California: Disneyland

While we were in Los Angeles, we thought that we might could tackle Disneyland just for a day as a less chaotic introduction to the world of Disney. Really, if all we saw was Fantasyland, we could consider it a success. We hoped that would hold us over from jumping into Disneyworld in the near future, so we spent a lot of time preparing Helen Grace for seeing characters dressed up and how much fun it would be to see the *real* princesses and Aurora’s castle. Considering that HG ONLY sang “Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty the ENTIRE time we were in California, I think you could say she was pretty excited. (While John was out of town that week and we were home preparing to leave, she’d ask me, “Is Daddy waiting on me in California with the princesses?”)

Despite all my planning, it still took us what felt like hours to get to Anaheim Saturday morning. I have never seen the likes of the park’s parking garage, but once we finally landed on the tram and were on our way to brunch, I started breathing again. We ran straight to the Plaza Inn for breakfast with the characters. On our way, we saw Chip and Dale, and she was fine. Almost as soon as we walked into brunch though, we saw either Minnie or Pinocchio, and poor HG immediately plastered herself on me and started panicking. Full on meltdown. John talked the hostess into giving us a booth back in the corner of the room, and HG attached herself to the floor under the table as John and I tried to shoo away characters as they came over to see us. I thought that the Fairy Godmother might be a welcome visitor since she was a person, but even she was a no go. Finally, we threw in the towel and gobbled down our food as quickly as we could. I saw Minnie nearby and asked if I could take a picture with her, so we’d at least have something to look back at from our breakfast. For some reason, as I posed with her, HG popped her head out from under the table and decided that she wanted to sit on my hip on the opposite side of Minnie. It was a Disney miracle! She even kind of talked with her, but we hurriedly ran out of there and headed to the castle to try to calm HG down.

We toured Aurora’s castle (until the dang Hall of Ghouls spooked her) and then hit the rides- Storybook Land (loved the boats), Dumbo (LOVED to fly Dumbo but the wait was ‘boring’), It’s a Small World (it’s really a ‘little world’ that she gasped and pointed at the whole time- I think my stomach is still sore from getting punched repeatedly), Peter Pan’s Flight (it ‘scared her to death’ but she liked it), and Jungle Cruise (too loud). HG caught a quick nap in Tomorrowland, and we also played around and enjoyed some cotton candy in Mickey’s Toontown. (For the record, I think the whole park heard HG scream bloody murder in the potty in Toontown when an automatic toilet flushed too soon. DRAMA!)

We noticed the park employees setting up for something late afternoon, and we were pleased to find out that they were getting ready for a parade at 4:00. What a fun surprise! (I thought it wasn’t until 7:00, but they had one at 4:00 and again at 6:30.) One of the cast members recommended that we watch it along the path between Alice in Wonderful and the Matterhorn Bobsleds, next to the restrooms. At that point, parade watchers can only sit on the one side of the path (there’s a fence on the other side), so the characters only have to entertain one side of the parade route. We loved it because each character looked right at Helen Grace and made her feel so special. I really got caught up in the Disney magic as my little princess sat in my lap grinning from ear to ear as all her favorites smiled at her, blew her kisses, and said hello just to her. I will never forget it and the way they made her glow and giggle.

Afterward, we called it a day and headed for a quick souvenir stop on the way to the car. She picked out a Baby ‘Punzel doll and a spinning Sleeping Beauty light up toy. We practically had to drag her out of there, and we had to have a special goodbye moment with the Disneyland stroller we borrowed, thanks to such a short nap for the day. We stopped at Panera on the way back to the hotel and then collapsed.

The flight home on Sunday was pretty uneventful, and the LA TSA agents treated us like celebrities- escorting us to our own, empty line, helping me put all my stuff in bins, and being so nice to HG. HG slept most of the flight again, so I’m sure we’ve used up all good flight luck we’ll ever have. John and I both mentioned what an easy traveler Helen Grace was on this trip. Even though she wasn’t feeling 100%, she really hung in there and didn’t fuss much or require a lot of maintenance. She was honestly a piece of cake- and a LOT of FUN!! Loving this independent and interactive age. Here’s to a *mostly* fabulous Disney ‘first’ experience!

