The Day We Left Disneyland

So our last day in Disneyland didn't start off as well as all the others had. I was putting sunscreen on Brooke, being careful not to get it anywhere near her eyes, but she decided to rub her eye with her wrist, which I had just covered in sunscreen. She went ballistic... it was horrible and I felt awful about it. It took her quite a while to calm down and her eyes were puffy most of the morning. But having breakfast with more characters took her mind off it. She was thrilled to see Pluto again and loved having Chip hang out with them at our table. He even drew them a picture... notice in the video how she is really checking out what he is doing. Knowing her, she is probably thinking "Hey, chipmunks can't draw..." They also had fun with Goofy. They called all the kids down to the center of the kitchen to "play pans" with Goofy. Brooke does this regularly at home so she was right in there having fun.
Katelyn just watched and looked slightly confused that all these adults were encouraging such an activity. Cinderella also came to our table for a visit. Katelyn was glad to see her but Brooke couldn't have cared less. I guess a sparkling dress and a high pitched voice just aren't as inviting as a fuzzy animal suit.
After breakfast and letting the girls check out the Koi pond and waterfall at the hotel, we headed back up to our rooms to finish packing up before we made one last trip to the park.For our final day, we had a few top priorities, the first being the new "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage." This really was the only "real" line we had to wait in, so while Kyle and Brooke held our place in line (Brooke was busy stroller napping), we hit a few more rides. Nemo turned out to be a lot fun but reminded me how real claustrophobia is for me.

Then we spent the rest of the day hitting Katelyn's "favorites." Gram and Pop left around lunch time to head to the airport. It was so sad to see them go. Our flight wasn't until later that evening so we kept playing as much as we could but everyone was starting to slow down.
When it was time, Kyle took the girls back to the hotel to get our bags and meet the shuttle. I just needed to make "one quick stop" in one of the stores on Main Street. So I told him I would be right behind him.
Our shuttle left every hour on the hour, so it wasn't something you could miss. That being said, I made sure to stay focused in the store, I got what I needed and headed to the checkout line. Apparently what I should have worried about was the cashier staying focused. The transaction took FOREVER and I was starting to panic. So, when she was finally done, I darted out of the store and started
to run like the wind. About 45 seconds later I looked up and realized that I had gone the WRONG WAY! I was at the castle instead of the exit. So, as Ross yelled on Friends when they were moving his couch up the stairs-I hollered in my head "PIVOT!" OK, seriously panicking now. So I ran like a mad woman and really thought I was going to have a coronary. But I made it with plenty of time to spare. In fact, we had enough time that I decided to move some things around between our suitcases. I have a GIANT rolling suitcase that we affectionately call "Big Bertha." She is huge and can hold 70 pounds of stuff without even trying. She has literally burst at the seams before but we had her glued and stitched back up because I tend to over pack and always need the space. It is very easy to exceed the 50 pounds weight limit with her, so I decided that I would discreetly move a few small things from her into the new Minnie Mouse suitcases that Gram and Pop bought for the girls. While I was finishing up, the Shuttle pulled up. There were a lot of people waiting for different shuttles, so when I saw Kyle starting to move in the direction of the bus with the girls, I turned around, got the bags and was about to head to the bus. The next thing I know is that the bus began to pull away and none of the Hansen's were on it. After running like crazy to catch that bus in the first place, I was not about to let a thoughtless driver ditch me or my family. So I took off like Flo Jo after that bus waving my arms and yelling "STOP!!! STOP!!! WAIT FOR US!!!" He finally stopped - I was so relieved and almost hyperventilating. Until I saw the smirk on his face and heard him say "I am not going TO the airport, I am just dropping people off." #@%$
Seriously. I very slowly turned around to see the large crowd of people watching the whole thing and then I saw Kyle and the girls. I think they were trying to figure out a way to pretend like they weren't really with me. The good part was that several families said they were about to do the same thing. The problem... is that THEY didn't. But I did. Oh well, it was kind of funny and made me forget about how sad I was that our "magical" adventure was coming to an end. isn't it funny how extreme public humiliation can make you forget about practically everything else?

We had such a wonderful time and are so glad we got to share that time with my parents - Disneyland really is "The Happiest Place on Earth!"