A California Adventure

We are back and on the road to sleep recovery after an excellent but exhausting trip to southern California with mima and papa. We'd long wanted to get the boys to Disneyland, and with Owen only having a few more months before he would become a paying customer, that time was now. The plane tickets were prohibitively expensive until mere weeks before the trip (a big JetBlue sale was brought to my attention even more recently that would've knocked down the fares further - ah well), but we finally found a reasonable fare and got our first taste of the newish uber-trendy airline. Costco Travel also helped out with a fine bundle of hotel plus park tickets plus fun extras.

The boys dug the trendy pinkish overhead lighting in the plane, which of course followed the usual exposure to multiple modes of transportation: Z got off his school bus on the last day before break to get in our car, then take a shuttle into the airport, a couple of elevators, a walk through security, play time at the terminal, and of course the airplane proper, followed by more escalators, a baggage claim, and then a shuttle ride to Anaheim.

The driver complimented our hotel as being very close to the park. He was not kidding - it is literally the closest you can stay to the pedestrian entrance, and the next morning, after a filling continental breakfast, we were into the park by around 8:05 am. The park was shockingly quiet (it had apparently rained the previous day, keeping the crowds down) and fully decked out for the holidays (with faux snow on the castle's turrets), and we managed to quite nearly walk straight onto Peter Pan (the boys are still talking about the "pirate ship" ride as their favorite) then hit a line-free Fantasyland carousel, Dumbo flying circling elephants, the similarly functioning Tomorrowland rockets, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean (O was distraught by the talking parrot at the very beginning, and covered his ears through much of the rest of the ride; Z was mostly concerned about the early splashing, where both he and I got a little wet - but overall both boys seemed to like the pirates, boats, and music), the Haunted Mansion (impressively fully updated for the holidays with a "Nightmare before Christmas" theme), and the train ride around the entire park. Papa and I even got to ride the Indiana Jones ride while mima, mommy, and the boys went on the jungle cruise. Then, with our main initial goals accomplished, it was time for lunch. And it was only 11 am.

As seen in the pictures, the boys were wearing some excellently cute matching Buzz Lightyear sweatshirts that mommy had gotten them for Chanukah - it was amusing to see the number of Disney employees who greeted them both as "Buzz" or "Space Ranger". In the afternoon, we continued to hit a few rides until O conked out (clutching bits of a Mickey Mouse cookie no less), at which point we mostly moved into strolling-the-park-mode. We eventually parked at a spot outside of the castle to watch the twice-daily parade; O impressively slept through the very loud music and floats, while Z seemed only mildly interested in the parade until the Toy Story characters grabbed his attention with appearances near the tail end of the route.

Los Angeles friends M & L and their kids C and I were coincidentally across the street at California Adventure for the day, so we decided to meet up for dinner in Downtown Disney; on the way papa ducked into the giant Disney Store to redeem one of the many coupons in the Costco package, for a set of (Cars-themed) Disneyland pins and lanyard pass-holders that the boys would wear for the rest of the LA trip. Z conked out as we strolled, so he missed the Lego Store's epic Buzz, Woody, and Beauty & the Beast displays - O was very pleased to see the various shuttle buses and of course the passing monorail cars. Dinner itself was a bit rough; the restaurant does a 'monsoon' every 20-30 minutes that startled the kids despite our warnings, and Z woke up a bit disoriented and cranky. It was still very good to catch up with M & L before heading back into the park for the fireworks (and bonus rides of Buzz Lightyear, the updated Finding Nemo (previously 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) submarine, Winnie the Pooh, and snack time). The fireworks turned out to be a dud, they scrubbed them 5 minutes in due to high winds, but the boys were both very happy and pretty wiped with an epic first day behind us.

