autographs

So, a few posts back I showed you the autograph book I made for Gennie to take to Disneyland to get character's autographs. Well, the phrase of the trip was "shut out". Every time we tried to get the signatures, we were at the end of a huge line of other little kids trying to do the same thing, and the characters are only allowed to stay and sign for a specific amount of time. We'd wait in line and just before we'd get to our turn, they'd have to move on. So, instead of explaining this to a disappointed little girl, I decided to take photos of each character we saw, even if Gennie wasn't standing with them, and when we got home I'd look up the signatures online and print them off for her book. Worked pretty well!

Some of them we were able to get, like the Queen of Hearts here:

Buzz was on his way somewhere and we got in his way so he couldn't pass until we got his photo. Then he tickled Josiah and scared the poo out of him so Jo wouldn't stand close to him:
The same thing happened with Woody here. We got in his way just as he was headed into the "cast members only" area, and were able to get a fist bump for Josiah: Not sure what I was doing with the camera here, but that's the back of Woody: And the sign on the cast door just cracked me up: "Open Door Slowly. Be Sure to Smile!" The next morning we got over to the Princess Coronation and got to see three princesses at once. Tianna from Princess and the Frog:

Ariel, on land, of course:And Jasmine:
Later, Aunt Sarah saw Aladdin and Jasmine together and Mary Poppins and Bert:

We thought that'd be all the ones we could find, but as we were getting the stroller packed up to leave that night, my parents spotted Mickey with a tiny line behind him. They ran to get me and Gennie and we raced back to catch him. The handler guy he had with him told us it was time for a "cheesecake break" and the people in front of us were the last ones but I begged and pleaded with him and he let us be the last ones.

After 31 years, at the end of our vacation, exhausted and sunburned, I finally got my picture taken with Mickey Mouse!

And Gennie, lucky little girl that she is, got to escort Mickey to his "cheesecake break", skipping thru Main Street holding his hand:

After I took this photo, it occurred to me that Mickey Mouse just ran off with my child. Good thing he's easy to spot, what with all the kids clamoured around him.

So, we got enough photos to fill her little book, including the princesses' signatures and Goofy and the Queen. But when we got home and unpacked, we realized the autograph book didn't make the trip back with us. We have NO idea what could have happened to it but it's not in our possession. So I'll make her a new one - that's the great thing about photographing your projects as they are completed - and make pages specifically for these characters.

And Gennie's as thrilled as can be!