Engagements, Princesses, and Parades {Oh, my!}
Alex has been planning a surprise for Allison for quite a few weeks now. With our help, he planned a trip to Disneyland last weekend. As the date approached, we were all so excited and couldn't wait to go again. We spent Friday night in Downtown Disney at our favorite spot, the UVA bar.
Side Note: I could seriously go to Disneyland every single weekend. I think it's about time we invest in Annual Passes.
Saturday morning, we woke up and headed to California Adventure. We had big plans for breakfast at Ariel's Grotto with the princesses. Right when we entered, we saw Mickey waiting, and the girls had to go see him.
After hanging out with him and getting some coffee, we headed to Cars Land to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.
We took some pictures in front of Radiator Springs and made our way to the pier to get ready for breakfast.
As we approached the pier, Alex told us that he was going to propose to Allison right then. We were so excited and anxiously awaited her reaction. After our group shot, Alex asked Allison to take a picture with just the two of them. I filled the Disney photographer in, and she informed them that they were standing on Ariel's bridge. She then asked what the girl wanted, and Alex pulled out the ring and got down on one knee. It was so sweet to see Allison's complete shock. She had no idea and was completely surprised! Alex pulled it off, and she even said, "YES!" What a great start to an amazing day!
After all the excitement and calling the parents to tell them what had just went down, we hopped on Ariel's Undersea Adventure before breakfast.
When the ride ended, I managed to get a great shot of Allison's beautiful, new ring.
We headed to Ariel's Grotto, and the girls couldn't wait to see Ariel.
Charley was in love with her dress, and she was so sweet talking to the girls for a while, there was no one behind us yet, so we got to take our time.
After visiting with Ariel, we sat down and ordered our food. It was delicious, as usual. The princesses began coming around, and Char was so excited to see "apunzel", since we had never gotten to talk with her before.
Belle was up next, and the girls could hardly contain themselves while waiting for the next princess.
We cheers'd to Allison's big morning, and had staring contests while we waited.
(Oh, hey, Char!)
Tiana came followed by the sweetest Cinderella ever. The girls just loved her.
After a fun breakfast, we saw Tow Mater cruising by and even ran into Sulley. Charley really freaked out over seeing him walking around. She loves him and Mike "Zazowsti" almost as much as Woody and Buzz.
We hit up the Jungle Cruise, since Alex is technically still a Disney newby and had never rode it before.
We hit up Pirates of the Caribbean next, and Grace took lots of pictures while we made our way quickly through the line.
The Pirates really wore Char out, and she started falling asleep on Daddy while we went through the Haunted Mansion.
While Char napped, we headed towards Splash Mountain. That line was much longer than usual now that it was warmer outside, so we settled for Winnie the Pooh instead.
Since Gracie is finally big enough for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we wanted to go on that while Char napped. Apparently, they were going to be filming the grand prize episode of America's Funniest Home Videos that night and had a gorgeous Cinderella carriage set up just outside the castle.
We ran into Pluto and had to get his autograph. Grace thought it was so funny that he put the book on his nose.
Finally, we made it to the mini coaster. Allison and I went with Grace first and got a rider switch pass for the boys. Grace loved it so much that she went again with them.
By this time, we were all hungry. We went to our favorite pizza place, Naples Ristorante, and Gracie got a cute Olaf sipper.
A balloon artist came by and made Grace an Ariel. We decided to get Char a Buzz Lightyear for when she woke up. She woke a few minutes later and loved Buzz...until she wanted to throw him away. She had popped his arm accidentally. When the balloon artist finished at her other table, she came back and fixed it right up.
Next, it was Grace's turn for a nap. She slept in the stroller while we went to get our Fast Passes for World of Color and admire the Grizzly Peak waterfall.
Char made sure to give her sister kisses while she slept.
We made a quick pit stop for some water, and Char showed me her new Minnie Mouse. She loves this little thing and made sure to show it off to every single character during our whole trip. She is such a little sweetheart.
She was wearing her new mermaid moccasins from Sail East Couture, and they could not have looked any cuter with her matching shirt and sparkle bow headband. These are the cutest little shoes ever!
...we hung out by the giant Grizzly Bear, while we waited for Daddy to get the Fast Passes.
...once that was done, we made our way to a bug's land. Flik was getting ready to leave, but stopped to take a picture and sign Charley's autograph book. He was so cute with her.
Grace was still passed out, so Daddy took Char on Flik's Flyers and Francis' Ladybug Boogie.
Charley was loving having her Daddy all to herself, and we enjoyed some ice cream, while Sleeping Beauty remained passed out.
Grace finally woke up just in time to finish off my root beer float (they have the best ones on the pier).
We happened to find an open bench on the parade route before it started. The girls played with their balloons and danced with one another to keep themselves entertained. It was melting me into a puddle of mush to watch them together. They really are the sweetest sister best friends around (most of the time).
The parade started, and Charley could not contain her excitement! All of the characters interacted with the girls, and they had the time of their lives.
Although we've seen this parade a few times, the girls are at an age where it's the greatest thing in the world to them. We had so much fun watching them watch their favorite characters.
After all the fun, we hit up Toy Story Midway Mania and played some games on the pier.
Auntie Allison and Daddy rode the Silly Symphony Swings, and then we all hopped on the Golden Zephyr.
Before heading over to our World of Color section, we went on Goofy's Sky School. Remind me to never ride this one again. I was pretty sure we were going to die at every turn.
We got to our section for World of Color and quickly realized that we didn't want to wait a whole hour for it to start. We left and went to Cars Land instead. After walking around and doing some Disney shopping, we made our way out of the park and had a pretty great view of the Disneyland firework show.
What an amazing day we all had. From Alex and Allison's engagement, to breakfast with the princesses, to having so much fun during the parade, I really don't think this day could have been any better.
Congratulations to Alex and Allison!! We couldn't be more excited for both of you!
Stay tuned for day two at Disneyland and some fun on our favorite Newport Beach...