For day two we adjusted our plans (originally we'd wanted to save the new Cars Land for the afternoon, figuring the boys wouldn't want to leave); based on the success of the early entrance, we decided to get into California Adventure early to knock out as many sights as we could before our booked 'character experience' lunch with Goofy and friends. Good call because the crowds were already way up from the previous day, and there was a giant queue just to get Fast Passes (!) for the big new Radiator Springs Racers ride. We went right into the very cool Cars Land, which is an impressive life-size rendering of the town from the first film. The boys had an immediate opportunity to meet Lightning - O ran immediately to his back, I think either hoping to push him or perhaps climb up on his trunk? Anyway, the boys were big fans of the talking and eye-movement-animated McQueen. We then rode some of the Cars Land rides: the hydrofoil Luigi's Tires and the wildly spinning Mater's Tractor Pull (mima was a late scratch for that ride once she saw what was involved), both of which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. We exited the second ride to find that Mater had replaced Lightning at the Cozy Cone for photo ops, so one more queue to get our pictures with him. (Z, upon touching Mater's rusting frame: "Mater is a little bit dirty!") Afterwards, we walked through more of Cars Land and appreciated the many little touches (I liked that all drinks there are served in orange traffic cone containers), before the music moved O enough to get him and mommy dancing - a cast member even complemented his moves.

We then headed onward to the Paradise Pier, a boardwalk full of rides and games, where papa took Z on his very first rollercoaster (he loved it) and the kids had a blast on the slightly dizzying giant ferris wheel with gondolas on separate tracks that caused them to slide around as the ferris wheel went up and down. (This was the first and only ride I noticed to have prominently displayed motion sickness bags, in a pocket inside the gondola.) We then doubled back to "a bug's land" for some kid-friendly bumper cars.

Then it was lunch time (again, before 11 am), so we exited the park and strolled the length of Downtown Disney to the original Disneyland Hotel, home of Goofy's Kitchen. The boys mostly had a nice time even if the actual eating was at a minimum; O was initially very shy/mildly scared of the life-size characters - before being seated, you get your picture with Goofy, and ours features O's face buried in mommy's shoulder. But he did much better once the staff brought him a "bravery" button (again, both boys added these to their increasingly adorned Buzz sweatshirts), and even gave Chip a nice hug. The meal itself was nice, with a large buffet of kid-friendly food (I particularly liked that many of the stations were positioned at their height) and a steady stream of photo op visits with Goofy, Pluto, Baloo, Chip, Dale, and the Mad Hatter. (My favorite moment was when Z asked the Mad Hatter what his favorite vehicle was; he hesitated for a moment, then answered a very Disney-appropriate "Lightning McQueen!")

The afternoon featured more rides, including the fancy stereoscopic 3D "Toy Story" ride (I tried to explain how it worked to O, but he was much happier just watching me "play" the ride). O then conked out through yet another parade (this time the Pixar-themed one at California Adventure), Z and I rode on a number of other rides, we walked around Cars Land some more (where Mater, McQueen, and a slightly more obscure Cars character made appearances), then O woke up in time for the repeat performance of the parade, which both boys enjoyed immensely. Then mima and papa generously took the boys out for dinner so Meh and I could have a slightly more grownup meal -- at the same place we went on our third anniversary trip to Disneyland, six and a half years ago! It was a wonderful ending to our time in the Magic Kingdom.

The next morning we headed back into Los Angeles, where O was thrilled to be able to pick out which rental car we drove out of the lot (a shiny red one) for a day of visiting with friends (at a local park) followed by driving out to Malibu for both tasty cupcakes and a drive-by visit to two of mima, papa, and Meh's previous residences. We then relaxed at the hotel for a bit, where Z decided he wanted to head for pajamas early; I stayed with him while everyone else fought epic Friday night rush hour traffic to find some conveyor-belt sushi; O was apparently a big hit with the restaurant staff.

