[Claire]

Wednesday, December 29

We got to Disneyland at 8:30 am and stopped in the Bakery for croissants and coffees, then headed straight for Peter Pan. The sun was out and it was a bit more crowded already that morning. We rode Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Dumbo, Matterhorn, and went to Toon Town for Roger Rabbit. On PP, Mr. T and RR, my husband and I got to sit together while the girls sat together. There was some making out. We'd never been able to do that before!! Okay, well, not on a Disneyland ride anyway.

We went to Minnie's house and then to Mickey's. There was a minimal line for Minnie (maybe 6 kids in front of us) and no line for Mickey. Chloe made us all go on the Go-Go Coaster. Long line for it, too. Ick. She was upset when it was over "It's TOOO short!! We have to go again!"

We went on Small World and again, when we got out, it had rained! Again, we missed the down pour, but since it had been fairly nice when we went in, I hadn't put the poncho on the stroller, so Chloe had a wet ride over to New Orleans Square.

I tried on sapphire rings in the jewelry shop, we did some looking around, took pics, got Haunted Mansion FP's, made lunch reservations for Blue Bayou for the next day, then ate at the French Market. My husband and I got gumbo bread bowls from the place under the Disney Gallery, but got the girls their food (chowder bread bowl for Courtney and chicken nugget meals for the younger two) at French Market. My gumbo sucked. The bread was cold and there was ONE piece of meat in it. I was sad. I usually get the gumbo more than once on each trip. I looked forward to the Blue Bayou just thaaat much more.

We went on Haunted Mansion, Pooh (Splash had broken down), got Big Thunder FP's, Pirates, Haunted Mansion again (no line!), and then went to Big Thunder. When the gates were closing and the people in front of us were getting in, we heard a huge, "CHLOE!!!" It was her preschool teacher assistant! We talked to them afterward, and it turns out that they went to the preschool teacher's house for Christmas and the teacher told them that we were surprising our kids with the trip, and they decided to go, too! They went home and packed and took off 12/26....unfortunately they got caught in nasty weather and it took them a while to get through NorCal, but they made it! It was so cool for Chloe to see someone she knew.

We went to the candy store in Frontierland and the girls ate their goodies at the Hub sitting on a bench while we watched the Christmas Parade. After that, we got in line for Astro Orbiters, while my husband got FPs for Star Tours. It started sprinkling while we were in line for AO, but we were dry under the Rocket Rods track. Nice. It stopped a minute or so before we got on the ride, thankfully. I wasn't looking forward to rain in the face on that. We went on Star Tours and Cassidy bought a Darth Vader light saber.

We were sick of the Plaza Inn, so we headed over to the Grand Californian, intending to go to Whitewater Snacks.....but we got sidetracked by the gorgeousness of the lobby. We put our names down at Storytellers Cafe and relaxed for about an hour in the lobby. We had drinks, the girls had hot chocolate and we LOVED it! We sat by the fire and took some pics. It was really nice.

Storytellers. We'd never been there before and it was fantastic! We had the buffet and though there wasn't a huge dinner selection (prime rib, mashed potatoes, soups, penne pasta, caesar salad, asparagus, salmon, and then chicken nuggets for the kids), the dessert selection was welllllll worth it. My kids each had four chocolate covered strawberries, a huge cookie AND a slice of choc. cheesecake. I have to comment on the asparagus. I like asparagus. Really like it. But THIS asparagus, I loved loved loved. Even my husband had thirds of it, and he just tolerates asparagus. It was grilled and a tiny bit spicy. So good. When we left, we could barely move. I had a slice of raspberry cheesecake, and about a half dozen choc. strawberries (my favorite!).

We headed straight to DCA for the Electrical Parade and watched it (kids standing on tables) from in front of Burrrrbank Ice Cream. My husband looked longingly at the ice cream sundaes....but knew he couldn't possibly squeeze one in.

As soon as the parade was over, we headed to DL for the fireworks. We found a spot on Main Street to sit and wait and digest. The fireworks were fantastic as always, but we decided to watch closer to the hub the next night. They just look so small from down Main Street.

Went back to the hotel and crashed......Cassidy had to go potty super bad, so I had her strip off her coat in the hotel hallway while we waited for my husband who had the key. I put down her bag with the light saber in it and we went into the hotel room......