The Happiest place(s) on earth

Although we have never bought into the idea that parents are depriving their children of the necessities of life if they have never been to Disneyland, the stars aligned for us in January, and we were able to put together a pretty fun trip.

It all started last summer, when Kelly proposed a paper for a conference in San Diego, then forgot all about it. In October, we found out we'd be going down south, so we figured we could try to piggyback on the drive down with a trip to the magical kingdom itself. One thing led to another, the phones started ringing, and before we knew it we had ourselves an ordeal all lined up. Here are some pictures from the fiasco in no particular order (importing confusion).

The first day at Disneyland was tough on little B. He came down with a cold that later evolved into a flu, which resulted in throw up near the men's restroom of the Livermore A&W Root Beer. When we got home, he climbed into the crib (which he hasn't used in years), and went to sleep. Sick kids are a sad sight.

This was earlier in the trip, when a few power ranger action figures, the first twenty minutes of several DVD's, and lots of junk food got us all the way down the coast (7.5 hours) with minimal whining and crying. Asher took two naps along the way. Overall, we had some pretty good travelers.

They say Disneyland makes the kids happy...you should see the grandparents. We were so happy to have Kim's parents lay aside their normal lives for a few days and make the trip over. Although Bennett doesn't show it in the picture, our kids were so glad to be around their grandparents and ate up every second they could get. And to top it all off, the cousins from Oklahoma flew in and turned the trip into a veritable family reunion. 

Southern California in January - warm enough to play in the water in a diaper.

And Mr. Crankyface (at the beginning of the sick phase, Bennett was not feeling very happy)

Asher, on the other hand, was loving life in Toon Town.

While Kelly was sitting through boring talks all day at the hotel, Kim and the boys got a special visitor - aunt Leanne from Arizona - who accompanied them to Sea World one day. Despite the funny sea lions and spectacular orcas, Asher preferred rolling around in his jammies all over Leanne.

But the shows were pretty cool.
Bennett was not very pleasant at SeaWorld, even after several exuberant youtube sessions leading up to the occasion. He did, however, enjoy the padded play area with the huge stackable blocks. Can anyone tell me how this fits in to the marine motif?

The Hike

It was one of those afternoons where moving from the east coast to California makes perfect sense. Paradisiacal, you could say. And afternoons like this one have a tendency to turn otherwise normal people into the adventurous, active type without much warning. So it was on this Saturday afternoon, as the four of us set out on the first hike in the history of our family - possibly since Scouts and Girl's Camp, depending on what you count - and we were off toward the green hills of Briones Regional Park. 

Bennett was thrilled to be walking/running along the trails, and the nervous factor was limited to the remote possibility of a dog attack (we saw lots, but they were mostly on leashes) and a tumble down a cliff (there was a lot of grass, so he would have had a padded fall). Asher rode most of the way on our shoulders, using the kid-carrying backpack we bought at a garage sale a few months ago (for free) with the hope that we would one day use it. 

Bennett got some positive reinforcement at an early age for picking some flowers in a field and giving them to his mother; now he cannot resist the opportunity, and we have had to physically restrain him from the planters of many a shopping center. In the wilderness it seemed OK, and he was off through the meadows gathering token after token of his affection. Sweet kid.

By the end of the trek, Asher was getting restless, and his thirty-four pounds were weighing on our shoulders in a painful way. Not to mention the climb. So we found out that we, while not exactly prepared to take on Everest, definitely have the potential for being one of those families that hikes for fun, and we plan to try it again soon. Especially when the weather and scenery are this perfect.

As if all that outdoor adventure were not enough, Asher couldn't get enough and hurried outside to enjoy his own little slice of paradise - slides and lollipops in the backyard.