Eric's BIG surprise
Eric is really good at giving gifts and doing fun surprises. The day after I got back from Education week we loaded the girls in the car (We had packed suitcases the night before and had them in the trunk) and told them that we were going to visit some friends. The questioning quickly became intense... "Please tell us where we are going!" "Are we going to the beach to see Grace?" they wanted to know where we were going and did not want to be surprised. Eric and I stuck to our guns and just kept saying "We are going to visit some friends".
The girls wanted to go swimming right away so we did. They have the longest waterslide of the Disney resorts so that was their favorite.
Ruby went on the slide non-stop. Eric went with her willingly for the 1st 20-25 times then he told her he was tired and needed a break... she talked him into about a dozen more times.
After we had our fill of swimming we dried off and walked across the street to California Adventure. They all wanted to go on Grizzly rapids so we did.
Unfortunately Lucy was the sole beneficiary of the wave of water that came into our raft. She was smiling after, but would no go on this ride again.
My favorite new ride at California Adventure was the Toy Story ride. It a 4D game that you play as you go through. It was really fun and any age could do it.
Disneyland has a house of the future. I was so excited to see all the state of the art things, but it was really boring. Basically they had LED picture frames all over the house. The only thing that was cool was the magic mirror in the teenage girls room. You could stand in front of the mirror and with a remote control select from all different kinds of outfits. The outfits would actually move and fabric would move with the person.
We waited in line for way to long to tide on Autotopia but it was worth it to see how serious Lucy was about driving.
Talk about serious- you have not seen serious until you have seen Eric in the Buzz Lightyear ride. It's a game where you try to score the most points and he is always one of the top scorers. He has to ride alone... so he can focus.
One of the greatest accomplishments of this trip was we got Haley to go on California Screaming- the largest roller coaster at the park. I was worried that she would come off crying, but she loved it and rode it a 2nd time with Eric.
The next morning we went to the character breakfast. What a hit this was. Ruby would see a character coming and run to them (before they made it to our table) She would give them the biggest most sincere hugs like they were her best friend that she had not seen for a while. Even Haley who doesn't like her picture taken would ask for her photo with certain animals.
Eric LOVES Disneyland, so when you go with him you stay as long as possible. We literally close down the park. One time it was 12pm and the announcements were going that the park was closed, but Main street would remain open until 1pm to allow for additional shopping. We sat on main street and ate Toll house cookies until we had to leave.
After closing down the park for 2 nights and waking up early, by day three I was kind of done.
By 2pm Eric was talking about the parade at 7pm. I said to Eric "Everyone is tired, cranky, spent and ready to go home, but if you REALLY have to see the parade, we can stay" To which Eric replied "Great- lets go over by toon town".
The reality of my situation quickly started to sufficate me.
I was never, ever going to be able to leave the happiest place on earth.
I could not get away from tattoo covered half clothed people.
I knew that I had to get the girls up in the morning for school and they would have 2 days of classwork and homework to make up.
I felt like I was autistic and every sound/ sight was overwhelming for me.
I seriously contemplated going to a bathroom stall for a quiet place to cry.
Then I could not hold it together anymore. I put my sunglasses down and started crying. When Eric realized I was crying he said "are you DONE?"
"Totally" I answered.
He calmly told the girls we were leaving and told them that he was tired and needed to go home. I thought he would be mad or bugged at me wanting to leave before the park closed. He was not mad at all.
When we were in the car and the girls were watching a movie with headphones he said. "I am so confused, why didn't you tell me you wanted to leave?"
I said "I told you that everyone was spent and wanted to go home but we could stay if you REALLY wanted to"
To which Eric replied "Please do me a favor, in the future when you want to leave- just say that you want to leave. I wont be mad if you want to leave... but if you give me the option of staying I will always take it. "
45 minutes later and only 4 blocks from our destination Haley shouted out "Are we going to Disneyland?" Eric said yes and all the girls screamed. But instead of pulling into the Disney parking lot he kept driving. "You missed it!"..."Where are you going?" the questions continued until he pulled under the big entrance for the Paradise Pier hotel. "What, we are staying at a HOTEL?" Haley said in total unbelief. I said yes Daddy dosen't have to work on Monday so we are staying for 2 nights. "You mean we are missing school?" Haley asked
"Only if you want to. We can drive you to school in the morning if you want" The girls were all SCREAMING as Eric got out of the car to check up into the hotel.
