Daddy's Princesses

The girls and I will be headed out for a princess vacation with Grandma Bunny, my best friend, her two kids and her mom. Yes, we are going to Disneyland. I teeter back and forth on my feelings about this trip. When the girls are running around with their magic wands, I am excited. When I think about the drive, the lines, the girls... I freak out a little. Okay, a lot. Because Disneyland is kinda huge and I am terrified that Chloe and Ella will become lost in a sea of thousands of princess wannabes. Or worse yet, I will end up spending hundreds of dollars on princess paraphernalia so that my two children will look just like everyone else. I wish I could be so bold as to say that this will never happen, but have you been to Disneyland? I can hear it now... "mommy, if I don't get that life-sized, light up glow-in-the-dark Snow White, I'm gonna die". What did I sign up for?

Daddy will be staying at home. His excuse is that he has to work, which is kinda true. But the real reason is that he hates Disneyland. He was scarred as a young child when his family made a road trip from Sacramento. His dad had just purchased a Buick Riveira and was determined to make the trip on one tank of gas. They made it all the way to the park entrance, where the Buick ran out of gas. And there the McArthur family sat, blocking cars from entering the Happiest Place on Earth. Gary can't seem to erase that memory and Disneyland will always be forbidden territory.

Alas, I refuse to deprive my children of this American rite of passage and will be taking the girls while Gary holds down the fort. In preparation for a week without his girls, I took a few photos of Chloe and Ella out in his garden... just so he doesn't forget what they look like. And so when they come home dressed like little miniature drag queens, I will remember what normal looks like.

Ella checking on her pumpkins

Chloe taking a moment to relax

Ella trying to figure the irrigatation

Chloe running through the corn

Ella right behind sister

I thought it would be cool to get a portrait of each of the girls in the corn... the result of daddy's hard labor. Isn't she cute? But this isn't how I see my girl. This is how I see her:

And would you like to see how I "see" Ella? Just like this:

and this:

So there you have it... my little girls BEFORE Disneyland. I'll post pictures after we get home... hopefully they will look much the same as they do here. If not, I'm sure daddy will take them out to the garden and roll them around in the dirt a bit.

Wish us luck!