Ready to go see the princesses! (with Sallie Key, of course)  Under the table at brunch Storybook Land Dumbo:  March 1986 / March 2013 The only pic I have of the two of us on this trip, thanks to our little photographer. It’s a Small World Zzzzzzz Toontown Jungle Cruise Parade!!!  

The many faces of Helen Grace

California: Rain, PCH & Sunset

After a good night’s sleep, we were all feeling better and ready to explore on Friday morning. I guess one side of the F-L-U is that it made HG sleep to a normal waking hour, even being behind two hours behind! My only plans for the day were to take a pic of Helen Grace with the Hollywood sign and to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, so we hopped in the car and struck out to find the famous Sprinkles cupcake shop in Beverly Hills. No sooner than 20 minutes later, the s-l-o-w LA traffic and the nice warm sun made HG fall right to sleep. She slept  through my running inside for cupcakes and our spending 30 more minutes trying to find the perfect spot to take a pic with the Hollywood sign in the background. She woke up just in time, but in true Toohig {unlucky} fashion, as soon as we pulled up to the gas station that has a great spot to photograph the sign, it started HAILING. Seriously. Hailing in the middle of Hollywood. Never happens. Except when I want to take a picture. Hmph. So I took a pic of HG in the car at that spot, and that’s the best we can show for our efforts.

Thankfully, the rain clouds soon blew over, and we headed for the Pacific Coast Highway. HG fell asleep again, so we kept driving until we got to Malibu and found a cute lunch spot right on the ocean. When we walked in, we realized that it was the same chain as the Duke’s we ate at in Honolulu- very neat! We had a delicious lunch with a fussy baby who wanted to play at a beach, so we hopped back in the car to find the girl some sand. Well, when we stumbled upon Paradise Cove, we sure did find a little slice of Paradise! It’s apparently a hugely famous tv and movie filming location, and I can see why. It’s breathtaking. HG frolicked and chased more seagulls for a while, and then we headed back to the car to let her finish her nap. (For future reference, it’d be a smart idea to buy something at the cafe there to save a TON on parking, although it was so pretty, I gladly forked over the money.)

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was late afternoon, and both HG and John collapsed. He had started coming down with something too, unfortunately, and we worried it might be the F-L-U. While the two of them napped, I headed to the lobby to enjoy a glass of wine and my book and wait for the sunset. The clouds didn’t disappoint, and I took a bajillion pics of the beautiful sky. As soon as the sun disappeared over the ocean, I got a text from John that HG was up and NOT HAPPY that I was exploring without her. Back up to the room I went, collected her, and then we set off to explore some more. We also had an adventure as we took the hotel car to the nearest drugstore to pick up some Tamiflu for John. The locals were *interesting,* to say the least. Afterward, we enjoyed another room service dinner and called it a day. We had to get our beauty sleep for Disneyland on Saturday!

Sleeping Beauty Sprinkles founder, Candace Nelson, is a judge on Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. HG in the parking lot of the gas station where, I promise, the Hollywood sign is behind her This is as close as we could get to our Hollywood sign picture… Delirious at lunch at Duke’s…not as impressed as Mama of the ocean viewParadise Cove, Malibu  “Come here, birdie, birdie, birdie!” Breathtaking sunset from the front of Shutters with the Santa Monica Pier in the distance The way we roll in LA on a Friday night

California: The Pacific & The Pier

Last week, John headed out west for his annual west coast conference tour for work. I joined him in Seattle for a long weekend last year, and this year, Helen Grace and I decided to join him for the LA leg. Ever since we missed cousin Sue’s weekend last fall due to her asthma attack, HG has been dying to FLY. We thought this would be a good time to put our Delta credit to use and get out of town for a bit. John flew out Monday, and we planned on meeting him in LA on Thursday.

