Wow, it's been a while since I've updated. The last two weeks of February were beyond intense for me--lots going on at work and school and home (btw, we went to Seattle...had some fun...Savannah was terribly behaved the whole time...hence no real report from our trip to See Attle). We went to Disneyland to celebrate Savannah's fourth (!) birthday last week, so I wanted to submit a chapter prior to departing, so that I could actually enjoy the mini-vacation. Thankfully, I was able to send in the Geneva chapter two days before we left. For those keeping score at home, this means 3 chapters are fully drafted and more or less ready to go (need to do some more edits, but edits are easier than drafting), and 1 final chapter is a hot mess that needs to be heavily revised (that's my goal for March and April). I'm still on track to walk in May and file in August. Woohoo :)
Now, on to the more exciting stuff...Disneyland! It's hard to believe that our lovely little girl is four years old. We surprised her with the Disney trip...didn't tell her until we were all loaded up in the car (loading up/packing/getting Sonja to the kennel without her knowing took some subterfuge). When we arrive to our hotel, she found presents from Mickey Mouse.
She got: balloons (including one that sang..which, unfortunately, had to be left behind because it wouldn't fit in our car...), a Mickey light, an autograph book and pen (signed by MM), candy, a stuffed Mickey Mouse doll that was nearly as big as her, a birthday Mickey Mouse hat, and some great decorations for us to keep for future birthdays. She was very excited to have all this waiting for her.
On Friday morning (her actual birthday), we got up early and started our day with a trip to the Bibbidi Bobiddi Boutique where her fairy godmother-in training helped her get all dressed up like a princess. She chose a Merida dress, complete with red hair extensions.
After the BBB. we headed over to Ariel's Grotto for lunch with the princesses, and to meet up with the friends with whom we were traveling. It was hard to eat lunch with so many princesses coming by to say hello!
On day two, we spent THREE HOURS in line to meet the princesses from Frozen...and, yes, she waited with me the entire time (most families had one parent wait in line while the other parent took the child/ren on rides, but we couldn't do this. The line was not wheelchair accessible and the park was too crowded for J to navigate with Savannah in tow). She was such a little trooper. Actually, with most things travel related, she does pretty well. She loves hotels, is happy with airplanes or long car rides, and is pretty adaptable to new places. We got lucky :) At the end of three hours, she got to meet her current favorite princesses.
I think this encounter made her whole trip.
We had a fabulous time, and returned home on Sunday (after a great breakfast with Chip & Dale). Within two hours of being home, Savannah started acting like she didn't feel well. Another hour after that, she had a fever...uh oh. We buckled down for a long night with a sick girl, and made plans to go to the doctor first thing in the morning.
Morning came....and I got really sick. With something entirely different from Savannah. I managed to get her to the doctor and home before I ceased to be helpful. And the next three days were BAD. I haven't been that sick in a while and, of course, Sav recovered faster than I did, so while I was still content to lay in one spot on the couch for hours on end, she wanted a playmate (because of her fevers and a need to collect three days worth of stool samples from her....ughhhhhhhhh...she couldn't go back to school). Today is the first day resembling anything close to normal, and we're still kinda off around here. Hopefully, tomorrow is even better (and back to 100% by Saturday b/c I have a JOB INTERVIEW!!!). This sickness needs to go far, far away. And, even better, not impact J on its way out!
Lots of love,
Ashley
