Disneyland Post 3: Wednesday May 19

Wednesday began as any other, except Ben told me to shorten my run since he had another idea... We decided to do Huntington Beach Wednesday instead of Thursday, since that way we would have a hotel to clean up at before starting our journey home. So after I got home from another good run, (albeit it still took 45 minutes, which is WAY longer than I had planned), we loaded up and headed to the beach! M was so excited since this was her very first time at a real beach.
But not too excited to steal a nap with her mom on the drive there!
Since is was actually VERY cold to be in a swimsuit that day, Mariah was a little unsure of the water. Thank goodness Ben was there to warm her up to the idea!


She had SO much fun playing in the sand! She could have stayed all day with just a bucket and a shovel and thought she was in heaven:)

About to head out for our jog. SO FUN! It took us 15 minutes out to the end of the sandy beach where the rocks were too big to hike over. This was also the "dog" part of the beach apparently, since everyone was there with there pets. Max would have loved it! We saw a washed up seal on the sand, and on the jog back, we stood and enjoyed listening to the waves. How peaceful!

Thanks Mom for being there with us! We wouldn't have been able to do so many fun things if M wasn't in good hands!


Ben came up with such a fun game to play...He would wait for a wave to recede,run down onto the wet sand, hurry and turn a bucket filled with sand over onto the beach, and run back up in time to watch the next wave wash away his tiny sand castle. M and I got in on it too, and we all had a blast.
And this is what it is all about...
When it was just too cold to sit still any longer, Mom and I went on a walk out on the pier.
We ended up at the CUTEST diner ever. We walked inside but had unfortunately brought our own lunches, so we couldn't enjoy the restaurant food. But it smelled fabulous!

Disneyland Post 2: Tuesday

Tuesday began with rain. I just got drizzled during my run, which went MUCH better as I had figured out my map and directions. When I got back to the hotel, I stepped out of the stairwell onto the 5th floor and saw one of my good friends from high school just about to get on the elevator! Jenn (Taylor) Lofgren just happened to be staying in the SAME hotel on the SAME floor with her hubby and 2 older kids that we were staying on! How fun to run into her! They were heading to Disneyland already, so I told her I would look for her there, and we actually did run into them several hours later at Dland! So fun to see you Jenn!

So back to the rain. It turned out to be the PERFECT morning for rain since we had lunch reservations at Goofy's Kitchen at noon. So after a morning nap, we made our way to a FUN FUN buffet with Goofy, Chip and Dale, Pluto, Minnie, Baloo and Belle. M loved the Mickey-shaped waffles and pancakes, and we loved making her happy! Grandma even bought her a signature book and disney pen for the characters to sign for her:) By the way, Belle was the ONLY princess we saw the entire time at Disneyland, and that was Mariah's choice. I asked her several times, "Do you want to go on roller coasters or meet the princesses?" Everytime her answer was the same: "Roller coasters!!!!!" That's my girl!

By the time lunch was over, the weather was IDEAL. Sunny and warm but not at all hot. Perfect! So after taking a pic on this cute little porch, we headed BACK into Disneyland...
We flew in a rocket,
drove a jeep,
stood in line,
rode the famous teacups, which Mariah now says were her favorite ride, but I still don't believe her...She didn't seem to be enjoying them too much!
rode the merry-go-round,
and rode MANY other rides and lasted all the way to the parade, minus Ben, which he still regrets. M found a bossom buddy there named Sariah. They had SO much fun together waiting for the parade to reach us all the way at the end,
where the cast members pulled them out to join the parade. Mariah was dancing like a true professional! It was SO fun to watch her shakin' her booty and rockin' to the music!
and we all enjoyed the real magic of Disneyland!