And then Tuesday night, she felt a bit hot. I took her temp, and it was well over 102. PANIC! We were waiting at the doctor’s office when they opened Wednesday morning. We got the dreaded news:  HG had the F-L-U. (Please note that I am spelling it out and not saying the word out loud. She does not know that she had the F-L-U. After the drama of getting the F-L-U shot, I fear she’ll never get it again if she realizes that she still got the F-L-U.) Other than high fever, a bit of congestion, and lack of appetite, she really felt fine, just a little clingy. Dr. Butler prescribed Tamiflu for all of us, and we started on it immediately. She thought that if we could keep the fever down, she’d be ok to travel. So we spent all of Wednesday doping her up on Advil and making her rest, all while packing at lightening speed.

HG felt good on Thursday morning and was so excited about going to California, so we headed to the airport. (Thank goodness for Spiffer and Granddaddy helping us get all taken care of at the curbside check in.) Other than security taking away Lovey and making it go through the scanner (crocodile tears), we had an uneventful airport experience and walked right onto the plane. She was a bit timid of the jetway at first but thought stepping on to the plane was so cool. She sat by the window and watched all of “blast off,” soaking in every detail. After take off, she colored for a minute and then laid her head in my lap and slept pretty much the rest of the four hour flight (surely due to fever). In between naps, we did make two trips to the potty. I basically had to push her into the bathroom the first time. She was NOT happy about the noise and cramped quarters, and I’m sure it was a sight to see my bottom hanging out of the accordion door while wrangling her.

Once we arrived in LA, we caught her first ever taxi to ride to the hotel, Shutters on the Beach. We borrowed a friend’s booster seat for the trip, and apparently we’ve done too good of a telling her that she can’t ride in one until she’s 4. When I tried to do a test run at home, she threw a fit and said she wasn’t 4 yet. Thankfully, she gave me no problems in the middle of the LA arrivals terminal though and smiled the whole way to the hotel.

Poor Daddy was stuck in meetings ALL DAY on Thursday (we saw him for about 5 minutes in the lobby as he flew through), so we grabbed a beachside lunch while we waited for our room to be ready, dropped our bags in the room, grabbed our flip flops and more Advil, and headed to the beach! Her first request was to build a sandcastle, and then she wanted to chase waves and seagulls. Later, we got the little patient an ice cream cone and checked out the Santa Monica Pier’s aquarium, carousel, and Ferris Wheel. After a wild and very long day, we ended back in bed with room service for dinner. By the time Daddy made it home after 10 p.m., we were both long gone!

Wednesday morning:  Her doll, Sallie Key, had to get checked out by Dr. Butler, too.Thursday morning:  Ready to go! “Is it blast off time yet?!” (she asked a million times) Finally leaving the ground

First taxi ride “Look, whiskers!” at our beachside lunch. She was such a little lady- I was very proud.YAY!!!! First time in the Pacific Ocean Chasing the poor seagulls Ferris wheel And this is how we spent our night More posts to come from the rest of the weekend!

So that I can remember some of our travel details:

I brought HG’s birth certificate, but I was never asked for it. We checked her car seat, which was free on Delta. I didn’t bring a stroller- just rented one at Disneyland. I packed us one suitcase which we checked and then carried on a bag with toys, books, etc. On the way there, I didn’t bring any snacks or drinks with me, but we bought them once we got through security. On the way home, I had unopened bottles of juice and water and opened crackers, and it wasn’t a problem at all. They had to test the liquids, but it just took a second. I had the Tamiflu with us too, and they never even looked twice at it. Children under 12 don’t have to take off their shoes at security.

Toohig Tidbits

Sometimes when we get home, Helen Grace is caught up in a movie and does not want to get out of the car. One time recently, I left her in the (closed) garage and ran inside to go to the bathroom, telling her when I got back, it’d be time to go inside. When I returned to the car, she looked at me, exasperated, and said, “What took you so short?!”

We have often overheard her lately saying to herself, “If I think I can, I will. But if I think I can’t, I won’t.” (From the Little Engine That Could) PTL that lesson is sinking in!!

