Disneyland Day Three

Our final day at Disneyland was about tying up any loose ends in meeting characters we hadn't met and riding rides we hadn't done yet. No one was ready for the adventure to end. The weather was kind to us, the wait-times were not bad if you utilized the early times and FastPasses, and the whole ambiance of the park was contagious. We had an absolute blast!

One character that really tickled Ava was meeting Peter Pan. He was in character and being flighty and silly, while roaming around the area. Lines didn't mean much to him, he would just ho-hum along and you had to catch him. Ava found him sleeping and awoke him to ask for an autograph. She thought that was so funny. He kept asking "Whyyyyy?, Whyyyyy?".

At the wishing well, when we stepped away, I overheard Ava making her own wish. Down on bended knee, hands clasped in prayer position....."I wish I can live at Disneyland and live with the princesses in the castle." Sigh. Isn't that what this trip was all about? It was truly magical for her. I love it.











The only thing that HAD to be done on our final day was a visit to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique for Ava to get the royal treatment of looking like a princess. Gigi bought her the entire Sleeping Beauty costume to go along with her new princess hairdo. I was kind of creeped out at how tight the "Fairy Godmother in training" pulled her hair up and back, but I asked Ava and she said it was fine (Later that night she confessed how tight it was). Ava felt so special and proud, that it was worth it. That evening, though, she did ask me if I could take her down so that she could look beautiful again, haha. I agree. MUCH more beautiful being simply Ava.









Waiting about an HOUR to meet with Rapunzel was WELL worth it! She talked with Ava for a good 6 minutes or so and was truly in character the whole time. Ava ate it up!While we waited, one of our old friends from Austin, who lives in CA now, met up with us and stayed and played all day with us.











For our last big meal, we had reservations at a family-style BBQ place that was SO GOOD! We inhaled the food, like starving vultures, and it kept coming. The best part was that right around the corner was the Big Mountain Railroad roller coaster that had us all wanting to go on it again and again. AVA even rode it. At first she was iffy on it, then said she wanted to do it again and LOVED it! She's quite a thrill-seeker, that girl. At one point we were riding it in the dark and I thought Ava wouldn't be too keen on that, but the fireworks were going off overhead and she enjoyed that.







This picture cracks me UP! It was on the flight home. A big fat fake smile is planted on my face, behind it I was sweating and swearing under my breath, to be honest. Ryan, well just look at him, bwhahaha! And Ava and Griffin were DONE. D.O.N.E.

Obviously we were ready to get home when we knew our vacation must come to an end. However, the plane ride with Griffin was very difficult. It was just less than a 3-hour flight and he was so so eager to just walk and wander around, or do ANYTHING but sit in our laps, which can only work so much with people and aisles being used frequently. We walked, we explored, we talked, we flirted, we played in the bathrooms, we changed a poopy diaper (of course he would have one on the airplane, don't you know?!) He whined and cried probably for probably 20(cumulative, not consecutive) minutes, but when you have nowhere to go, it seems like an eternity. I had several people tell me they've been there and no one was nasty about it, but BOY was it stressful! Poor Griffin was just being a toddler, I can't blame HIM, it's just an overall bad age to try restraining for long periods of time.