Cupid does Disney

My girl switched dance studios after years of being at the same one. One that I never liked very much, and one that seemed, to me, to be mismanaged and unorganized.

Her new studio is better in many ways, one of the most dramatic of which is that they do the annual (dreaded) Showstoppers dance competition at the Disneyland Hotel in February instead of May. Big improvement! Granted, it was still President's Day weekend, so still busy, but it was NOT Memorial Day weekend, which is mobbed, and which is my birthday weekend. Don't get me wrong, the weekend is still the same old money suck as in past years, but it's all disappearing in a more pleasant, less frenetic environment.

We left  for our adventure mid-day Friday and hit some traffic on the way up. It wasn't awful though, just annoying. More annoying, however, was the fact that none of my girls -- not one of them -- would pose with Goofy who came strolling through reservations area as we checked in. I was incredulous. What? You won't pose with Goofy?! Why?  I was in the damn check-in line, close to the front, and am the only one with a credit card, so really couldn't leave unless I was willing to go to the back of the line after my meet and greet. Lucky for me, and for those suddenly shy girls, Goofy was still around when I was done, and I posed with the damn dog!

Just look at our goofy faces and toothy grins, would ya?

We were then left with the rest of the afternoon to swim and relax.

Umm, did someone say Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum?
Yes, I did. And yes, that's the actual name of the drink,
and Yes, it is incredibly delicious.

And yes, it's doesn't even matter that it cost $12.42 plus tip,
because look, Micky's paying!

After cocktails and swimming we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner, and well, dancing. My two youngest girls got right out there and got down with the band. The youngest had to be dragged away, in fact. (She takes after her grandmother apparently.)

Terrible dancing shot, but good of the lead singer.
 I got mostly video, but didn't want to do that to you.

The next day was devoted to the "park," but only one park, because after pool drinks I couldn't afford the park hopper tickets. We decided on California Adventure, which was a good choice.

We hit a record number of rides in the first two hours, some of which we'd never been on before.

My oldest ditched the rest of us by about 11 am. As soon as she ran into friends.

But that's okay, we had plenty of fun without her.

We took a break mid-day for more pool time.

This was my view as I sipped my Mai tai (They would not serve the Trader Sam's drinks at the pool that day for some reason that I never really understood, so I was unable to have my Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum delivered to me, but I survived with a substitute.)

Oh, and it was Valentine's Day. Happy belated to you and yours. 
(There were so many cute couples in the park all day. 
It's not my happy place, but it was fun to see so many love birds enjoying the house of mouse.)

We hit the Lego-making station on the way back to the park in the later afternoon.

Where my girl's original creation raced against three other kids' and ended up in a four-way pile up. We decided she won anyway. It is in the lead in this photo.

We almost closed down the park, but not quite. We had to get to sleep because the next morning was all about dance, starting at 6:30 am.

Proof that we really were at a dance competition.

Additional and fancier proof.

We got the hell out of there shortly after the awards ceremony.

We were all completely wiped out.

This is what the backseat looked like on the ride home:

Crazy how much these two look alike in this photo, isn't it?
You'd think they were sisters! 

And the very best part? We all survived and we don't have to do it again until next year!