Disneyland!

We took Addis & Abi to Disneyland yesterday. Abi calls it; Mickey's House. Sarah graciously offered to stay home and watch Anna & Adah so we could play with the middle kids. We took Joe, James, John, Joel, Addis & Abi. The girls were so excited. I know they didn't have any clue as to what and where we were taking them, but they love Cinderella and the very idea that they might meet her was too much for them to even imagine. (We didn't get to meet her, but did see Belle, Arielle, & Sleeping Beauty)

We ran to Finding Nemo only to find there was a half-hour wait and the boys ditched the idea. We went on Autopia instead. I had to help Joel with his car because he couldn't reach the gas pedal. James went with Abi Mulu and Joe went with Addis.

After that ride we split up with me taking the girls and Steve taking the boys. The boys wanted to ride the Matterhorn and I knew the girls were not even ready for that kind of ride. We headed over to Fantasyland/Storybook Land and rode the teacups. They giggled with excitement as we sat in and the cup started moving. It was too funny to watch. We also hit Dumbo and the Peter Pan ride.

Addis's hair before-she styles her hair this way.
After-I took a rubberband and contained all "3" puffs. I couldnt' take the scraggly look anymore.


While we were in line at the Peter Pan ride we spotted the guys sans Joel. Where is Joel? Hmmmm......seems like he wandered off because he heard they were going to Thunder Mountain and decided to go his own route? I don't know.......Being the horrible mother that I am I stayed in line and went on the ride letting Steve handle the dilemma. He had the sidewalk sweepers and security looking for him.

After we got off the ride I approached a sweeper and filled her in on the info, she took me to someone with a radio and he already had the info. I decided to give one more piece to the puzzle, he was Caucasian. They saw me with two Ethiopian girls so I thought maybe they thought he was not Caucasian. This never occured to me that I would ever have to specify what ethnicity my children are when they're lost. Now I know I need to keep that in mind.

Turns out one of the sweepers was Ethiopian! He talked to the girls for a few minutes and we resumed our task of finding Joel. He was at Thunder Mountain and we were at the entrance to Cinderella's Castle. Quite a distance. A mom had found him and she asked him if he was lost, he was. She tried to call our cell number, but he didn't know the area code. They tried a different code, but it wasn't the right one. Then the security found him and said, "Joel." He answered and they brought him to us. Steve told security. He probably won't be crying, he won't go up to security and tell them he's lost, he'll just wait it out. He was exactly right. He does not talk to people he doesn't know, sometimes he doesn't even talk to people he does know. He hates to cry and rarely does except if he's REALLY, REALLY mad. That was information I never thought to share either.

Steve & the middles:

After that little episode Joel, Joe & John went over to California Adventure. We took the girls to Pirates of the Caribbean. They hated it. They were scared. They cried. I never even considered that Pirates would be too much for them. They're very pure in what they've been exposed to and we decided we're going to keep it that way. Skeletons, scary sounds, gunshots, too much for my girls. We'll keep their exposure to our American desensitation to a minimum.

Here we are on The Jungle Cruise. Addis thought the animals were real. Trying to keep her in her seat when there is a "real" hippo in the water is not an easy feat.

Addis loves her Cinderella!
I took the girls to the Princess Land (I don't know the right name for it) They made crowns, danced with princesses and had a great time.


After we met back up Joe took the girls so I could go on some faster rides. I love Space Mountain. I close my eyes as we're flying through and it feels wonderful. I got to go on Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones (blah), Pirates again, Matterhorn, and then Buzz Lightyear with James. Buzz Lightyear turned out to be the unexpected hit of the day. We kept going on again and again and again. They have lazer guns that you shoot at targets and collect points when you hit the mark. It was fun to try and outdo our last scores. The girls loved it!

After a long day we decided to head out and went to Coco's for dinner about twenty minutes down the freeway. The girls enjoyed it and had a great time. They want to go "play" some more. Next month!