This last week, we went with some of John's family to a beach house in California. We were able to hang out at the beach, and we couldn't get out of going to Disneyland. Can you imagine the damage done to my kids if I would have told them that no, even though all their cousins and everyone was going to Disneyland, we were not going to go. I'm sure they'd be in therapy for years just over that incident. Most of you know that I am not the biggest Disneyland fan. I thought maybe I would like it more after going this time, but sadly my views on Disneyland were further validated. Case in point, the Snow White ride. Does anyone remember that ride? We are standing in line, and there is this spooky dungeon chamber with a skull and you hear a witch talking all scary and cackling. Carston's cousin, who is three, starts crying saying she doesn't want to go because it is scary. Dumb parents that we are, we all assure her that it will be fun and she'll get to see Snow White. We were totally wrong. You see Snow White for all of two seconds at the very beginning, and then the rest of the ride is through the scary woods, with the witch popping up all over the place, scary music, etc. My favorite though is after you have gone through all that, when your cart is coming to the place where you get out, there are words painted on the wall: "And they lived happily ever after..." Ah, the joys of Disneyland. It just seems like the place where we teach our children to distrust their gut feelings. "It looks scary." "No honey, this is fun! I promise. See how fun it is!" Anyway, enough about my affection for Disneyland. In all fairness, Carston did enjoy the Buzz Lightyear and the cars. If you average the cost per rides that he actually enjoyed, I sure hope he enjoyed them ALOT, because they were pretty pricey rides! They did have fun though. Avery was so funny, when we were there she kept saying, "I wanna go to disneywand." I don't know what she thought Disneyland was, maybe the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She liked meeting all the characters, and Carston was very excited about Buzz Lightyear. It is funny sometimes to see how different my kids are. Carston was cautious about every ride, wanting to know if the people in it moved, if they were real, etc. Avery didn't think twice about anything we were doing. Carston was funny about the Pirates of the Carribean ride. Everyone was in line, and he decided he didn't want to go. I got off with him, and he started asking if the pirates in it were real and could move. I explained that they were toys, and so he decided he wanted to try it. He was scared the whole time, but I was proud of him for keeping it together. Later that day though, he said he changed his mind and he like it because Captain Jack was in it and he was nice. 
What I enjoyed the most on this trip was just watching my family. I loved watching John playing on the beach with his brothers. They were little kids in heaven back in the sun where they grew up (check out the sand castle). I liked watching Carston having fun with his cousins. He idolizes his 8 year old cousin Jace, and he was so excited to go to California with him. My favorite was watching Carston tackle Jace over and over in the sand. He was so determined! I liked watching Avery playing with the sand, trying to push her hair up off her face (my all time favorite little girl move)! It was also fun to hang out with all the adults after the kids were in bed. It is a rare occasion when we can all get together and not have to be mommy and daddy at the same time.
It was a great trip, and we are glad that we were able to go. Now it is back to home life. Next week I'm attempting to get rid of Avery's diapers and get Macy sleeping through the night in her own room. We'll see how it goes.
