We went to Disneyland!

What a busy month it has been! I have to admit I'm touched that a couple people contacted me wondering whatever happened to my blog. It feels good to know some of you keep up with me and actually miss me when I'm gone. It truly has been a topsy-turvy month with lots of traveling and visiting with family. It has been both wonderful and exhausting and I'm grateful to be home with a brand new collection of special memories. I won't be able to cover our whole month in one post but I figured I may as well get started with some of the highlights from our trip to California.

We have been hoping to visit Ben's family in California for some time, ever since our newest nephew, Grayson, was born in January. And while the Sacramento area is not exactly right next door to Disney, we figured we couldn't fly all the way to California without a jaunt through the happiest place on earth. We arrived in California, met up with Garrett's parents who had flown down from Portland to join us for our Disney adventure, and after a quick trip through In-N-Out Burger (my first ever--it seemed tasty enough) we headed to the hotel. Our family had an adjoining room with Garrett's folks so it worked nicely to put the kids to bed and then spend some time visiting next door with Vern and Linda.

We had two days at Disneyland and while it was all the cliches (exhausting, exciting, magical), it was just plain fun. Garrett and I had always thought we would wait until the kids were older to take them to Disney, wait until they were of an age where they could really experience it and remember it. Boy am I glad we didn't wait. At three years old Disneyland is such a fantasy world. The kids were bug eyed and slack jawed, and every sentence ended in an exclamation point. Highlights included meeting Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White, and driving the cars in Autopia. Gabriel got his picture taken with Lightning McQueen and loved just about every ride with equal passion. Though we did make the mistake of taking the kids on The Pirates of the Caribbean. I had a sinking feeling about it before we ever got in line, but I allowed my judgment to be clouded and spent the entire ride shielding Gabriel's and Amelia's eyes, waiting for the ride to end. I was struck at how scary Disneyland rides can really be, even the ones geared toward the toddler set. Even the Winnie the Pooh ride involved dark and stormy twists and turns with howling winds and ominous sound effects. It's a Small World, though loathed for it's unforgettable and incessantly chipper tune, was a welcome treat, even if it did involve a certain young person having a certain accident on the leg of my pants. So it goes with Disneyland with little ones. I was pleased that Amelia, Abigail, and Gabriel made it through two complete days of walking, waiting in lines, and eating gut-wrenching grease without a single tantrum. Tears yes, but tantrums no. The biggest disappointment was that the first day I think there were at least five rides we waited for where we were the last group of people not to make it on, so we had to wait for the next ride. There's nothing more devastating to a young Gabriel than getting to the front of the line to ride the Disney train just to have the gate shut in your face and a train conductor smile and say "Next train'll be here in just a moment," meaning in twenty minutes or so. Thankfully our second day in the park had much fewer disappointments in that regard, and Gabriel still said that the rides were his favorite part of the park.

Garrett and I were incredibly blessed to have his parents along to help with the kids. Just watching them enjoy their grandkids was a real treat, and watching the kids interact with them is always special. Because we don't live near any of the kids' grandparents sometimes I wonder what kind of relationship they will all have. When we first got to California we met up with Vern and Linda at the rental car lot. We took a shuttle to the lot and beat Vern and Linda by about half an hour or so. While Garrett put the car seats in the rental van, the kids and I waited by the shuttle drop-off for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive. Gabriel became so distressed as time passed and shuttles continued to arrive without Vern and Linda aboard that he finally burst into tears. He was still crying ten minutes later when they finally did arrive and then became so shy and reserved that for a while he wouldn't even look at them. By the end of the evening he was bouncing off the walls and climbing them like jungle gyms, but I can only imagine the conflicting emotions that race through a little kid when they are excited out of their minds to be with someone yet not quite familiar with their presence. After our second day of Disneyland we were heading out of the park for the night. Linda was carrying Abigail and Abigail started talking about her friends: Ava, Mia (two girls we get together with regularly for playdates) and Grandma and Grandpa. I could tell that Grandma was clearly delighted to make the short list. I was pleased as well, and hope we can continue to foster close relationships between the kids and their grandparents as they get older.