We woke Annie up yesterday morning and said, “Hey Annie! Want to go on an…adventure?!” She’s a gamer, so even though it was early, she said yes. While we got her dressed and ready we asked her if she had any guesses for our adventure. “Are we going in the car to get gas?” No Annie, think bigger. “Are we going to my wedding?” Um. No. (WTF?) “Are we going to see Dr. Looove?” At that point we stopped asking for ideas and started explaining exactly what adventure means.

Anyway, two hours later we were at our adventure destination…Disneyland! The squealing when she realized where we were was better than we’d hoped. The parks were all decked out for the holidays and everything looked amazing.

sleeping beauty's castle

main street

sleeping beauty's castle

I couldn’t go on many rides because of pregnancy or motion sickness, but it worked out well because at first Annie really wanted to play games.

mama did it!
With the Woody and Bullseye dolls I won for her. Never challenge me on carnival games.

Then we passed a few characters and that’s where she just went nuts. She couldn’t believe she could get their photos and their autographs.

getting donald's autograph

meeting Woody

hugging minnie

meeting mickey

Mike really wanted to meet the characters, too.

And then. Then we took her to a lunch, where the princesses come around to the tables, and holy cow. It was the most amazingly hilarious lunch of my life.

First we met Ariel, which went normally enough.

the official ariel photo

Then we went to our table, and the princesses came around to meet everyone and just…her face. Look at it.

meeting cinderella

First with Cinderella.

meeting princess aurora

Then with Aurora.

meeting snow white

Even with Snow White.

We were all laughing hysterically at her expression. The family at the table next to ours would stop what they were doing every time Annie posed with a princess, just so they could watch. We wondered if things would be different when her most favorite, Princess Belle, came over.

meeting princess belle

Annie said, “I’m Annabel, and you’re Belle!”

a real smile!

A real smile!

annnd...there it is.

Annnnnnd there it is.

I was able to go on It’s A Small World with her, which was so adorably decked out for the holidays that I could hardly stand it. Annie also sang along during the entire ride (alternating verses of “It’s A Small World” and “Jingle Bells”), clapping and pointing out everything that caught her fancy.

She went on the tea cups with Mike and Uncle Kyle:

on the tea cups

We walked past the carousel and she said, “Mama, will you ride a horse with me?” So of course I did.

on another carolsel
not pictured: barf bag in my pocket.

She also slept on my dad’s shoulder through almost the entire Pirates of the Caribbean ride. That takes some serious talent.

We are hoping to do a few more of these adventures before the baby is born, to not only make sure she feels special, but so Mike and I can enjoy her “solo” status. After the baby comes we’ll squeeze in more Annie Days, too.

I really hope she remembers today, though.

family at ca adventure

(ed. Yes, I felt crappy and was sick there several times, but I was determined to give Annie a great time. I don’t know what the rest of this pregnancy will bring, so I made it work.)