Ariel's Grotto. Day 2.

It's a little sad that I need to break a day into smaller posts, but apparently we took a LOT more photos on Day 2 of Disneyland. (And by 'we', I mean Tyler who has saved all my memories for me. Thanks babe, I owe you big time.)

I thought I would get the princess post out of the way, since it was a major photo opp. (Yes, your eyes will start to see blue and white stripes after a few pictures.)

Although it turns out that the kids weren't too hip on standing in line to see Disney characters, I think this may have been because I told them early on that we were going to eat lunch with the princesses. This relieved all the stress of having to stand in line for hours to see each princess in turn. In fact, we never even went over to the princess area of the park. This was mostly selfishness on my part. I don't think I wanted to stand in line that long, but I knew that all the girls would like to speak with the princesses. And so we came up with a great, if expensive, compromise. There is a restaurant in California Adventure called Ariel's Grotto. There they do breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the princesses. We called and reserved a time in advance (meaning about two weeks before—I don't know how crowded it gets). I decided to treat our entire party to lunch. After all, my Mom paid for all of us to go to Disneyland (many groveling thanks again Mom), so I thought this was some small way I could give back.

You come down the stairs to meet Ariel who welcomes you to her fabulous abode. She was super cute.

And very huggy. The kids loved that.

They take pictures there which they later try to sell to you. But they also allow you to take your own photos.

They start out with appetizers, and the girls were happily coloring.

Robyn leaned over a few times to ask, "Where are the princesses?" and I was hesitant how to answer. I had never done this before and I sure hoped they were coming. Well, they didn't disappoint. Soon a messenger came in and sang a little ditty for us and then declared that several of Ariel's friends had come to say 'hi' and they would be announced in turn.

First was Snow White. (I should just say up front that all these ladies were so sweet and cute with the kids. They didn't dawdle, but they made each kid feel special and answered all their questions.)

Then Aurora. (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty)

Next, Cinderella.

And finally Belle.

There was no Jasmine, which was lamented, but I think five princesses is quite a good showing.

The food was very good too. The kids had a good range to choose from. Robyn got steak, but June and Ivory opted for the fancy Mac n' Cheese. They put goldfish on top, sticking with the undersea theme, and Ivory was not sure why they were on there.

The adult menu was very good as well. Tyler and I both got the Tri-tip, but there was chicken and fish and spinach raviloi as well. The best part was definitely the dessert tray. They had all these sample desserts and because our table was long (with 10 people) they brought three trays of everything. It was decadent, with a large conch shell on each tray made out of white chocolate.

Our bread came baked in a ring, and Tim noticed that the last two pieces made a heart.

See, I love you all, and especially my hubby for letting me spend a little coin to make my girls feel like princesses for an afternoon.