Disneyland Eve
We just got together for our Shumway family reunion. This year instead of going to our normal spot at the beach, we descended on Anaheim to do Disneyland. It has been five years since the kids' first trip.
We met grandparents at the airport [Joss's favorite attraction was the baggage carousel and one Chick Hicks car -- 30+ minutes]. We met John and Kiecoo at the hotel where I kicked the event off with a bang by knocking Sebi's front tooth out. He was getting out of the van and I thought I'd help him by flipping the seat forward. DOWN went the seat. DOWN went Sebi on top of it. OUT went the tooth. I picked it up feeling rather satisfied, because he's had a terribly loose tooth for a few weeks. But when he opened his mouth, that was NOT the missing tooth! It was still there, pushed down at a rakish angle and giving him that baby-bird-with-an-egg-tooth look. He was not too happy about losing his tooth so quickly. Thankfully Disneyland is a good distraction!
We began with just a half day to warm up:
Uncle John and kids in line
Once we arrived in the park, we headed straight for Pirates of the Caribbean. This was Rob's favorite ride. From there we headed to the Haunted Mansion which I'd prepared Sebi for well. He loved it, but Will swore he was never riding it again.
I was surprised at how much active parenting Disney took. I had to work hard to get Will onto the submarine ride, Maddie onto Autopia, Sebi on Splash Mountain and others. But taking them to Star Tours, I looked down the row and all three of them were sitting rapt in their seats, eyes glued to the screen and mouths open like cod fishes. As soon as it was over, Sebi said "That was AWWWWESOME!" and when I asked if he wasn't scared, he looked at me like "duh!" and said "It was Star Wars!" as if that explained it all.
We rode Splash Mountain and the roles were reversed. And we got plenty wet despite the rain ponchos!
Joss took off with Rob and my parents and enjoyed having three adults to dote on him.
He loved the carousel, and went out for Mexican food. His absolute favorite was The Enchanted Tiki Room. I know this is a polarizing attraction for my readership. All I can say is that you need to experience it with Joss and Emmeline -- they are as entertaining as the show!
While on the trip he learned to say "luvoo" and "ankoo". What more could you possibly ask for?!
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P.S. I saw Maddie at the swim meet this weekend. I saw her win a heat! It was cool to see her in real life (as opposed to the pictures on your blog). Was it the first time I'd seen her since she was two?
I didn't get to say hi (and Maddie would undoubtedly have no clue who I was) because I was up in the bleachers and she and Rob were down by the pool, but anyway I thought it was very cool to see them there. I'm not sure why we don't have more meets with the 'rays since we're so close by.