We went to California Adventures and Disneyland while we were in California. They have this two-for-one deal for southern California residents (which my sister is), so we spent one day at each.
But unfortunately, everytime I leave the state, my kids get sick. Susannah and I decided it's because our kids aren't "immune" to the specific germs at a specific place. So exactly three days after we arrived in California, both Bianca and Portia ended up with a cough. What's worse is that Portia was running a fever as well. But we forged on and went to the "happiest place[s] on earth" anyway.
However, it's not quite as happy when the kids are sick. It was a great week to go. Hardly any lines. We zipped through everything. On Monday, we started out at A Bug's Life at California Adventures. Portia really loved Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (I liked it too). And I loved that she could ride a lot of those rides. Around lunch time, we decided to split up. Bianca wanted to do Ariel's Grotto again (which is the restaurant where five princesses come to your table while you're eating and you can talk to them and have pictures taken). Last time, Susannah was with me and the princesses all tried to kiss Ethan on the cheek and he hated it. Never wanted to go back. The food is mediocre and costs an adult $27.99 and a child $15.99. But it was important to Bianca, so we went.
Unfortunately, Portia's fever started escalating as we sat at the table. And she sat there crying (the only time the crying stopped was when she was yawning). And everytime a princess came too close to us, Portia screamed uncontrollably. She wouldn't even eat the mashed potatoes she normally loves. After thirty minutes, I sat there in a daze and wondered exactly why I came here. My food was cold because I was agitated with all the crying. The music in the background was forcing Zippity Do Da into our ears, fighting against Portia's crying. (Portia: I'm not Happy. Music: You are Happy. Back and forth, back and forth, and so on.)
Finally, I got Portia to stop crying, she was lying against me and nearly falling asleep, when the server came up and asked me if we were ready for our dessert. I asked, Can I just hang out for a bit? I finally got my baby to stop crying. She responded, you have an 80-minute limit to this table. I sent her away. We weren't even close to our 80 minutes. I was ready to scream.
As everyone else was filing out, they stopped by, saying obvious things like, your baby hasn't stopped crying this entire time. I nodded my head, yes, and let them go on with their happiest day at the happiest place on earth. I paid for our mediocre food and was never so happy to be out of that "happy" place. Bianca said she never wanted to go back to the restaurant again either.
Portia was sick on and off until yesterday when I finally decided enough was enough. I packed my car and took off after a 20-minute stint at the beach. I drove straight through. The poor baby was feverish and uncomfortable and unhappy. I pulled in to my garage at 12:30 and took Portia's temperature. She was still teetering around 102 degrees. I've accepted that Disneyland will use whatever motto they need to make people believe they're happiest there, but I've never been so happy to sink into my husband's arms in my own bed at home, my happiest place on earth.
