Chinese New Year dancing

Holly was asked to participate in a Chinese New Year celebration at the local seniors' centre. She took a Chinese dance class during Spring Break last year and the teacher called to see if she would join her.

It turned out to be one of the strangest experiences we have had! Paul and I couldn't stop laughing. I have no idea what the audience thought. It was pretty obvious the girls had no training. The teacher was completely disorganized - I had asked if the kids were dancing and she was pretty vague - mentioning that they would just be behind her while she did the dancing. She was chewing gum the whole time, didn't have the music ready, and basically just told the 3 girls to copy what she did! They "performed" an umbrella dance, ribbon dance, fan dance, and a drum dance (but only the instructor had the little drums - the girls just made the motions with their hands).

We asked Holly if she had fun, and her answer was, "no".

If the teacher calls me again next year . . .    we are booked that evening!

Lost my first tooth!

It's been a long wait, but Holly finally lost her first tooth. It was pretty wiggly just before dinner, but she wouldn't let me pull on it - during dinner, I asked her where it was - turns out she had swallowed it! Her adult teeth were already coming up behind the loose ones, so she doesn't even have a gap to speak of!

"Dear Tooth Fairy by accident I swallowed my tooth love Holly first tooth".

Royal City Kids Fair

Holly and I went to the 1st Annual Royal City Kids Fair today. She really wanted to get her face painted, and was willing to wait (about 30 minutes)!

Heading home

Having a little nap on the way to the airport . . .

Huntington Beach

Holly did her own hair today - like those matching clips on either side?!

At Huntington Beach - we went for a walk down the pier.

Uncle Jim nearly took home a puppy! Eddie would have probably been jealous, though!


There was a gorgeous sunset tonight - this is the view from Jim & Kris' back yard!


Holly reading books to Auntie Kris!

San Onofre Beach

The boys went for a paddleboard workout at the beach. Us girls hung out, walked Eddie, and found interesting (dead) sea life on the beach! Holly really loves Eddie (despite the fact that he is a stuffie assassin, and maimed a couple of her stuffies). Auntie Kris and Uncle Jim most generously and unnecessarily replaced the stuffies at Disneyland . . .   Holly picked out Duchess the cat from the movie the Aristocats, and a Woody doll she has been wanting to go with her Jessie and Buzz Lightyear.

Hot Tub!

It's been so nice and warm on our trip! But who can resist a dip in the hot tub just before going to bed?!

Disneyland!

Holly's first visit to Disneyland! Uncle Jim was our host for the day - it also happened to be his birthday! It was also exciting for me, as I'd never been to Disneyland during a holiday season and they still had all the Christmas decorations up. . .
 


















Holly on Main Street.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle!

One of my all-time favourite rides - it's a small world!

"Merry Christmas" in Hawaiian!

Holly loved the Little Mermaid section because they were singing "Jingle Shells", which she thought was really funny.

Another of Holly's favourites - the Toy Story characters!
This was a new experience for us - the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, that replaced the old submarine ride. Kris told us about finding Mickey Mouse heads around Disneyland that I never knew about. Apparently, Walt Disney hid little Mickey heads on all the rides and attractions at Disneyland, and Disney World. The Nemo ride had 1 or 2, but we didn't find any! The ride attendant said it took him 5 months to find one!!! You can also buy a book that tells you where they all are! We didn't find a single one all day - the ones we did find we cheated on!


Another of my favourites from when we were little - Autopia!!!!! Holly loved it, too.

She didn't love the Star Tours ride so much - this is the one that simulates a roller coaster and moves around quite quickly. There were some tears and an "I want to get off!", but of course we had to tough it out!

While I was getting us some lunch, Holly, Paul, Kris & Jim were watching the Star Wars stage show "Jedi Training Academy" where kids could learn to be Jedi knights. They were standing at the back of the stage, but every once in a while, a storm trooper would walk by on patrol and check out the crowd. Apparently, Darth Vader came over and gave Holly the "stare", which scared her a bit!

Cinderella's Fairy Godmother talked to Holly and told her she could tell that she was a true Princess!



We nearly got eaten alive by tigers on a Jungle Cruise!

Then, we had to survive hippos . . .

. . . and cannibals! All on the same trip - what an adventure!


A new attraction  we climbed through, was Tarzan's Treehouse.


We had quite a wait for Pirates of the Caribbean. This has been changed a bit since I was here as a child - they have included Jack Sparrow from the movie. Holly looks happy here - this was BEFORE the ride started and we dropped down in the water (in the dark!). Not so happy after that . . .

The Haunted Mansion was decked out for the holidays, also - in the theme of The Nightmare Before Christmas! I've never seen the movie, but the decorations looked as I'd expect from clips I've seen. It takes about 3 weeks to transform the mansion for the holidays (and the Small World, also!).

It turned out to be waaayyy busier than we expected. Jim and Kris came on his birthday about 3 years ago and it was nearly empty! I guess the good weather has brought out the locals as well as any tourists that might be visiting! Because of the long waits, we only ended up going on or seeing around 10 attractions. After taking a ride on the train, we came back to Main Street to watch the parade.


After the parade, we went to a nice restaurant at the Grand Californian Hotel, called Napa Rose, to celebrate Jim's birthday. We even got served by Jim & Kris' favourite waiter there, whose nickname is "Saucy" (it's even on his name tag!).