Our last day featured visits to our favorite restaurant supplier (O picked out sprinkles; mima and papa some utensils; Meh some lovely-looking chocolate and cocoa), my new favorite tea makers (Meh picked out five fabulous types, including a new favorite alternative to hot chocolate), and then another brunch at friend E's house - huge thanks to her for hosting us! The boys were beyond stir crazy, so we took them to another fabulous park for a bit more playtime before hitting my traditional pre-LAX-flight meal, where we sat at an outdoor table with a fabulous view of both incoming planes and the many cars/trucks queued up for the drive-thru. Then a bit of time in the thankfully not-too-crowded terminal, and we were back in the air for our flight back. Again, a wonderful and exhausting trip, with many great memories - but as both O and Z were saying, "first blue car, then home".

Religion in the schools

This week was Zachary's turn as "star of the week" at school. They rotate through each of the kids during the school year, and each day of the selected week, the "star" gets to do something special. Over the weekend (or more accurately, mostly Monday morning at 6:30 am), we helped him assemble a giant poster full of things that he likes: books, movies, things to do outside, etc. Every day of the week we learned about his activities: he got to choose a friend to have special snack time with, his favorite book (this week at least - a fine Chanukah present from Uncle B and Aunt J) was read to the class, and so on.

On Friday, the family of the "star" is invited to come in and share something - and with Chanukah being celebrated this week, Meh did double duty, introducing the class (Z is the only Jewish kid) to the menorah, dreidel, and other Chanukah traditions. I was particularly impressed with both her kindergarten-level rendering of the story and the kids' continuous concern/questions about the fact that the Chanukah candles don't stay lit for eight days straight - Meh made some references to the actual eternal lights found in synagogues, but it's certainly a good point that the main miracle of the holiday isn't really demonstrated (more the opposite; Chanukah candles often don't even last a half hour!) by the holiday's primary symbol. Happy "star" week to Z, hope he enjoyed his special week at school!

Family news

Grandma and J just boarded a plane home this morning (Z and O were disappointed they couldn't accompany to the airport) after a lovely weekend visit! The boys had a great time with them, from picking them up at the airport to getting to spend lots of time playing, reading, running around at a local park, and more. They also got to see some of the, ahem, culture of the east side, accompanying me to a holiday orchestral concert where one of my compositions was being performed to a sold out (!) audience. (I also got some coverage from the local newsradio station, who met me for an interview in a Denny's parking lot (!).)

And we all got to celebrate the beginning of Chanukah as well. The first night was a mild disaster (due in part to starting things too late and O continuing to battle against the afternoon nap) of melting down children, but the second night was far more positive at friends' R and M's house with their son J, several other families, and of course an all new set of toys for the boys to explore in between lighting candles and spinning dreidels.

Weekend Update

Zachary occasionally brings home completed assignments where the kids talk about what's going on outside of school. The teacher helps them write down what happened, then they write their own letters over the highlighter and draw a picture. Recent examples:

"Over the weekend I went to the pumkin [sic] patch with mommy." (It was actually three weeks earlier. Should we be worried about misspellings by teachers?)

"Over the weekend I watched Toy Story with Owen." (I think the same could be said of most days of the week, but respectably accurate.)

"Over the weekend I had Thanksgiving with my brother. I ate apple crisp." (There were about ten other people. There was no apple crisp.)

Apparently we're not alone in having a kid that brings home contents that only mildly jive with reality, as our neighbor reported during today's playdate that her daughter often similarly has at best fanciful events to report. We were therefore extremely impressed to see Z appearing to start to grasp the assignment with the piece of paper that came home today:

"Over the weekend I went to a party. I had cake. I put bubbles on my face."

He did indeed go to friend N's birthday party, at an excellent local bounce house! (N is 7. His friends are 7. There was much raucous wildness. I fear for our future.) And he even ate cake - though Z appears to disdain icing, and somehow managed to eat the two layers of chocolate cake while leaving an impressive pile of Costco icing in his wake. (As pictured, he also ate tortilla chips for the first time, though eventually they got "too spicy".) The bubbles on his face, well, last week one night in the bath he was doing that, so we'll call that close enough to the weekend. Go Z!