Guess who's the best Dad in the whole world?
The girls wanted to go swimming right away so we did. They have the longest waterslide of the Disney resorts so that was their favorite.
Ruby went on the slide non-stop. Eric went with her willingly for the 1st 20-25 times then he told her he was tired and needed a break... she talked him into about a dozen more times.
After we had our fill of swimming we dried off and walked across the street to California Adventure. They all wanted to go on Grizzly rapids so we did.
Unfortunately Lucy was the sole beneficiary of the wave of water that came into our raft. She was smiling after, but would no go on this ride again.
My favorite new ride at California Adventure was the Toy Story ride. It a 4D game that you play as you go through. It was really fun and any age could do it.
Disneyland has a house of the future. I was so excited to see all the state of the art things, but it was really boring. Basically they had LED picture frames all over the house. The only thing that was cool was the magic mirror in the teenage girls room. You could stand in front of the mirror and with a remote control select from all different kinds of outfits. The outfits would actually move and fabric would move with the person. 
We waited in line for way to long to tide on Autotopia but it was worth it to see how serious Lucy was about driving.
Talk about serious- you have not seen serious until you have seen Eric in the Buzz Lightyear ride. It's a game where you try to score the most points and he is always one of the top scorers. He has to ride alone... so he can focus. 
One of the greatest accomplishments of this trip was we got Haley to go on California Screaming- the largest roller coaster at the park. I was worried that she would come off crying, but she loved it and rode it a 2nd time with Eric.
The next morning we went to the character breakfast. What a hit this was. Ruby would see a character coming and run to them (before they made it to our table) She would give them the biggest most sincere hugs like they were her best friend that she had not seen for a while. Even Haley who doesn't like her picture taken would ask for her photo with certain animals.
Eric LOVES Disneyland, so when you go with him you stay as long as possible. We literally close down the park. One time it was 12pm and the announcements were going that the park was closed, but Main street would remain open until 1pm to allow for additional shopping. We sat on main street and ate Toll house cookies until we had to leave.
After closing down the park for 2 nights and waking up early, by day three I was kind of done.By 2pm Eric was talking about the parade at 7pm. I said to Eric "Everyone is tired, cranky, spent and ready to go home, but if you REALLY have to see the parade, we can stay" To which Eric replied "Great- lets go over by toon town".
The reality of my situation quickly started to sufficate me.
I was never, ever going to be able to leave the happiest place on earth.
I could not get away from tattoo covered half clothed people.
I knew that I had to get the girls up in the morning for school and they would have 2 days of classwork and homework to make up.
I felt like I was autistic and every sound/ sight was overwhelming for me.
I seriously contemplated going to a bathroom stall for a quiet place to cry.
Then I could not hold it together anymore. I put my sunglasses down and started crying. When Eric realized I was crying he said "are you DONE?"
"Totally" I answered.
He calmly told the girls we were leaving and told them that he was tired and needed to go home. I thought he would be mad or bugged at me wanting to leave before the park closed. He was not mad at all.
When we were in the car and the girls were watching a movie with headphones he said. "I am so confused, why didn't you tell me you wanted to leave?"
I said "I told you that everyone was spent and wanted to go home but we could stay if you REALLY wanted to"
To which Eric replied "Please do me a favor, in the future when you want to leave- just say that you want to leave. I wont be mad if you want to leave... but if you give me the option of staying I will always take it. "
I assured him that I am not a communist and I do like Disneyland for the 1st 650 hours, but once we hit the 900th hour I cannot take one more second!
Overall we had a great trip and one that I know the girls will never forget.
Overall we had a great trip and one that I know the girls will never forget.
Am I the only one that feels like this about Disneyland?
3 comments:
What a fun surprise! Great job!
I would feel that way too if I had to get kids up for school the next day and go back to real life. Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming.
You guys are so fun! I'm sorry you cried at Disneyland. :( That's sad.
After a week at Disneyworld with Bill, I found my perception rather distorted and I began to believe that it was normal for everything to be shaped like Mickey. I probably would have had a similar reaction. Maybe you and Eric can develop a code word or expression to express your satiation for the future visits?
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