Mucho Mouse

It’s been a banner week for Tenley: Disneyland 3 times in 2 weeks. First there was the Disney Family Christmas Party last Tuesday. It was, by far, the easiest of the 3 visits owing mostly to the fact that it was capacity controlled and there were no waits for anything.

Last Sunday we met up with three other families from our China travel group for our annual trip to D-Land to celebrate our girl’s birthdays. Normally we go in the fall (when all their birthdays actually occur), but due to scheduling conflicts we pushed back to December. Considering it was a Sunday during the Holidays, the parks were less crowded than I expected. Still, getting around with four 2 year olds, a 4 year old, a 5 year old, and 1 nine year old is like herding cats. Add to that the fact that Jeff and I were late and we spent 20 minutes playing “marco polo” on our cell phones trying to catch up with the group. We were able to get on several rides and saw one of the parades over at California Adventure; but mostly it was just great to see the girls together. It’s so amazing to see how much they’ve grown and changed- and yet are still the same kids- they have a special bond that transcends their time apart. Plus I really love seeing all the families.
Favourite moments from this trip include Gaynor overhearing 2 women in the Monsters Inc. line eyeing our little group of 5 seriously Caucasian adults, all the Fortune Cookies, and 1 blond haired biological child, and whispering “…I don’t know. Well, some of them must be adopted…” Gee, ya think??? There were also the 2 women in line for Dumbo (appropriate) who asked 1) were they all adopted? and 2) were they related? What- like someone had given birth to quadruplets and each family took 1?? Gaynor & I laughed so hard we almost shot Diet Coke out our noses.

Then Kim talked me into going with she & Jaxon on Wednesday. There really wasn’t any arm twisting involved: Ten loves it and I know what a drag it is to go by yourself. Uncle Kev signed us in and we took the kids to the Playhouse Disney Live show which they both seemed to enjoy in their own ways… Jaxon sat there in wide eyed wonder with his mouth hanging open in awe, and Tenley bounced off the walls and spent most of the show trying to put streamers from the confetti canons on my head. The rest of California Adventure was a bust: missed pictures with the Mouse, Monsters was down, rollercoaster closed, etc., but we went to Land and hit most of Ten’s faves. Kim wanted to ride Pirates, and the line was short, but I think Tenley would prefer to skip that one next time- she spent the ride clinging to me for dear life and burying her face on my shoulder. We arrived at Small World just in time to see all the lights come on, so I got a picture:


After that we rode Buzz Lightyear, bought a balloon & some goodies from the bakery and called it a night.

My most interesting moment in the day came when we sat down at Carnation Café for lunch, and Tenley went into her usual don’t-want-to-sit-down-& eat! Must-bounce-around-and-want-to-run routine. I wasn’t in any mood to deal with it, so I very calmly and very sternly told her that even if she chose not to eat she must sit down and behave or we would not ride Dumbo. She looked at me with huge eyes as if trying to discern how serious I was, and I guess she knew I meant it, because she sobered quickly and sat still and ate her lunch! Hmmm! We’re starting to grasp actions & consequences! Score one for Mom.

It was a good time, and we enjoyed seeing the pretty lights and the reindeer… but if I don’t see Anaheim before March I think I’ll be ok. April would be ok too.