...Disneyland...

In December...Derrick and I took Jude and Emme on a quick trip to Dland to see Santa. We knew it was going to be rainy...but we underestimated how gross and hectic that would be with two lil kids. Derrick ended up bringing Emme back to the hotel room after breakfast (and seeing Santa) and stayed for several hours while Jude and Mommy spent the day having fun!!!

First of all...Rain. Wow. I mean...It wasn't pouring...but raining enough that we would need umbrellas! I had even bought some rain cover thing for the stroller...which ended up being a huge pain. Ugh! We started our day out by eating breakfast at Tomorrowland Terrace. The kids and I found a soggy table and waited for daddy to order. I was busy wiping down the table...and made Jude sit in the lone chair that was dry...unfortunately for me...and Jude...he didn't listen to mom's instructions...and ended up slipping on a huge puddle...and doing the splits in said puddle. Nice. So...we've been in the park all of 10 mins and homeslice's bottom is soaked. ::sigh:: Well. I did what any good mother would do. I made him sit in soggy pants throughout breakfast...b/c motheroftheyear over here didn't pack any extra clothes! Nice.

We went on Peter Pan after breakfast...and then headed over to see Santa. Um. Jude...did...not...like...Santa. I had a feeling this would happen...as he's not too fond of any of the characters the past couple times we've gone. But...I thought since Santa is a real PERSON sitting there that he'd do alright. Nope. Haha...so basically...what was to be a picture of Santa and the kids...ended up being a picture of ALL of us! :) Derrick was kinda grumpy face at this point...and Emme was going to need to take a nap... so I suggested he take her back to the room and Jude and I would stay at the park. He was ALL for it! Whoohoo!















So. Jude and I headed down towards Main Street so that I could buy him some freakin pants. Yes...he was still soggy up until this point. I mean. We tried to find someplace to dry them (like a hand dryer in the bathrooms...) but apparently there are no hand dryers in the park. Bummer. So...after buying a $25 pair of freaking jogging pantsish things...my date and I went to California Adventure to catch The Aladdin Show. I had so much fun just being with him. No.Joke. Homeboy wanted me to hold him as we were waiting in line...and I just couldn't resist hoisting all 500 pounds of him up on my hip...and held him for about 40mins. No.Joke. By the time we got inside...my back was achy and I thought my legs would never function properly again...but all the cuddles and kisses were TOTALLY worth it!
















Jude liked the show...but he was kinda afraid of the Genie. I think he might equally have been afraid of me b/c of my throwing my head back and cackling at the Genie's jokes! But the show was excellent, as I remembered...and I even knew one of the cast members...(went to HS w/ her...knew she had worked at the parks doing shows, but didn't realize she was still apart of The Aladdin Show).

We went over to Taste Pilots for lunch...where I had such a good little date with my boy. He was so sweet and cute and such a good listener! I sat there and thought to myself how life might have looked had I not had a baby when he was only a year and a half old... very different. Hard to imagine. I really did appreciate my time together with him...and plan on doing more in the future.
(@ Taste Pilots- ketchup musta been yummy!)

We had to go potty after lunch...and planned on going to see Playhouse Disney afterwards...but a part of me was curious to see if Jude was tall enough to ride Soarin' over California. When we had come in September...he was juuuuuuust shy of being tall enough. This time... well.... he was juuuuuust taller than the bar! WootWoot! So. Needless to say- I quickly jumped in line to take my boy on his first "you must be taller than..." ride! I'm about 100% sure that Jude is THE YOUNGEST child to ever ride this ride! He was pretty good the entire wait. He was kinda nervous about what was going to happen...but as we were waiting to "board"...I explained everything that was going to happen as we watched on the little video. We got in the room and I told Jude that he could hold his Mickey (as opposed to placing him in the basket under the seat). I strapped the boy in...strapped myself in...and away we flew! Jude was so cute. I had one arm around him and he pretty much stayed in the same position the entire time! He would look at everything I pointed out to him...but his body pretty much didn't move! It was really cute! (I failed to mention that we were stopped 3 times so that the cast members could "double check" Jude's height!)


(Not sure by his face if he liked the ride or not!)

At this point, Playhouse Disney was out. We walked to Paradise Pier to ride the Toy Story Mania ride. The line was kinda long... I think the wait was like 40 mins. Thank GOODNESS for my iPhone...b/c it's loaded with movies and so Jude pretty much watched Monster's Inc the entire wait...and the people behind us marvelled at Jude's technological genius. (But really, sir...I know you were just watching MI behind his shoulder!) Derrick and a passed out Emme (she had boycotted napping the entire howevermanyhours they were back in the room!) met us as we were juuuust about to get on the ride. It was awesome and perfect timing b/c he was able to get a slip allowing him and Jude to ride again once I got off w/ Jude. Jude's a little too young to understand the game...so he just kinda moved his little wheel thing around... whatever...I still beat him!

After watching Turtle Talk with Crush...we decided our adventure was good enough for the day...and headed home. Jude, the trooper, was an angel the entire day- especially considering he didn't have a nap. But...because of this...he was pretty much zonked by the time we got to the hotel room. Precious! We almost didn't wake him to eat dinner...but he woke up enough to refuse his spaghetti, get a bath, and go to bed. I think it's the quickest that boy has entered dreamland!
































The boys shared a bed while the girls shared the other. Not that I planned on sharing a bed with Miss Emme...but she REFUSED to sleep in the packnplay. Di.va. We had talked about going to the park until lunch the next day...but when we woke, it was pouring. So...after eating what Derrick would label the BEST breakfast buffet (we at at the hotel that we stayed at- The Hilton)...we headed home.

It was such a great trip...one that I will cherish forever.