Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Disneyland Hangover

This past Sunday we took a trip to Disneyland.  Another friend of ours (not Melinda this time) who works for Disney wanted to take us with the girls. (Hi Courtney!)  She and her boyfriend don't have kids, and thought it would be fun to go with ours. Ahhhh... I remember those days when hanging out with little kids was a fun novelty.   Since she works for Disney this means she got us in for free. (Thanks Courtney!)  Works for us!  So off we went for a fun filled day in the "Happiest Place on Earth".

Despite the fact that it was July and a Sunday, we had a really great time.  The lines weren't that much worse than when we go in the middle of the week.  We figured it was because they have more staff and more cars/boats/trains running.  Plus Courtney and Mark are experts at visiting Disneyland and knew where to go and the secrets to the fast pass.   It was hotter than when we go in November, which makes for a bit of a tiring day, but we kept everyone hydrated and found shade where we could.  Besides Lana breaking down in line to see Minnie Mouse, because she "neeeeddeedd da shaaaaaadeee!" we did pretty well.  We stayed all day and into the night, for Fantasmic and fireworks.  By the time we left at ten that night everyone was pretty spent.  The girls were well past their bedtime and with no nap, I was surprised Georgia even had her eyes open, as we walked to the car.

It didn't take long once we got in the van though.  I don't think we were out of the parking garage before they all went out.  This is not something we do on a regular basis, so a little sleep deprivation every now and then for the girls isn't  horrible.  Well, until the next day.

If Disneyland is the "Happiest Place on Earth", then the day after Disney at our house is the most miserable.  Inevitably, the next day everyone has what I like to refer to as, the Disneyland Hangover.  Even I woke up the next morning feeling like I had downed a fifth of vodka the night before, while dancing on table tops at an L.A. night club.  But no.  I hadn't had a drop of alcohol the day before, and hate dance clubs.  I just had a bunch of sun, lots of walking and theme park rides.  The good news was everyone slept until nine the next morning.  I don't think that has ever happened in my house.  Oh Georgia tried to get up at 6:30am, but I put her in bed with us and encouraged her to go back to sleep.  I woke up at nine to the sound of the gardeners, while laying on the edge of my bed with Georgia right next to/almost on top of me.

Getting out of bed was difficult, so I decided to lay back down for a while.  Andy had taken the day off of work, knowing he would not want to get up the next day.  Smart man.  We lied in bed for a bit until Sonya and Lana made their way into our room.  They all decided it was time for breakfast, so Andy and I sent them off to the kitchen with promises that we were right behind them.  Except that we didn't move because we were still trying to get ourselves out of bed.

The girls weren't in the kitchen two minutes when we heard,

"Sooonnyaa!  Give me my Belle thing!  It's MINE!" Lana yelled.

Sonya says something we can't hear, then we hear more screaming from Lana.  I yell down the hallway asking what the problem was.  Apparently,  Sonya had taken Lana's Disneyland toy and wouldn't give it back, according to Lana.  Lana wouldn't ask for it nicely, according to Sonya.  Andy told Sonya to give it back since she shouldn't have taken it to begin with.  We aren't sure what exactly happened at this point, but there was running and chasing into Lana and Georgia's room.  This was followed by Georgia screaming then crying, and Lana crying.

Dammit!  I guess we had to get out of bed and squelch the situation.  So we dragged ourselves from our place of comfort, tired and hungover from not drinking, to fix things.

We tried to get the story on what had happened, but all we really found out was that Sonya took the toy then Lana and Georgia said they didn't want to play with her anymore.  This sent Sonya ran crying form the room.  All this took place ten minutes after they woke up.  It was going to be a looooonngg day.

I managed to get everyone settled and speaking to each other again.  We had breakfast and went on with our day.  There were more arguments and more crankiness than usual, from the girls too.  Bedtime couldn't come soon enough.

Today is better, thank goodness.  As much as I love going to Disney, I am not fond of the aftermath.  I'm sure all you parents out there can relate.  It doesn't have to be Disneyland, but any amusement park or fun time you have with your kids for an entire day which tires them out.  I just wish there was a solution to this problem.  Like a day after Disneyland.  A place filled with pillows, blankets, coloring books, crayons and LOTS of TV shows.  Right next door is the parent room filled with pillows, blankets, earplugs and LOTS of wine, or beer. Now THAT would be the Happiest Place on Earth.  

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