Day 6 - Can you be a Jedi And a Princess?

Our fourth day in Disneyland! We headed over to Tomorrowland to Fast Pass Space Mountain since I hadn't had a chance to ride it yet. Violet was asleep so Wes and Adelle went on Finding Nemo. Lydia had declined. While shopping I got a call from Wes saying that "Jedi Academy Training" was starting. He was still waiting in line for Nemo, but Lydia decided she wanted to catch the show. There were a fair number of kids, mainly boys, who were waiting for the show. They were all hoping to be chosen to be trained by the Jedi Master! Lydia was one of the lucky ones to be chosen.

She and several other kids trained and learned light saber combinations.

All of the sudden we were invaded by storm troopers.

The stage rose up

and out came Darth Vader

and even Darth Maul. It was a scary moment for the kids. One younger child ran screaming off the stage, terrified and had to be comforted by his parents. Darth Vader asked the kids to join the dark side. The Jedi Master forcefully told him that they would never join. Then the fighting began!

Lydia was one of the trainees chosen to fight Darth Maul. There was a woman next to me when she saw Lydia said "She looks really nervous". I said "That's my daughter".

Even though Lydia was scared she fought bravely! I was super proud!

Violet wasn't impressed with everything. She had been woken up by all the noise.

Adelle and Wes caught the end of the show. Adelle was quite worried for Lydia when she found out she was on the stage with Darth Vader and Darth Maul. The force was with the trainees though and they defeated the evil, dark side. Lydia has a certificate to prove it. Adelle came up to me afterwards with stars in her eyes. She wanted to be a Jedi too. We promised to come back to a later show to let her try to get selected.

We caught Buzz hanging out nearby and got some pictures. Lydia wasn't interested in meeting the Space Ranger, but Adelle was. Violet seemed quite taken with him and really enjoyed trying to play with his buttons.

We didn't have luck at the next Jedi Training. Adelle wasn't chosen and she was just heartbroken! We decided to go and meet the Princesses instead. Lydia didn't feel like waiting for an hour to meet them so her and Wes headed of to Toontown while Adelle, Violet and I waited in line to meet the royal ladies. We ran into some people we knew and even made some new friends. Just as it was time to see the princesses Wes and Lydia met back up with us and Lydia decided she would met the princesses after all.

Adelle was quite lucky! She got to meet her favorite princesses in the exact order of preference. Tiana, Jasmine, and Belle. I was very happy that we caught Tiana since she had been eluding us in New Orleans Square. Adelle was so excited and Lydia even seemed to enjoy herself.

Jasmine asked where we are from and asked if we had flow our magic carpet to Disneyland. Wes informed her that no, we had in fact taken our camel.

Belle asked if Wes was a prince or a beast. The girls kindly said he was a King. Then Belle told the girls how lucky they are to have a sister since she never had one, only the beast.

We headed over to Fantasyland to catch a few rides and also happened to catch some of my favorite characters, Alice and the Mad Hater. Alice and the Mad Hatter were quite taken with my hat and Alice said "I want one". Violet enjoyed playing with the Hatter.

We were quite lucky because the Mad Hatter and Alice skipped off after visiting with us even though others were waiting to see them.

We went back to Tomorrowland to try again at Jedi Training for Adelle. She participated quite heartily in the pre-show where we all had to yell "Jedi" as loud as possible!

She jumped up and down hoping with all her little heart to be chosen. Lydia even pointed at her sister to get their attention. Sure enough, she was finally chosen. She put on her robes and got her very own light saber.

She even got a brief moment of reflection with the Jedi Master and Trainer.

Even though she is small she was chosen to fight Darth Maul as well. I was impressed how well she kept it together. She was quick and agile and fought well.

She made sure she ducked at the right moment.

*Sniff* My girls are growing up! Before I know it they'll be Jedi Masters!

Adelle proudly displayed her Jedi Training certificate. It was so fun to watch the girls. I was relieved that Adelle had been given a chance as well.

