JOY TO MY FACE

Charlotte inherited a lot of her features from her Dad. The fine, silky, dark hair that I can only ever dream of, the matching father daughter cow licks, that beautiful olive complexion, and eyes so dark they almost match her pupils; cow lick aside, she got pretty lucky with that combination. Whilst people continue to think that I'm her nanny, I rest assured that there's a little bit of me in there too- the serious face; I inherited it from my Mum, and in turn have passed it along to my eldest girl. 

I can be having the time of my life, happy as a clam, and I still get asked if I'm ok. Even when I'm consciously trying not to look serious, there's the inevitable 'Is everything alright?' from concerned friends/co-workers/ teachers. Charlotte's pouty little face is adorable, and though she might look it she's actually not very serious at all, but while my family were visiting we put her serious face to the test at the happiest place on earth.

Pirates of the Caribbean really wasn't her thing, but the carousel she loved. You can't tell from her expression at all but she really was enjoying herself.

She didn't crack a smile, but when the ride came to an end and we had to move on she completely freaked out. She wanted to go 'again'. I didn't even know she knew how to say 'again' until that very moment, but we took said freak out as proof that she loved it. We were so eager to distract her and calm her down that we joined the queue for the Pinocchio ride without even realizing what we were doing; bad times.

We put Dumbo to the test, and whilst I'm sure she enjoyed the flying elephant experience (not to mention the cuddles with Grandma H) she didn't exactly make it clear to the whole world. 

I can't explain this

Charlotte's definitely a doll fan, so I was especially excited to take her on It's a Small World. I couldn't wait to see her little face when she was surrounded by dolls dancing and singing. But this was her face:

Something of an anti-climax

Thinking about it.....

Finally the moment we'd all been waiting for!

Victory

Charlotte's clear favourite was Tarzan's Treehouse. I don't know how many times we did a circuit up and down that thing. It didn't take her long to cotton onto the fact that once we started walking down the steps, instead of up them, we were leaving the fun behind. She began crying the moment we  began the descent, and the only way to keep traffic moving was to carry her, fireman style, all the way to the bottom. Naturally, the only thing that would calm her down was climbing back up to the top, and so the cycle continued. 

How I love Disneyland! An annual visit is fast becoming a summer tradition- one that I hope to continue. We were all tuckered out by the end of the day; we didn't quite make it to the fireworks. Even so, I'm pretty sure all of our cheeks were sore from smiling, even Charlotte's.