Not Only Did All Our Dreams Come True . . .

 

Our week in Los Angeles was absolutely filled with dreams come true, especially for Benjamin. Before we went to Disneyland, I asked Ben what he wanted to do most, and he said, "Meet Mickey Mouse and see the Princesses." This turned out to be not quite as easy as it sounded, but by the end of our trip, our mission had finally been accomplished.

We met both Mickey and Minnie Mouse--and toured their very interesting homes--at Toon Town during our first day at Disneyland. Ben got his new Mickey shirt on the way in (to be explained in the following post), and he was so excited to actually meet his friend.

Janae kept her cool for most of the day, but when we saw Winnie the Pooh, she really got excited. After meeting him and giving him a hug, she said, "I like that," and "Winnie the Pooh is nice." This was definitely the highlight of her day (you'll hear about the low point later!).

 

The line to meet three Princesses at Disneyland was 2 hours long, and Janae was about to fall asleep only 30 minutes into the wait. We decided to leave the line . . . but a mother always finds a way to make her children's dreams come true, doesn't she? So I had to pull out the good old Visa card again to make reservations at Ariel's Grotto at California Adventure a few days later (we had to postpone and book again--you'll see why if you keep reading!). Here we were guaranteed an opportunity to meet, visit with, and take pictures with at least FIVE princesses during lunch.

Benjamin could not stop smiling the whole time--and it didn't help that the princesses called him a prince, invited him to dance, gave him hugs, and told each other that they "had to meet that cutie named Benjamin" who was smiling and waving at all of them. Dear me! After we left the restaurant (much, much poorer), Ben kept saying, "I want to see Snow White again!" Janae is still talking about all the princesses, too. This was a great experience--and we've got lots of pictures to show for it!

 

And yes, even Jason had a dream come true. When we went to Hollywood, we saw the Kodak Theater, and walked down Hollywood Boulevard. I swear Jason saw and recognized the stars of EVERY actor and actress to ever take part in ANY of the Star Trek series. He was most excited to have his picture taken with William Shatner's star (He sure looks like a Trekkie in that picture, doesn't he??). The best I could do for myself was a picture taken with the hand and footprints of the actors from Harry Potter, but my enthusiasm was no match for Jason's :)

 

It was so nice to spend time with Anita's family and to see their home in Los Angeles. We were there for Jordan's baptism, too, which is something we've been looking forward to for an entire year!