Disney!!

February brought our annual pilgrimage to Disneyland. As usual, the kids were insane with anticipation leading up to the trip and, as usual, it was delightful. We are so lucky to get to go and we had a ball. If you are bored by a whole bunch of photos of my kids at the Land, you can skip ahead (or go visit my other website and read some fun stuff!)

This year brought the interesting addition of having a child who wants to meet characters. Lila talked for weeks about meeting Mickey and the Gang. Jonah and Noel are still terrified of characters and won't get within 10 feet of them. And guess what, meeting characters is kind of annoying. Don't get me wrong, they are darling

but you kind of have to wait in long lines to see them. Including staying in those lines when Pluto "goes on a break." 

But Lila loved it. In addtion to Pluto, she got to meet Tiger and hugged him for honestly about 4 minutes straight.

It was darling. And I have always had a special place in my heart for Tiger, so I got in on the "meet and greet" action too.

And as long as we were entertaining guests in Pooh Corner, we met Winnie too.

But the real coups de gras was meeting the Princesses. Those ladies have their own special meeting area behind closed doors with an extra long line to get in. But it was worth it. Lila is sort of in love with Snow White (who isn't?) and was dying to meet her.

And as long as you have waited in the line, you might as well meet a million other princess, too.

And when your daughter loves the Princesses that much and then asks you to get these little beauties, how do you say no?

We always have a lot of fun with the cousins, including when everyone, independently, decided to get a Perry/Agent P doll. 

And we, of course, rode many rides. Noel is pretty much game for anything. And he loves them all. He is just as happy to be on The Little Mermaid as he is to be on a thrill ride. Here are he and I on Splash Mountain (Papa in the background.) We got really wet that time...

I even talked my kids into riding the inappropriately named "Fun Wheel." It is that giant Mickey-faced Ferris Wheel in California Adventure. It has normal cars and then other cars on tracks so they slide back and forth as you go about 100 stories into the air. I haven't ridden it since I was a teenager and it is TERRIFYING. I put on a brave face, but there was a lot of screaming from kids. Here we are moments before the tears set in.

You can still sort of sense the tension in their faces.

Small world. Greatest ride ever. 

Flick's Flyers. I always get to ride this one a million times since I don't get too sick. But let's be honest, it makes me kind of sick.

Heading over to Heimlich's Chew-Choo. Second greatest ride ever. Where else on earth do you get to smell Watermelon, Vanilla and talk endlessly about Candy Corn in a funny German accent? It is a classic.

This is when Jonah told the other kids to "act cool" as we waited to ride the Finding Nemo submarines. Nailed it, Noel!!

This years big hit was Big Thunder Mountain. Jonah rode it once when he was about 2 years old and has been too scared to ride it ever since then. This year he felt up for it..and then we rode it about 30 times. They boys loved it. And they are pretty cute when the ride. (Noel's snaggle tooth has since fallen out, thank you.)

We are also big fans of Gadget's Go Coaster (really, Gadget? You were such a part of the Disney Pantheon that you got your own ride?) and Goofy's Fly School. Here is the typical reaction - Noel: joy. Jonah: Having fun, but also a tiny bit terrified. 

Speaking of Candy Corn...I am really at Disneyland for the food. I could (and should) write a whole post about that. But here is my latest discovery. You can buy these little bags of Cinnamon Crisps at the dessert station at Rancho del Zocalo AND you get get DC with lime there (only place in the park.) The Crisps are life changing. It was a pleasure. 

It truly is the Happiest Place on earth and my kids are always so happy and so well behaved and so fun to be around when we are there.

And when they act up we can throw them in this weird-skull-cage-net thing.

Or a giant toy box. (I'd buy those action figures.)

Thanks, Walt!!

Part Time Authors

So, I've started a new blog. It is called Part Time Authors and I am writing it with three of my good friends who are all three funnier and better writers than me so I am pretty psyched that I tricked them into doing this.

The four of us contributed essays to a new book about parenting in the digital age, blogging, family history and story telling that is coming out soon called "Tell Me Who I Am." It will be sold at the Story@Home conference that is taking place in Salt Lake City in March and then available elsewhere after the conference. More details to come.

We thought it would be a good idea to start something to keep us writing, promote the book, etc. So we did.

Please go check it out, tell your friends, link to us on Facebook, buy a billboard on I-15 or whatever you feel is necessary to help spread the word. We officially launch tomorrow so we are giving you, gentle readers, a sneak peek to start getting the buzz going.

(PS. Table and Singlepot is not going anywhere. You can stop panicking.)