Hohenstein Family: Disneyland

By now, you probably all know that I'm 30. Trust me, I can't believe it either. I don't feel 30 and probably won't until I'm 40 (yikes). I don't generally do much for my birthdays, just dinner and a dessert, but this being a *big* birthday, I figured I should think of something special to do. After figuring out that finances didn't permit for me to rent out a skating rink like I wanted to do (I will do this in my lifetime though), I decided that I wanted to go to Disneyland for my 30th birthday. It would be Addysen's first time at Disneyland. Addysen would get in free and with the current "get in free on your birthday" promotion, I would get in to Disneyland for free also; we would only have to pay for Andy's ticket. I love me a good bargain!

Of course, when I finally decide that I want to do something special for my birthday, a day when I usually don't want to be fussed over, IT RAINS! And I don't mean sprinkles, it POURED! There was just no way I would be able to go to Disneyland on my birthday. And Disneyland does not give rain-checks if it rains on your birthday.

My birthday was still a very nice day as I only worked for 2.5 hours, and had a lovely family dinner complete with salmon and a banana/strawberry pie!

And a week and a half later, I got to take my daughter to Disneyland for her first time! This time, we celebrated Debbie's (29th!) birthday. Debbie has a co-worker whose brother works at Disneyland, so Bob, Andy & I got in for free using his friends pass. Debbie got in for free because it was her birthday and Addy got in for free because she's cute......kidding, because she's under 3. Talk about your bargain--we only paid for parking and lunch.

Addysen does not like dark rides. We mistakenly took her on Pirates of the Caribbean and won't do that again! But even the kid rides that got dark freaked her out a little. I'd say her top 3 rides were the carousel ride, the Dumbo ride and the TEACUPS! She loved seeing the characters when we actually got to see them. When I was a kid, the characters would walk around. Now they are stationed around the park and you have to stand in a line to take your picture with them. Addy loved using the map to find the next place to go. At lunch, she laid the map out on the table, grabbed a straw and started to point out places. Her famous line is" down the path", so if you asked her how to get to the next ride, she would start with that phrase...."down the path, then go right."

Addysen was really good all day. She got a little impatient standing in line, and sometimes didn't know why she couldn't ride the rides again without standing in line again. The only request she had was for lollipops and I thought that was awesome considering that Disneyland is filled with overpriced loot around every corner.

All in all, Addysen had a great first time at the Happiest Place on Earth. I think she'd have fun going again, even though she told me the other day that she doesn't need to go back! HA!

Addy and Goofy, showing their bellies!