Frederick Earns His Ears

So, last Wednesday Pete and I flew to California with Mom, Henry, Clara and Frederick. Pete goes out every January for NAMM and the last couple of years I've gone out with him to hang out and also to sneak in a visit with Great Aunt Jean. It was last year, on such a trip, that Pete and I found out we were going to have a third baby. It was also when we started talking about taking the whole family this year, mostly to see Aunt Jean who will turn 90 this year. 

The flight went well, with 3 adults to handle all of the bags and the 3 kids. Henry and Clara were very excited to be staying in a hotel. Our room was on the 8th floor and looked towards Disneyland, where we knew we were headed. The kids were prepared with their ears from DisneyWorld. 

The weather was not awesome, but we knew we had to choose either Thursday or Friday to head to Disneyland. Friday was our first choice, but upon waking on Thursday morning and watching the weather on the t.v. we decided Thursday looked a little drier. We made the right choice. Mom and I took the kids while Pete went to the trade show. He came to meet us later. 

We got to Disneyland right when they opened at 10AM, which also happened to be when the rain stopped. The first thing we did was to get Frederick his ears. 

 We then hurried outside to catch Donald Duck, who signed the kids' book, posed for a picture and then tucked Frederick in and gave him kisses.

 Our first ride was Dumbo. I put Frederick in the Baby Bjorn so we could all ride.

 Henry and Grammie went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but Clara got spooked by the lightning she saw coming from within Toad Hall, so she and I had to back out of the line.
Henry was really really into wanting to go on the Matterhorn. After a ride on the carousel, and maybe the Peter Pan ride, he and I finally got in line for it. Henry sat in the very front and I sat behind him trying not to yell in his ear. The abominable snowmen were a little scary. As soon as we were off the ride Henry wanted to get back on and go around the other side. He had to wait until we met up with Pete, but he did get to go again. He still says it was his favorite part of the day.

There's a part of Disneyland that's new since I was there last (1986?) that's called ToonTown. That's where we met up with Minnie and got to visit her house. 

 Here are the kids sitting in Minnie's kitchen!

 In Mickey's car outside...

 Here's another ride that Clara wasn't sure of. It was the storybook land boat. She did NOT like the looks of that whale. I finally got her to agree to go on when we were able to walk over and see that you could see all the way through the whale to the other side. Mom suggested, and I agreed, that this may have been Eleanor's favorite if she had been with us. There were sweet little mini villages from various Disney stories.

 After taking a ride on the submarine, the train and the Jungle Cruise, my phone died after taking a picture of the kids with Jessie (from Toy Story 2).

 

 Fortunately we had already made a plan about where to meet up with Pete, and Mom's phone was still charged...what did we all do before iPhones!??! With Pete we went on the Pirates ride, had some dinner and visited the Tiki Room! The kids loved it!! And so did Pete, I think. I was surprised he'd never been in the Tiki Room before.

 Here we are lined up for the parade. Our day was perfect. The threat of rain was enough in the morning that I think it kept some people away, and it was already the least crowded time of year. But the rain stayed away and we even had some sunshine in the afternoon. I think Pete was the best dressed guy at Disneyland!

 The parade was fun with all sorts of wacky costumes. Check out the tights on these dancing butterflies. Mom and I agreed that we'd love to see the costume room at Disneyland.

 So, I think Frederick truly earned his ears on our first family trip to Disneyland. I know he won't remember a bit of it, but he'll have the pictures and he'll just have to trust us that we all had a great time! I already can't wait until we get to go again!

After the parade we did ride on the Tomorowland rockets and took a spin on the teacups. We also go ice cream on our way out of the park. We didn't leave until we were practically kicked out at 8, which was closing time that day. I could have stuck around another couple of hours. The kids were about sleeping on their feet by the time we caught the shuttle back to the hotel.

 See you next time, Minnie!!