Disneyland: Day 3

On our third day we (I) had two goals for the chiquita:

1. For her to meet Anna & Elsa from Frozen.

2. For her to meet Tinkerbell in Pixie Hollow.

We put breakfast on hold and went directly to the line for Magic Hour. We were there so early that we got to see the rope drop on Main Street. Our mission was for D to hop in line to meet Anna & Elsa and I would take the kids on a few rides. About half way into the Peter Pan line D wandered up and informed us that the Frozen line was already 2 and 1/2 hours long! Crazy talk. This is still officially about 50 minutes before Disney actually opened their gates. The little girl loves Frozen, but not enough to warrant that much time lost in a line. We rode Peter Pan, which is fun and magical and a good way to start off the morning, then we headed to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell.

The chiquita was proudly dressed as her favorite fairy that day, so she was very excited. At the entrance we realized we had the second strike of the day. No Tinkerbell, only Silver Mist. The line was only 15 minutes though so we jumped on in. About 40 minutes later, we finally made our way into the tall blades of grass. The wait was long, but for a good reason. Once in the Hollow we were the only ones there. Silver Mist was very inviting and called the little one her "good friend Tinkerbell" the whole time (major points won in my book). She even pointed to the Tinker house and said: "Thanks for inviting me over to play!". After a semi-disspointing morning it was a nice pick-me-up.

Technology for long lines.

Getting her autograph book in order.

It's a fairy!

Her brothers were so patient.

Tinker house.

As soon as we said goodbye to our pixie friend, food was the only thing on our minds. We headed back down main street and into the Carnation Cafe. As a person with many food allergies I have to admit that I was mainly living off of salads the whole vacation. So that morning I went full fledged steak and eggs. Disney has lots of things that people crave, but most of it is on par with fair food, or sweet. My food allergies prevent anything deep fried, or bread based, so Disney food is not my friend. I was very hungry this trip.

The breakfast was great - and it was nice to actually sit down for a bit and relax (knowing that we were already in the park and had no real agenda). I did have a few regrets after we decided to go on the Mark Twain boat directly after. Nothing like too much food into an empty stomach on a boat without bathrooms. I was planning escape routes for most of the jaunt. Luckily I only turned green and didn't actually have to jump ship.

Just before the nausea.

Everyone was kinda dragging at that point. Third day fatigue. The boys wanted to go back to Cali Adventure to ride the roller coaster again. The chiquita had saturated her Tinkerbell dress in chocolate ice cream, and I was just reverting back to a normal skin tone. It was time for a break.

D needed a nap too.

There's nothing like nap time to make you feel better. I think americans should take a cue from Mexico on this one, siesta is good.

Our third day afternoon goals were much more achievable. I wanted to see a parade, and D wanted to try a corn dog. We managed to to do both at once. No frustration at all.

Corn dogs and chips (again, nothing for ma)

She loved that parade!

So much excitement!

After the parade we wandered to all the parts of Cali Adventure that we hadn't seen. Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, really scary Mad Hatter Party. It was a good second half of the day. After that we had to return to Disney for the 7th, 8th, & 9th rides of Pirates, which ended just in time to catch our last set of fireworks.

It was so great to be able to walk back to our hotel after. It was wonderful to go eat breakfast the next day before we had to check out. 

The chiquita had a full melt down when the valet brought our car around. I actually had to take her aside and talk her down. I think she thought Disney was our new forever home. What 2 year old wouldn't want that?

Reflection

We didn't venture out at all yesterday. It was a quiet lazy day at home (well as quiet and lazy as they come with three kiddos). The day marked a year since my dad died. A whole year. A year and a half since I'd actually seen him. Leeloo was only three months old then. So very little and different from who she is now. I see a lot of him in her, she's smiley and clumsy, social and stubborn. I think he would have totally gotten a kick out of her little personality.

The memory of Mia has been wafting about as well. I think about her everyday, but people don't usually talk about her that much. Kinda a taboo I suppose, to acknowledge the dead child. The boys don't know that norm so they mention her often. It's sweet - they accept that she was a full part of the family and know that we are missing her.

It didn't occur to me that adding a large mirror to the chiquita's room would make me ache. Like most kids she's loves to flirt with herself. She talks to her reflection and kisses it and dances, it's all very fun. Except that I can see both of them there. My girls. Playing together.

I suppose the longing for what was will always be there. I choose to live in the what is instead.

Walks

Daddy's Day

The majority of my gifts are photo related. It's what I love to do and those who I love have to suffer through it (haha).  So naturally my first thought for Father's Day was a picture of the kids for D's office. After two shoots, many outtakes, and some photoshop, I finally got a shot that was framable. Happy Daddy's Day D! We <3 U!

San Elijo Country Fair

When I was a wee one, my weekend dad would find lots of things for us to do on Saturdays and Sundays. Hiking, museums, family or fairs - most likely it was free, but also lots of fun. The nostalgia in me loves to find local things to do, and now that I have the chiquita I am finding more and more. It's so wonderful to tromp around with her. I think this has got to be one of the best ages - everything is new and there is so much joy and excitement!

This weekend was our neighborhood school's Country Fair. Even though it was kinda a gloomy day we wandered over and had a fantastic time of it. We started off on the playground, which is an instant draw wherever we are. We saw all sorts of park kids, sans nannies, and got funny looks from their parents when we said hi. Even though the little girl recognizes other kids she's still very much a loner and wizzed by them on her own mission. She passed yet another milestone when she realized she could climb up to the tallest slide and slide down on her own!

