Disneyland Vacation: Day 6: The Final Day!

Boy oh boy has this been a whirlwind trip. It's hard to believe we're home already because it feels like we just left. Today was a fun, albeit exhausting, end to our adventures. Since we got to bed so much later than all the other nights last night (I think we didn't get in until almost 10pm) we decided not to set the alarm this morning. It was a good thing, too, because the kids both had kind of a rough night, both waking up more than once. I finally just brought Kaylie into bed with us and she slept the rest of the night there. So none of us got out of bed until 8am, which was a nice slowing down of the pace. Last night I had packed up everything that I could and set it by the door, so that part wasn't too hard today. We had breakfast, finished packing up and loading the car, and then headed off the Disneyland for our last day. The kids were both pretty tired even after just waking up, so we knew we wouldn't be able to stay long.

Our last day! Excited and exhausted all at the same time. 

The plan was to go to each "land" and focus on doing as many of Kaylie's favorites one more time in that land that we could before moving onto the next one, and then leaving at nap time or when the kids got too tired, whichever came first. Once we got there we were immediately glad that we had planned the bulk of our trip for earlier in the week. Being that it's a Friday it was probably twice as busy as it had been, meaning the lines were longer. So we didn't get quite as much in as we were hoping to, but still quite a bit. We managed to go on Casey Jr. (which oddly was run by a girl named Casey), the carousel (shock!) and Storybook Canal in Fantasyland. Drew was so tired already that as soon as we were done there and I put him back in the stroller to move on to the next thing he fell asleep. Immediately.

Last carousel ride.

She insisted that it was a merry-go-round, not a carousel. :) 

Driving Mr. Toad's car.

Daddy and his babies.

On our way over to Tomorrowland Kaylie saw Sleeping Beauty and just had to wait in line to meet her. It was so cute because out of all the characters she's met, this was the first time she acted bashful when she went up to her. I guess meeting a "real" princess is pretty intimidating. :)

Sleeping Beauty

Once Kaylie got to meet Sleeping Beauty we went straight over to Autopia because Kaylie really wanted to drive the cars again. She wanted Phil to take her, so I sat in the shade with a sound asleep Drew and ended up chatting with a lady who was 55 years old and there with her family for her first visit to Disneyland ever. She had her little grandson with her who was two weeks older than Drew and he was pretty entertaining, too.

Stay off the sidewalks! Kaylie's behind the wheel!

Autopia.

Just too tired to stay awake.

After Autopia it was one more attempt at Astro Blasters. I think that this ride and Winnie the Pooh are tied for first place with Kaylie. She just couldn't get enough. Unfortunately not long after we got in line they announced that they'd had to shut down the ride and since we didn't have that much time and the kids were starting to fade already we decided we would skip it. It was a little disappointing, but we did go on that ride about ten times this week so I think we'll all survive.

We started walking to Critter County to go on Winnie the Pooh and discovered that the Enchanted Tiki room was reopened! It had been closed all week, but the calendar online didn't have it listed as closed for today so originally we thought we'd get to go once before we left. However when we got to the park this morning they looked and said it was still closed (I guess their system wasn't updated) so it was a very pleasant surprise to see that it was. We figured we'd make that our last stop before heading home.

Of course the kids loved going on Winnie the Pooh again. Drew's little catnap seemed to have perked him up a bit and he was really enjoying his last ride. Lastly we headed over to the Tiki Room. Kaylie was so tired and honestly if it weren't for the fact that it had been closed all week and we were about to leave we would have probably just skipped it. But I'm really glad we didn't. Kaylie and Drew *loved* the Tiki Room. They were fascinated by the whole thing and it was a really fun, relaxing way to end our time there.

Eating some oranges and waiting to go in the Tiki Room.

Hydrating.

In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room!

On the way out of the park we stopped and fed the kids a little lunch. Kaylie has just had no appetite all week and we have been getting a little concerned at how little she's eaten. I'm sure it's because she hasn't been feeling well, but with how active we've been it's a little more important that she gets enough nutrition. We've actually forced the issue a couple of times, something we don't normally worry about doing.

It was time for us to make the walk back to the hotel parking garage and head home. We got the kids all loaded up and insisted that they nap before we'd turn on a movie for them. Drew fell asleep a few minutes after Kaylie, but he slept much better than she did. She woke up too early and cried and fussed, so we finally put on a movie and that seemed to help. We also stopped at Wendy's about an hour and a half into our drive so that Phil and I could eat (we hadn't had lunch when the kids did) and got Kaylie a frosty. That perked her up for a little while. It wasn't much in terms of a lunch, but at least she got something in her.

Crashed.

This drive was much less smooth than the drive down there, but that's not surprising. Kaylie had just hit a wall and was miserable for most of the ride, but couldn't seem to get more sleep. Drew fussed a little bit, but made Phil and laugh a lot because at some point he decided that instead of being mad he would just laugh at the whole thing. So he giggled and made funny faces and gave me flirty smiles for the last part of the drive. I kept Phil and I entertained by reading the second Hunger Games book to him all the way home. We'll see if I still have a voice tomorrow. :)

We got home around 9pm and got a punchily happy Drew and a falling apart, miserable Kaylie (who still had a low-grade fever, by the way) into the quickest baths ever and then straight to bed. Then Phil and I went to work unpacking 98% of the car, putting stuff away, and starting a load of laundry before we both took showers and got in our jammies.

It's so nice to be home, but there's always that nostalgic, bittersweetness to coming home after a wonderful trip. We had such an amazing time sharing a fun, magical place with our kids. They were incredible. So well behaved and sweet, and in spite of the bumps in the road with Kaylie getting sick, it is obvious they both had a great time. I just love my family so much I almost get choked up thinking about it right now. Tomorrow will be a day of rest and recouping (before we go to Alicia and Justin's for a Mother's Day BBQ, of course). Nothing responsible if we can help it and lots of time just enjoying being home. I can't wait until the next time we get to go on a trip as a family! Phil and the kids sure are a fun bunch of people to travel with!