Chapter 5, Part 1: Princess, Princess, Princess, Princess, Princess, Baymax.
I woke up this morning with a mix of bittersweet sentimentality that my girls were turning 3 and 6 that day, and the relief that unlike 3 and 6 years before then, I was not in labor or just recovering from giving birth at that moment
After our late night out it was nice to not have anything planned super early in the morning though we didn't get to do much sleeping in. After getting the girls up, we had YDD find the Baymax balloon we had waiting for her in my parent's room. Her reaction was hilarious, I'm still so glad we were able to get one for her! When I get a chance to trim it down a bit, I'll post the video here!
Next up was a breakfast with princesses at Ariel's Grotto! We had a bit of a wait until our table was ready, and then another wait on the stairs down to the restaurant area since they have each party stop for a few minutes to meet Ariel and take pics and get autographs. Once we had our turn to meet Ariel and get a few pics, they sat us at a table outside. Each of the girls had an activity book (or it may have been a double-sided sheet) with crayons and a paper crown with stickers to decorate which kept them occupied quite nicely between each princess visit! Chocolate milk and a week's worth of sugar in a waffle boat on a blue frosting sea with a cup of syrup to drench it in also helped
Pictures with the princesses! Ariel, of course and then we met Snow White, Tiana, Jasmine, and Cinderella while we ate!
Out of all of the princesses, Cinderella was the highlight. She is YDD's favorite princess so when Cinderella got to our table she went right up to YDD and goes "a little birdie told me I was your favorite!" I don't remember them asking, so someone must have overheard our excitement when we found out Cinderella was one of the princesses we'd meet and let her know! It was such a sweet moment, my youngest was absolutely in awe and jumped right up with a big smile (that I wish I had on camera to share but she turned her head right before this) I'm quite surprised she also didn't try and jump into Cinderella's arms
We headed over to DL after breakfast because the older girls had BBB appointments that afternoon, and as we went through the gates we saw Sleeping Beauty doing a meet & greet right out front! Out of my three girls, MDD is by far the biggest fan of the princesses but Princess Aurora is her absolute favorite. Earlier in the trip she had been waiting to meet her on two different occasions, and both times Aurora had gone "on break" when they were almost to the front of the line. She was also bummed that Aurora wasn't in the Paint the Night parade or at breakfast that morning so we were were pretty motivated to find her before our trip was over. While the rest of the group waited in line to (hopefully!) meet Sleeping Beauty, I went to double check our BBB time, since I may have not written it down and not remembered the exact details. Calling would've been the faster and easier choice, but I couldn't get through during any of my attempts that morning.
On the way I passed by this merry group of characters out on a little ride through Main Street! Both the Mad Hatter and Donald totally hammed it up for the camera when they saw me
Confession time: while I was bummed for MDD when the previous two times she had wanted to meet Sleeping Beauty didn't work out, I was also somewhat slightly relieved because I wasn't there for them. It was one of those moments I really wanted to see! They had just walked up to her as I got back from my little side trip, the timing was perfect. She spent a few moments talking with them and signing their autograph books. Before we went on our way, MDD gave Sleeping Beauty the biggest hug. While there were many moments before (and after!) this that made our trip worth every penny, this one probably tops the list for me:
I'm planning to have it printed on a canvas for her room, since she still asks to look at it multiple times a day
We did some shopping on Main Street and took the girls to pick out a pair of Minnie ears before it was time to go to the BBB! DH and I took the older two to their appointment, while my parents kept YDD with plans to go on a few Fantasyland rides!
At the salon I surprised the girls with brand new dresses inspired by their favorite princesses from Etsy (I'll share more about them later!) Then it was a whirl of hair gel, hair spray, nail polish, makeup, and glitter galore. The fairy godmothers were SO good with the girls! MDD absolutely hates having her hair brushed. When I do it you would think I was submitting her to some medieval form of torture, so I was slightly worried about how she would react to having her hair done. I had gotten all the tangles out that morning, but her hair seems to tangle if you look at it funny, so it could've gone either way
. Thankfully all went well (a few concerned looks, but no tears or whining!) and the end result were two very happy, glittery, princesses!
They gave me an extra birthday sash for YDD and told me to bring her over and they would give her pixie dust too
I highly recommend the experience if you have little girls, it was so much fun!
My parents and YDD had been at the teacups the entire time and YDD and my mom were on their third time in a row. YDD had picked the pink teacup to ride in the first time, right after they stopped she suddenly HAD to ride in the yellow teacup. Back through the line they went, and as they got on the ride for round two someone got the yellow teacup before them. YDD had to "settle" for pink again. Life is so unfair when you are spending your birthday at Disneyland and someone gets your second favorite color teacup before you so you have to make due with your favorite color instead
. My mom took her once more, and (jokingly) told my Dad that anyone who got between her and that yellow tea cup was going down
The third time was the charm and YDD was happily spinning in her "other favorite color" teacup when I got there.
When they were off the ride, I put YDD in her dress and sash before the three girls rode the teacups with their Daddy (much to my mom's relief that they didn't request that she ride too, three times in a row was her limit! Haha!)
I'm going to break this day up into two parts since there is so much to write about and share
Chapter 5, Part 2: It's My Birthday and I Can Pitch a Fit in Front of the Castle if I Want To!