After many many MANY times down the slide, the chiquita took her first train ride. It was a little three car thing that went along the basketball courts, but that didn't stop Leeloo from throwing her hands up and yelling Yayyyy! She also waved at the onlookers and insisted on a second ride. After the train she briefly ended up in jail (let's hope for the only time in her life!).

Leeloo broke out and rode to freedom on her very first pony! Seriously, it was so very cute. I didn't know if she'd like the pony at all, but she smiled and giggled. Even the handler (who had been walking around the same circle with kids for hours) was laughing at the chiquita's exuberance.

The little one liked it so much that when it was time to dismount she started to cry. It usually takes a pretty hard fall to get that kinda wail so I knew she was really upset. Fortunately, there was a petting zoo right next door and as soon as she saw the baby goats her whimpers subsided and she was pure joy again.

There were also chickens and bunnies there,  but the goats and the hay were better than everything.

The animals were such a hit - I think we're gonna have to find a farm in the future! Either that or kickstart our commune - someone's bound to fund that right?

Hippity Hoppity

I never realized that I was a holiday sort of gal. Turns out I am. I love celebrating special days with the chiquita. It's so much fun to see her experience all of these things for the first time. Everything is so brand new for her and her excitement seeps into me.

Easter was so much fun this year. Last year Leeloo was too little to do anything more than bunny ears. This year she was the perfect age to enjoy all the festivities.

She's only 15 months, but she loves to be around older kids. Just before Easter we got invited to a craft play date. All the other girls were around two years old, but Leeloo did a great job of keeping up with them. She painted for the first time, she built a little foam Easter bunny and she ate lunch at the big kids table with all of them!

We used marshmallows instead of paintbrushes perfect for little fingers!

Reading with Miss Ella - the hostess of the day.

Eating with the big girls - she used her fork and everything!

On Saturday we headed to Poinsettia Park for the Carlsbad Easter Eggstravaganza. Although most of the activities were geared towards older kids, the chiquita loved watching all the people and running around in the grass. Now that she's mobile we can't hold her still!

Excited to have a pinwheel and already one bow short (we always lose at least one ribbon!)

She liked the eggs at first, but she loved them when she realized there were prizes inside!

Luckily for us she didn't notice that we traded out the candy for cheddar bunnies and graham crackers. 

She loved running through the drying paintings (until mami realized they were still wet)

This is as close as she got to the Easter bunny. She was all smiles, but very cautious.

We bought her first Easter basket this year. We filled it with hand puppets, a stuffed bunny, a new big girl cup, a pinwheel, a book and a rubber ducky. I didn't know if she'd even notice it, but she woke up and right away pointed to it from across the room. So far the pinwheel and the book are the biggest hits.

Books with moving parts are big right now. 

After breakfast we headed to our neighborhood park to meet Leeloo's little friends for an egg hunt. We have been lucky to find a group of kids her age that live nearby. Everyday we try to head down to the park so she can tromp around with them.
I filled eggs with bunny crackers, grahams, animal cookies and rubber duckies for the kiddos to find. The chickadee was more interested in pine cones and snacks than Easter egg hunting, but the other kids scooped them up. Leeloo ran in the grass and played under the parachute and was ready for a super nap by the time we were finished.

Covered in strawberries!

After an extra long nap we headed to the chica's godparent's house where she discovered their bookshelf and the piano. We finished the night by singing and dancing together .

Helping her Nina Lorena with the higher notes.

Looking at a Hawaii coffee table book with her Nino David.

So excited that she can climb onto the patio furniture.

I missed the kiss, but she was being especially sweet to baby Daniel.

All in all it was an excellent holiday. I'm already excited about the next one, what is it? Memorial Day?

Day of the Dead

This was a big in the death year for our family. Mia, Pops, Papi. It seemed just as some healing began we were scraped raw again. I wish there was a pause button, some kind of universal time out that we could have taken for ourselves, but life didn't work that way. The dishes needed to be done, homework, dinners, family, friends - nothing stopped. Our pain was acknowledged, and sympathized with, but nothing was put on hold. It turns out there is no room for death in life. Death happens everyday, but life never skips a beat.

When Mia died I was in shock, by the time Ripley was born I was exhausted. I got home and had a non-sleeping newborn, and when she did sleep I stayed awake longer just to make sure she was actually breathing. We also had the boys at home, they were expecting two girls and we only came home with one, there were so many questions. On top of that family and friends all wanted to come by, which was lovely, but it meant the chaos had to be mostly controlled. It was, and is, busy. A lot of my grieving and healing happened in between the lines. There were many middle of the night crying sessions and tears alongside the incredible happiness of having a growing baby. Life moves on and we try to keep up.

I made a conscience effort this year to make more time for death. Scheduled time when our only purpose was to feel and share those feelings. One of those occasions for me was Day of the Dead. In Tucson there is the All Souls Procession that culminates around the traditional holiday. It has grown by tens of thousands and it's something I look forward to every year. This year D agreed to bring the boys so we could process together. There is something to be said about being completely surrounded by people who are paying homage to the deceased. It's powerful and amazing. It was a great reminder that we are not alone in grief - everyone has their experience. I am so happy that the boys had this chance to stand for our family - I'm so glad we could do it together.

Our masks.

Not scared of skull mommy.