a california adventure
So yeah, we went to Anaheim for a long weekend. And yeah, I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Hey, if you want quantity, there are a lot of cheese-sandwich bloggers out there. If you want quality ... uh ... well, no promises.
Sed's dad and his immediate family hadn't met Miles yet, obviously. But they can't afford the thousand-a-pop to fly to El Paso from Canada. They did, however, have frequent flyer miles that would take them to LA. So we decided to meet in the middle and give the girls their much-needed roughly annual Disney injection.1
Our flights arrived at LAX at about the same time, so we shared transportation to the hotel. That was our first thrill ride, actually ... the van driver was somewhat less than alert, closing off what he said was a 16-hour work day, so that highway rumble strip saved our bacon more than once. It wasn't exactly an adrenalin rush, though, judging by our all falling asleep within 15 minutes of getting the room. The parks were better.
We spent three days in the Disneyland parks and one at Knott's Berry Farm. I'd never been inside Knott's before -- the closest I'd gotten was the food stands just outside on a high school band trip, standing at the exit turnstile and wishing I could ride the Silver Bullet. This time I totally did, as well as the Ghostrider, which is one of those frightening wooden coasters where you feel like it's gonna fall apart at any minute. Lourdess2 was on my big-coaster team this time, which is way better than standing in line by myself for 40 minutes. We pretty much rode everything that was operational, including California Screaming twice. Speaking of which, it was fun to go to California Adventure again, but I wish it hadn't been right when they're renovating like a third of the park.
I think Avery would have ridden the big coasters if she was just a little taller, actually. She loved rides this time, and I don't know where it came from. Little girl is growing up! She wanted to go on the log ride at Knott's, which features a totally exposed drop, so she knew the ride was going to splash 50 feet down at some point. But she loved it. The picture was classic, with her gritted teeth and wide eyes belying the fear of the drop -- even though she claimed she wasn't scared, but cold, and then asked to go again.
Miles didn't ride much, unless you count sitting in the baby carrier.3 He still seemed to enjoy himself. Besides being held basically nonstop for six days, he enjoyed the colors and the music. The Tiki Room cured his crying, at least as long as the show was going on. And he was enthralled by World of Color, the night water show with projected lights at DCA.
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to spend time with family, and we sure did that. Our hotel was right across from Disneyland and included breakfast4, so we got to sit together, chat about everything or nothing, start the day more leisurely. And when the old people and babies got too exhausted to last any longer, I hung with the sisters in the parks until midnight or close to it. We also got to see some old friends from college and med school days, which resulted in an apparent betrothal of my daughter to their son. Sigh. At least I won't be worring about random dudes, I guess.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Miles even did well on the airplane, sleeping most of the way. And now he has something else to lord over Avery -- she might have gotten to go to Disney all the time when she was a baby, but he went on a plane first.
1. After four years in Orlando, I'd be totally happy laying off the Disney parks for a few years. I think two visits was enough for Pappy as well, despite sharing the city's name and this whole trip being his idea. But kids are kids, and Sed's an addict.
2. She's doing very well, by the way. She's got a very selective appetite, has lost a lot of weight and isn't really growing like her doctors would like. But she was happy and energetic, and a lot stronger than the last time we saw her. The kid has such a good attitude about everything it's hard to tell she's been so sick.
3. Which Pappy insisted on wearing for most of the trip. I think he knows this is his last grandbaby for a good long while and wanted to make the most of it.
4. Of course, it was a "continental" breakfast, which is code for "carbs, handheld fruit and bad coffee." We supplemented with better coffee from the McDonald's next door.
Sed's dad and his immediate family hadn't met Miles yet, obviously. But they can't afford the thousand-a-pop to fly to El Paso from Canada. They did, however, have frequent flyer miles that would take them to LA. So we decided to meet in the middle and give the girls their much-needed roughly annual Disney injection.1
Our flights arrived at LAX at about the same time, so we shared transportation to the hotel. That was our first thrill ride, actually ... the van driver was somewhat less than alert, closing off what he said was a 16-hour work day, so that highway rumble strip saved our bacon more than once. It wasn't exactly an adrenalin rush, though, judging by our all falling asleep within 15 minutes of getting the room. The parks were better.
We spent three days in the Disneyland parks and one at Knott's Berry Farm. I'd never been inside Knott's before -- the closest I'd gotten was the food stands just outside on a high school band trip, standing at the exit turnstile and wishing I could ride the Silver Bullet. This time I totally did, as well as the Ghostrider, which is one of those frightening wooden coasters where you feel like it's gonna fall apart at any minute. Lourdess2 was on my big-coaster team this time, which is way better than standing in line by myself for 40 minutes. We pretty much rode everything that was operational, including California Screaming twice. Speaking of which, it was fun to go to California Adventure again, but I wish it hadn't been right when they're renovating like a third of the park.
I think Avery would have ridden the big coasters if she was just a little taller, actually. She loved rides this time, and I don't know where it came from. Little girl is growing up! She wanted to go on the log ride at Knott's, which features a totally exposed drop, so she knew the ride was going to splash 50 feet down at some point. But she loved it. The picture was classic, with her gritted teeth and wide eyes belying the fear of the drop -- even though she claimed she wasn't scared, but cold, and then asked to go again.
Miles didn't ride much, unless you count sitting in the baby carrier.3 He still seemed to enjoy himself. Besides being held basically nonstop for six days, he enjoyed the colors and the music. The Tiki Room cured his crying, at least as long as the show was going on. And he was enthralled by World of Color, the night water show with projected lights at DCA.
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to spend time with family, and we sure did that. Our hotel was right across from Disneyland and included breakfast4, so we got to sit together, chat about everything or nothing, start the day more leisurely. And when the old people and babies got too exhausted to last any longer, I hung with the sisters in the parks until midnight or close to it. We also got to see some old friends from college and med school days, which resulted in an apparent betrothal of my daughter to their son. Sigh. At least I won't be worring about random dudes, I guess.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Miles even did well on the airplane, sleeping most of the way. And now he has something else to lord over Avery -- she might have gotten to go to Disney all the time when she was a baby, but he went on a plane first.
1. After four years in Orlando, I'd be totally happy laying off the Disney parks for a few years. I think two visits was enough for Pappy as well, despite sharing the city's name and this whole trip being his idea. But kids are kids, and Sed's an addict.
2. She's doing very well, by the way. She's got a very selective appetite, has lost a lot of weight and isn't really growing like her doctors would like. But she was happy and energetic, and a lot stronger than the last time we saw her. The kid has such a good attitude about everything it's hard to tell she's been so sick.
3. Which Pappy insisted on wearing for most of the trip. I think he knows this is his last grandbaby for a good long while and wanted to make the most of it.
4. Of course, it was a "continental" breakfast, which is code for "carbs, handheld fruit and bad coffee." We supplemented with better coffee from the McDonald's next door.