Once upon a time...Maleah wasn't exactly sure what Disneyland was but she could tell that it was something exciting. The second we boarded the Disney train, custom designed with Mickey shaped windows and handles to hold on to, she knew that it was a magical place. We are firm believers that dreams really do come true, and today we stepped into a world that our little princess knew nothing about and will now dream about for a long time.
We are getting pretty used to Maleah being a celebrity. It still bothers us when people touch her face, but the random pictures and people always trying to talk to her is just an everyday thing to us. Not that I'm saying we have the most beautiful girl in the world, (which would be a valid claim) but YOU bring your blue eyed curly haired child over here and see if you like people asking to take pictures with your kid like they were one of the Disney characters. It wouldn't stop the whole day... (We did like the Disney cast member helping us with this shot though:)
We hyped up the excitement as much as we could before we got there, but we may have over done it, because the second we got off the train Maleah started running around saying, "Oh Wow! Oh Wow!" to the pathway and the park benches leading up to the park. She was so excited she had to climb on this bench. I assured her that the best was yet to come!
I remember looking at a picture of me as a child trying to pull out the sword from the stone, and that has always been one of my favorite things about Disneyland. I felt it only appropriate to pass that on to my children by having Maleah give it a tug. Her first ride was Winne the Pooh. She wasn't sure what to think at first. She wasn't crying like the other children her age, but she was very serious trying to take everything in. After her second ride she was set. Every ride after that was a blast and she loved it! The 3D movie did cause her to jump a bit but she handled everything like a champ.
Seeing so much joy on your child's face really makes being a dad the best job in the whole world. We had a great time celebrating our birthdays a week early with our beautiful little girl. We even treated ourselves to a nice restaurant in the park where they served us things we wouldn't usually get, like roast duck, chilled jellyfish, and Chinese flat mushrooms. The food was great, the atmosphere perfect with the parade going by and the company was one of a kind. We played up until the very end. Luckily for us Maleah fell asleep an hour before the fireworks which gave us the opportunity to find the perfect spot and just rest while we waited for the grand finale of our day.
...and they lived happily ever after, The End.