We rode rides the rest of the afternoon and caught a bite to eat. We made less then stellar dinner choices again. We decided to finish out the day with something special. Wes had been eyeing some sketch artists for days and he had found one he really liked. We decided to get our own special souvenir by getting as sketch of Lydia and Adelle. Karen, the sketch artist, was very engaging with the girls.

She was absolutely marvelous!!

She was a little timid when I asked if we could take her picture with the girls. We absolutely adored her and her work and thanked her over and over for the sketch.

Isn't it great? I think it was probably one of Wes' favorite things about Disneyland. Now we just need to hang it on the wall. We headed back to our hotel since Disneyland was closing at 8:00 for graduation night and settled down to rest so we'd be ready for out last day at Disneyland.

Day 5 -Disneyland Fights and Late Night

Wes started the day by taking his mom to the Long Beach Airport. I started my day by doing laundry. Something very unexciting, but very necessary. Once the laundry was all done and folded and once Wes was back we all headed over to Disneyland later than usual. We hadn't ventured into Fantasyland yet, so off we went. We hit the rides with the shortest lines like Snow White and Pinocchio. Adelle couldn't remember any of the rides from 3 years ago so it was all brand new for her. Violet did well even with their scary and dark themes.

The girls really wanted to go on the teacups so we waited in line. Wes and I were all ready to take video and pictures on the ride when we sat down in our cup, when suddenly I noticed Lydia crying. I asked what was wrong and she informed me that Adelle had punched her in the stomach. We all look over at Adelle who bursts into tears. We managed to find out that the girls where poking each other and playing in line and that Adelle "poked" Lydia harder than she meant to. Now imagine this. Wes and I are going back and forth with the girls, who are both crying, while we are spinning around in a teacup in Disneyland. That's right folks. The happiest place on earth! It is pretty darn funny looking back at it now, but at the time I was not happy.

Wes had told the girls time and time again before vacation that if anyone didn't behave they would go straight back to the hotel. We manage to get off the ride. Wes and I take a few steps away from the girls and start discussing what should be done. Wes decided that he in fact was going to take the girls back to the hotel for a little while to show them that we will do what we say and to give them a "time out". Part of me just wanted to give them a warning. Besides we are in Disneyland, but I saw his point and so off Wes, Lydia and Adelle went to have a "time out" and to eat lunch.

Violet and I, left to our own devices, set out to find a restroom which took some doing. There were lines in one, a medical emergency in another, and limited handicap stalls in another. When you are alone with a baby in a stroller the handicap stall is only way to manage. Anyway, I am sure you want to know about my bathroom search! He he! I also snapped a fun picture of the white rabbit by the Alice in Wonderland Ride.

Violet and I ate lunch and it wasn't long before I got a call from Wes. The girls were ready to join in the fun again :) They came back feeling much better and with much better attitudes.

The first thing everyone saw when they came back into the park was characters. We took a moment to get pictures and autographs with the White Rabbit and the Queen. Lydia seemed nervous to get her picture taken next to the Queen of Hearts, even though she claims she wasn't.

We then were fortunate enough to catch Mickey Mouse!!!

The first place the girls wanted to go after the characters was back to the teacups. The spinning was much funner the second time and we did get some great pictures and video. I love that Wes is yawning in the picture with Violet. Disneyland can take it out of you, but it sure is fun!

From there we headed towards Frontierland. We happened to catch Jessy and Woody on the way.

We took some time to ride more of our favorites such as Pirates and Indiana Jones. Wes and the girls also went to the canoes and paddled around the river. We even went on the steam boat. We ate dinner again at the French Market after our dinner lesson the night before. We all filled up! I thought it might be fun to catch the Tikki Room. Wes called it the "antiquey room". Nobody really cared to see the show again despite it's repetitive, drumming music, and array of singing objects and creatures.

We headed back to the hotel at our usual time, but the girls were in for a special treat. Wes had them get into their pajamas and he and the girls headed out for a late night in the park. They rode Star Tours, The Haunted Mansion, and a few other rides with virtually no lines!

I stayed behind to put my little Vi Vi to bed and to get some extra rest. Lydia and Adelle told me the next morning how much fun they had with Wes on their late night adventure!