Having gone two years ago to see their production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, I knew this would be a great thing to see. In fact, the dates have been on our calendar for months!
Because we went two years ago, I knew what to expect and knew we should go early for closer seats, not mention seats in the shade. We got there shortly after 5:00 and waited just over 3 hours for the show to start. But we got great seats!! Our friends Amy and Bethany joined us and that helped make the wait go by faster.
The Wizard of Oz is one of Rachel's favorite movies. In fact, last year for Christmas, she got a Dorothy dress and Ruby Red Slippers for when she played dress up. She wore that outfit tonight and was a huge hit!! Everyone pointed and "oohed" and "ahhhed" at the sight of her. 
Rachel was so cute, throughout the performance, she kept asking if she could get her picture with Dorothy (like we do with the characters at Disneyland). So after the performance we headed in the direction in which Dorothy exited the stage and we found her! Only she was already out of costume, I'm sure she was hot and wanted to be comfortable. She was more than happy to take a picture with our little Dorothy, which made her night! 
Both the girls talked almost the entire way home, and it was after 11:00 when we even got to our car, so it was late. But both girls had had so much fun, they just kept talking about their favorite parts from the performance.
Watching and waiting for Hannah and Daddy on Grizzly River Run. It's a ride you get wet on, and we opted to sit out, nevermind the fact Rachel isn't tall enough...yet!
We spent some time in California Adventure, and then went to Disneyland. We did some favorites over there and then ended with sitting on a curb on Main Street, enjoying ice cream sundaes on a warm Friday evening! A great way to end a week!
Thursday evening found us hanging out around the campsite, having dinner, chatting, playing games. Putting Rachel to bed was relatively easy for the first night. She was pretty tired and went to sleep fairly quickly. The next morning we were up bright and early, thanks to the coastal commuter train just across PCH that started at 5:40am. We were up in time to join the beach combing party and made our way to the beach in search of shells and other treasures that had washed up on the shore in the night. 
After breakfast and some playing around the campsite, we packed our bags and lunch and headed back to the beach for the afternoon. Rachel loved going to the beach and playing in the sand. Her and Caleb played so well together and had tons of fun just sitting in a hole the older kids had dug and then filled with water. 
Friday evening after dinner, once it got dark, Paula set up an outdoor movie theater for the kids! She put a flat screen monitor facing out of her tent trailer bed, and put on a movie, complete with microwave popcorn (ahhh, the beauty of camping with hook up and people with trailers!) Paula set up the outdoor movie theater both Friday and Saturday night and it was a great way for the kids to settle down, unwind, and fall asleep in their camp chairs. 
Saturday morning, it was pretty overcast and chilly. We actually had a campfire until mid morning and sat around the campsite chatting, playing games, and then after lunch, when the sun came out and we headed to the beach for the afternoon. Paula had found this cute sand bowling mold and all the kids (and a few adults!) cleared out a spot and made way for Seal Bowling! 
Sunday was the day that everyone had to pack up and head for home. But first we had a nice breakfast and then went to work. The kids continued to play. But did do a great job of picking up all the trash on the two campsites. 
Rachel had so much fun camping at the beach. She's been saying since we left the campground that she wants to go back! LOL. To see more of our pictures from our beach camping, visit San Elijo Camping, July 2008.
This is Ian and he's having his palate repaired tomorrow. 
This afternoon, the girls dawned their bathing suits and went for a swim. Rachel is wearing a shower cap to prevent any water from getting in her ears. She still has her tubes in from last October and it's recommended you not get excessive amounts of water in your ears with tubes in. I think my Mom has a few pictures of me as a child wearing a shower cap, running through the sprinklers for the same reason.
After the movie, we had lunch and made our way atop the hills of Hollywood. Our plan was to visit The Griffith Observatory as you no longer had to have reservations to visit, however, once atop the mountain, there was no parking in the lot, and people were parking down the hillside and walking up. Therefore, we skipped the observatory. We did however, drive through Griffith Park and found ourselves an area of the park that offered horse rides. Hannah's been wanting to ride a real horse (opposed to that of riding a carrousel horse), once in line, both the girls were excited to ride a horse, we chose the Medium horses. 
The horses had a track that they followed. Some walked very slowly, some trotted. Rachel was a crack up to watch, she had me laughing so hard that I did not get a close up of her riding the horse past me. Both times she passed by me, she was laughing so hard, with the biggest smile from ear to ear. 
When she got off the horse, she became upset because she wanted to keep on riding. Because she'd had so much fun, Gramie bought another ticket and this time Rachel chose the ponies that walked in a circle (BORING!). She still enjoyed that ride nonetheless and riding that pony round and round lasted a heck of a lot longer than the first ride. 
After the horse ride, we headed to the other end of the area where there were miniature trains to ride. But on our way there, there was a group offering free crafts, and Hannah is all about crafts so we stopped and the girls made beautiful butterflies. 
After finishing up at the craft table, we made our way to the train. Gramie and the girls rode, while Mommy and Daddy sat out and watched and waited. Rachel got off the train loving the ride and of course passing by the horses once again. 
We had a great day of adventures in Hollywood with Gramie. It didn't take long this evening for Rachel to fall fast asleep, she was tired!
We got to the parks about 3:00 and decided that Alyssa would enjoy Playhouse Disney. So we went to the show and she loved it. This is also a favorite of Rachel's as she watches all these shows on Playhouse DIsney. It was sooooo much fun to watch the little girlies filled with excitement. 
Because today was all about Alyssa and keeping to doing things we thought she would like, we headed to Disneyland where there is more for little kids to do, in addition to the fact that Disneyland is just plain more magical. :) We ventured down Main Street, stopping off at City Hall to get Alyssa her official "1st visit' button. Rachel got an "Honorary Citizen" button! However, she's looking forward to coming back next month and getting her special "birthday button". 
We ventured through Fantasyland, skipping all of the 'darker' rides. Going to the teacups and then King Arthurs Carousel. Amy took the girls and I waited out with the stroller and our backpacks. Because they were at the front of the line, they had first dibs on which horses they wanted. Rachel got to ride "Jingles" which is the 'lead' horse for the Carousel. Back in April, Julie Andrews rededicated the horse, and with it's most current makeover, the horse has silhouettes of icons famous from the movie Mary Poppins, which has "one of the most famous carousel scenes ever filmed for a motion picture". Riding the special horse meant nothing for Rachel, but I was pretty excited. LOL. 
After Fantasyland, we headed back to Toontown, where we thought Alyssa would enjoy touring Minnie's house and playing about in the cars on the street. Exploring Toontown is also a favorite thing for Rachel to do.
After that, we did the Tiki Room and then headed down Main Street in search and shared in some ice cream and then went on search for the perfect "1st visit' souvenir, a stuffed Minnie Mouse! After that, we headed for the trams and parking structure before it got too crazy following the fireworks!
Drew and his Mommy and Daddy need your prayers. Tomorrow, Thursday, Drew will have his palate repaired. This is a pretty big surgery. 
