The Merriest Weekend on Earth

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than spend it with family? As part of what may very well become an annual tradition, we played, ate, rode and shopped Disneyland to our hearts content. Not unusual for us you say? No, but this time we had the pleasure of having Granny and Grandpa along for all the fun! We spent a terrific weekend at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, had some really great meals (WHICH required utensils) enjoyed a rare, empty park and even made a new acquaintance - artist, Jim Shore.

We checked into the hotel the night before Granny and Grandpa's arrival and got settled in. We made ourselves at home, especially grateful to have a place to dump the unbelievable selection of jackets, sweaters and kid apparatus, and explored the Christmas grandeur of the hotel lobby. Santa, Christmas carolers, Santa and storytellers helped create the early holiday atmosphere in the craftsman inspired hotel. The girls especially liked rocking in the chairs placed cozily in front of the fireplace in the Great Hall while listening to the piano being played.




We wanted to take care of a few things and visit some of the girls' favorite spots (without making 'the Grands' suffer through it) since those explorations can be incredibly lengthy. It is best to allow extra time when one considers that you must walk on this little wall, touch the big Mickey hand, go look for the caterpillar, etc. With the added determination of a little pair of feet that insist on walking EVERYWHERE without assistance, and an equally determined pair of big sister feet heading in every direction, it makes for a great challenge if added adult pairs of feet are trying to navigate as well.




The next morning, with all the preliminaries out of the way, we enjoyed a room service breakfast and managed to buy the last child sized poncho from the gift shop before heading out into a RAIN-Y park. Hallie chose to spend her birthday gifts from Uncle John and Grandpa Jim on a Minnie umbrella and wallet and she even had enough for a new jacket! We dodged the drops and made it onto quite a few rides before heading back to the hotel to dry out, drink some hot chocolate and nap. Unfortunately, the picture of the 'drowned rat family on vacation', taken by a cast member, was too blurry to salvage, but let's put it this way; the rain was so heavy, that we couldn't have been seen even without the blur. Still...WAY FUN!! Once rested and dry (and of course, snacked) we awaited the arrival of Granny and Grandpa. We had actually done it right this time and had called days ahead to make our dinner reservations so they literally took up their bags and came back down to wait for our name to be called at the Storyteller's Cafe. They have a great buffet which is particularly helpful since Anna wants a little bit of everything. So, she and Mom shared while Hallie ordered her favorite - the make your own pizza. The server brings her a Mickey shaped tray with dough, sauce, cheese and pepperoni and she gets to design her own pizza and dictate the amount of toppings. Then it is whisked away to the pizza oven to bake and comes out perfect every time. We had such a nice relaxing meal which we attempted to walk off afterwards by checking out the shops of Downtown Disney. Bedtime came soon - all the more important since we had early entry into the park the next day.

Our day together began with a few rides, Grandpa's favorite theme park breakfast (churros) and a short wait to buy our sculptures and have them signed by Mr. Shore. After a brief visit and bag check, we were off to enjoy more of the park. The girls were thrilled to have somebody other than Mom and Dad join them at one of their favorite places. It was pretty hard not to think we have the most adorable kids on the planet when Hallie carefully explained the rides to Granny and Grandpa - including those that were too scary - and, to hear Anna scream out 'Mickey', 'Minnie', 'Doofy' (which, though mispronounced, is equally apropos). Yup, we've done our job greasing the corporate machine by being sure our children recognize Mickey heads somewhere just after MaMa and Dada.



Hallie directed us from attraction to attraction and decided where we would have lunch. She was particularly excited that Grandpa liked the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and wanted to revisit them several times. That combined with the umpteenth trip to see It's a Small World Holiday was about all we needed. We made a few more stops (including a visit with Santa) before taking a break. How were we ever able to go from morning to midnight? At least once each trip we lament the fact that we used to open and close the park and have energy to wonder what we were going to do afterwards. We're not sure whether it's the ever increasing crowds, our advancing age, being parents or any number of unknown factors that dictate the need for us to call it a day earlier and earlier. Or... we're almost 40. Enough said. Maybe the trade off is that we are now able to handle the expense of a hotel to allow for (the girls') naps. Again well rested, we returned to the park for dinner and more rides, opting to leave before the madness that is the fireworks show. It was a tricky departure as the annual Candlelight Processional was letting out at the same time but we survived. As you can imagine, crying baby aside, we slept pretty well that night.

Before calling it a weekend we headed into the park the next morning for a last bit of fun. Granny, Dad and Anna waited in line while Mom, Grandpa and Hallie enjoyed some Disney eggs and toast. About the time breakfast was done, our place in line had caught up with us at the restaurant so we ordered for the others and changed the guard (which we SO hate doing). Shortly, we boarded the Nautilus and experienced the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage - which was great since we hadn't been since summer. Upon surfacing, we were met with a clear, bright blue day and we enjoyed spending our last little bit of time strolling along together. It was a wonderful time. The girls loved having the opportunity to spend time with their grandparents. It is evident in the fact that Anna kept asking about 'Danny and Papa' whenever they weren't around and pointed to their seats in the car when they weren't with us. It's safe to say they made quite an impression on each other. It's likely we'll be doing this again.

So, though we hated to leave so early, it worked well for us to head out mid morning as we had time to regroup and prepare for another week of work and school. Short naps on the way home (except for poor Dad who was driving) helped us maintain our regular schedule and we lucked out with a normal bedtime that night. Oh, and Mom and Dad may have wished each other a happy 12th anniversary before falling into an exhausted sleep.