1. New official motto for Disneyland California: Welcome To The Happiest Place On Earth. Now hurry up and wait.
2. There should never be that many people in one place, ever.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean is perhaps a wee bit frightening for a 17 month old.
4. The food at Disney is just as overpriced as people said it would be.
5. Stay away from the cheeseburgers. I repeat – stay away from the cheeseburgers.
6. There is nothing like watching your daughter’s face light up when she sees Mickey Mouse for the first time.
7. There is also nothing like hearing your daughter tell everyone who asked her about seeing the Princesses “I’m just really not that into them, okay.”
8. I love that she loves Pirates instead of those insipid waiting-to-get-rescued-by-Prince-Charming-can’t-really-move-cause-my-hairs-too-big-and-my-dress-too-poufy chicks.
9. Absolute highlight of the trip: watching Sam get accosted by Merlin during a Fantasyland show, hauled up in front of an audience of 100 people and basically become the brunt of the joke for the next 20 minutes. I laughed till I cried and my sides ached. Bella was worried….”Mama, is he a nice Wizard?” she asked over and over again. For those of you who don’t know Sam, he’s kind of introverted and really not comfortable being the center of attention – this was misery for him but he was a VERY good sport.
10. It is always very easy to love my husband, but when he surprised me with a red Mustang convertible rental car, it was very, very, very easy to love him.
11. Always dress your children very warm when driving costal California in a convertible in December. If you don’t, they will complain very loudly until you stop the car and rectify your mistake.
12. This complaining can negatively impact your initial enjoyment of the drive.
13. In California, Santa trolls the boardwalk in a bright yellow lifeguard jeep.
14. If you put your new 75 dollars shoes into the backpack your husband is wearing while playing with your toddler in the water, you should make sure that you close the backpack after placing them inside.
15. If, by chance, you forget to close the backpack – there is a high likelihood that they will fall out into the surf.
16. It is very, very, very, very easy to love my husband after watching him hold your baby safely in one hand and still manage to rescue both of my shoes before they got swept out to sea with the other. My hero.
17. When you go the beach and play chicken with the waves, it is an absolute certainty that you will get very, very wet.
18. You should always pack a change of clothes for everyone going to the beach.
19. It’s probably a good idea to bring a spare pair of shoes as well.
20. This vacation was my first real attempt at packing light. I didn’t bring anyone spare shoes. Won’t do that again
21. Watching your daughter walk down the pier in her panties ‘cause her clothes are all wet is pretty cute too..
22. You can find a Gap pretty much anywhere.
23. If you are in the Gap in December, and you are soaking wet, and your shoes are full of sand and squishing water out onto the floor with every step you take, and your daughter is in the same condition – it will be near impossible to find a pair of pants or shoes to fit either of you.
24. It is possible to make do with very wet jeans for the rest of the day. Not fun though.
25. Even in December, the sandals at the Gap are totally overpriced.
26. Spending the late afternoon in the Gap might mean that you miss sunset on the beach – but standing in the dark with the surf pounding in your years, with your husbands arms wrapped around you and your children giggling on the sand by your feet can totally make up for that.
27. I am so not supposed to be living in the desert. A tiny part of me dies every time I leave the coast behind.
28. Romeo’s in Laguna is a great way to end a day at the beach. Very good Italian food, nice atmosphere and tables covered in white paper with crayons so everyone can draw while waiting for food.
29. Splash Mountain is totally worth the wait.
30. Julianna can (and does) make friends anywhere, lines for rides, people surrounding us on the airplane, random restrooms. She reels ‘em in with her charm, squishy faced smile and adorable little voice calling “hello, hello, hello”.
31. The fireworks are beyond amazing.
32. Julianna fell asleep DURING the fireworks. All this time I’ve been trying to find a solution that would help her fall asleep without nursing and all I needed was a deafening pyrotechnics display. Who knew?
33. No matter how much fun a vacation may be, there is still nothing like the feeling of coming home.

I’m sure there are more random facts to share – but once again I’m up after midnight, and I promised myself I would stop doing that.