Disneyland

We had a great time at Disneyland. So great, it's got me scrapbooking (or as close as I come, I stole the layout idea from Danee's friend Rachelle, isn't it cute?)

We were smart enough to avoid Snow White's Scary Adventure this trip, but our second ride at the park was Haunted Mansion. The kids quickly decided it was a least favorite ride, along with Space Mountain and the 3-D Bugs' Life movie where a host of black widows with glowing red eyes descend on the audience. Danny also was not a fan of the Matterhorn, where he would growl back at each abominable snowman we came across, just as I instructed him to do, but he did it all with his eyes covered.

I absolutely love Space Mountain, but Kate found it less enjoyable. She was pretty freaked out starting from the huge room where you wait to be loaded on your space ship. But she managed to stick it out through the entire thing, until the ride finally stopped, which is when she completely melted into tears.

I convinced Kate that it would be so cool to train as a Jedi knight, so she trustingly volunteered for the training they have at the Tomorrowland Terrace (1). She was one of the lucky ones chosen (2), and trained with a light saber on cutting off limbs and heads (3). But then the storm troopers arrived (4) along with this scary guy (5). I did feel a little bad as I watched from the audience as she broke into tears (6), and the sweet little Jedi next to her offered comfort (7). She eventually turned in her robe and joined me in the audience, where we watched her fellow Jedis defend the universe (8). Don't feel too bad for her, she got to be coronated a princess that same afternoon.
By the middle of the second day, my kids were beginning to wonder if the premise of Disneyland was not so much magic and dreams coming true but more facing all your worst fears. But things only got better.

We had a little down time before fireworks, and a wide-open Tomorrowland Terrace and groovin' tunes, so Kate and I danced our hearts out. A couple other families eventually joined us while Danny rolled around on the ground doing his version of capoeira.
We were expecting temperatures in the 80s but wound up with 100s all week. We found several ways to cool off. Originally Kate was determined not to get wet. But after we pulled her through the water a few times (1), she suddenly changed her mind, and went from not wanting a drop of water on her to finding the most instantly effective way to soak every inch of her body (2). After systematically laying each angle of herself against the fountain, both she and Danny were unstoppable (3).
On Wednesday morning Danny was 39 and three-quarters inches tall, and not allowed on Space Mountain (40-inch height requirement). That afternoon, he was exactly 40 inches tall, thanks to a couple stacks of well-placed napkins. The first ride we chose to try our shoe-stuffing experiment on was Soaring over California. He measured just tall enough to get in, but I was so nervous the whole time. I was afraid we'd be up in the ride and his shoes would fall off, with the napkins toppling out as the shoes dropped the 20 feet to the floor, betraying our little secret.We ended up with a lot of favorite moments. Danny got to meet the real Mickey. Brent and I rode California Scramin one at a time, and both suddenly remembered how fun roller coasters are (it's been years). Kate went crazy exploring the island formerly known as Tom Sawyer's Island. We had plenty of time to do whatever one of the kids suggested. Which is why we found ourselves on our last night following Danny's suggestion to watch fireworks and eat ice cream at the same time. Standing in a crowd full of people I held Danny while he ate his own chocolate ice cream cone, blissfully pointing out his favorite fireworks and letting chocolate dribble down his and my shirt.