parting is such sweet sorrow..

sigh.

it's over.

the most magical week of my entire life is over.

we had an AMAZING time in disneyland..and the 3 of us (although i believe even little olivia

is also suffering from withdrawl) are depressed. in the morning we're supposed to grab our

breakfast and head into the magical kingdom bright and early..and we're not!!

now, to answer the question i'm sure everyone's dying to know: how did emma react?
well much to our chagrin, she was confused by the whole ordeal
and it wasn't until we described disneyland and the hotel we stayed at
in further detail to jog her memory did she jump for joy. i think
next time we'll just tell her the night before...that seems like
it would be more fun lol!

i could probably write a whole blog on how sad i am to be back at home,

but i'll spare ya the sob story..here is a glimpse of the magical time

we spent at the happiest place on earth:

our first day at disneyland

i found the door to club 33! disneyland's most exclusive club AND the only

place you'll find alcohol within the park (tucked away beside the blue bayou restaurant)

sleeping beauty's castle..the epitome of disneyland

the soundsational parade! "m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-eeeeeeeee!"

(still have this song in my head!)

testing out my brute strength over at mickey's toontown

look at the detail..doesn't it just make you want to cry?

(i did, on the inside!)

the ride of choice! the mad hatter's tea cup ride

at the mad hatter's hat shop..who doesn't try on all the hats?!

animatronic ariel from the new little mermaid undersea adventure

at california adventure..totally awesome ride..and privileged to go on it twice!

surprise! emma was hilarious the whole trip. everytime we were in a shop

or about to leave the park..she'd say "oh, can we get my belle dress quickly?"

she's been talking about this belle dress since the last time we were at disneyland (in 2009)

so it was our second surprise to her..to get all dolled up at the bibbidi bobbidi boutique!

finally! a photo with minnie mouse..we picked a good day to line up for a photo with her!

surprise #3! a princess lunch at ariel's grotto at california adventure.

it was worth every penny..the meal was fantastic (3 course) and emma got to meet,

get autographs and photos from

ariel, aurora, belle, snow white and cinderella!

this was the dessert served at our lunch...soooo decadent..yup that's

a white chocolate conch!

king and queen for a day :)

having a princess moment!

olivia was a real trooper this whole trip. she happily let us put her up to all the hat

and sunglasses trying we were doing and slept really well too!

she especially loved meeting characters that were fuzzy..like pluto and

chip and dale.

of course, a visit to disneyland isn't a visit without a ride on "it's a small world"

featuring the fantastic art work of mary blair (disneyland is featuring

an art gallery in main street, usa with all of her dazzling art work..she is responsible

for the quirkiness in the alice in wonderland movie!)

emma was amazing this trip..on our last day she dosed off in our stroller while

waiting for the magical! fireworks display. wow the fireworks have come along way.

not only was there an actual tinkerbell flying in the sky..dumbo was there too!

magical indeed.

the loot we took home: a minnie apron, minnie toque and ball cap, towel,

pancake mold, key chain, reversible princess stuffy (belle/cinderella),

baby princess bath toys, vintage disneyland trucker hat,

vintage minnie mouse hoody and my most prized souvenir:

my alice in wonderland tea pot/cup and saucer set. the start to my vintage

collection!

thinking about our trip just gives me goosebumps and there are times

where i feel like i need to fight back tears. disneyland is a well oiled machine..that

 leaves no stone unturned as far as detail and leave

everything to one's imagination.

this walt disney quote is very well put.

time to start filling up the piggy bank for our next trip!