She is definitely an exhibitionist. Loves to look at herself in the mirror, dance while looking at herself in the mirror (with or without clothes on), etc., and she will request we play some music when she wants more than the song that she’s making up.

She told me the other day that my hair was black, right around my forehead. Once I went to the hair salon to take care of that “black hair” and got back home, she said, “Oh, thank goodness you got rid of that black hair!”

She’s really into sounding out the initial consonant of words these days (very neat to see what she’s learning at school), but sometimes she gets stuck on the K sound—with any consonant. “Ssssnake. K-K-snake.” At dinner one day this week, John and I were struggling to hold our laughter and maintain our sanity as we tried to correct her and explain the sounds, but she was having nothing to do with our explanation!

She told me that she got something at “online.com.”

Anytime that John starts picking on me, you can count on HG to yell (usually from the backseat), “Daddy, stop picking on my mommy!!” That’s my girl! She’ll also quickly call him out on occasion if she thinks he’s lying- “Quit telling a fib.”

We recently traded in my car for the same model but just newer and a different color. She has missed my old car and often asks me (and even Grandma) when my old car is coming back. Seeing that I used to have breakdowns as a child if I didn’t get to say ‘goodbye’ to my parents’ cars when they sold them, I consider this a minor issue. Genes are no joke.

She correctly used the word “recognized” in conversation the other day. I about fell out of my seat.

Normally, during bedtime prayers, she will repeat my phrases, but last night was the first time that she actually came up with her very own prayer. I was shocked and so proud. “Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful day. Thank you for your angels and for my feet. I love you so much.” And a bunch of other gibberish, but there was really good ‘meat’ to it. Happy tears.

Helen Grace had a slumber party at Spiffer and GD’s on Friday night, and she was so chill and happy when we said goodbye. She said, “I’m gonna miss you. Have fun!,” gave me a big kiss, and turned to go play with Spiffer. When we went to their house on Saturday to pick her up, she was napping on the den floor. I laid down next to her, and she started to wake up. She reached out with her arms outstretched like she was trying to see if I was real or not, and when she realized it really was me, she burst into a smile and said sleepily, “I was missing you!”

As big as she is, she’ll still put her arms out and flap her hands when she wants us to pick her up. “Pick up me!” Takes me right back to her baby days.

Probably one of my proudest mama moments to date…there is a new little girl in HG’s class at school. She’s had a hard time when her mama leaves and often cries. Mrs. Maureen told us that Helen Grace walked over to her, sat down at the table next to her, and sang “Grownups Come Back” from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood over and over.

“Grownups come back to you. Grownups come back, they do. Even when they go away, grownups come back.”

To think that we’ve come from this child that was a total hot mess anytime I left her in the nursery to the above child that runs into preschool with not a single tear and comforts her friend, makes me want to get on my knees and yell out my thanks to the man upstairs!!

When Daddy takes you to the grocery store solo…

Giving Credit

I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due, and I have to give it to the General Manager of the Alluvian. She saw my previous blog where I mentioned we were a bit disappointed during our stay, so she reached out to me to apologize and ask how they could improve. After I shared more about our trip, she was incredibly gracious, assured me they would use this as teachable moments for their staff, and urged me to return. I appreciate her willingness to improve and hope that our next trip will be better because of it.

First Orpheum Experience: “Mary Poppins”

Ever since Helen Grace found this in her stocking on Christmas morning… …she’s been talking non-stop about going to see Mary Poppins at the big, fancy Orpheum with Mama and Spiffer!

Well, in true Toohig fashion, the stomach bug got me just in time for the show, and I was stuck in bed. Luckily, Grandma stepped in at the last minute and saved the day. While I was sick about being sick and missing it, I really think she enjoyed it more with her two grandmamas anyway. And of course, having Ann Maxwell and Mrs. Emily there too made it the “best day ever!”

According to Helen Grace, her favorite parts were the chimney sweep tapping up the wall and across the ceiling and the actors taking theirs bows at the end.

Aren’t these girls precious? And these too… ;)