "Let's run!"
I'll post more pictures later when I clear through about 3 months of backlog, but here are a few favorites:
Sonia on her first ride ever (note the apprehension)
The family with Minnie Mouse (the first time we saw her, to be followed by two more encounters)
Never let it be said that I am not a good sport
All smiles on the teacups
Finally crashing and taking a nap in the hotel lobby (and a chance for Sameer to catch up on email)
