Our Southern California Vacation: Part 2
We woke up in a hotel across the street from the Magic Kingdom but it was 6 am and Disney doesn’t open until 10. Matthew and Simon were in one bed and Adlai and I were in the other. The lights were out and it was dark but it was obvious both boys were awake for the day. Simon reminded me of my job to turn on the light. I did. Matthew groaned. Adlai was babbling on and on and on and on and I said “Maybe if you say ‘Hi Da Da’ Daddy will get up.” And, as if he had done this a hundred times before, Adlai said “Hi Da Da.” Matthew got up. We surrounded the wee one and cheered as he repeated “Hi Da Da!” over and over clapping for himself.
We entertained the boys by giving them their first bath together and our free continental breakfast before walking across the street and offering Simon the choice: Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure. Simon chose California Adventure. None of us had been to this park before and I think we all actually liked it more than Disneyland. We spent the day there, riding a lot of rides THAT HAD NO LINES, eating lunch with the princesses, playing in a country band, and trying to keep cool in the heat. Simon’s last ride was his favorite of the entire vacation: Grizzly River Run - billed as the longest, tallest and fastest "tub-style" river raft ride in the world. We left the park for dinner and bed.
Tuesday we were joined by Grammy and Grandpa Rubenson. After breakfast together we all headed for Disneyland to the rides, rides, rides. Simon asked Grandpa to take him on Dumbo...
And he went on other rides with Grammy many of which included dark tunnels. After a while, Simon put a kibosh on any ride with a dark tunnel and, as it turns out, almost every Disney ride includes a dark tunnel. There was still plenty to do. We took rafts over to Tom Sawyer Island, watched a princess show, found Nemo in a submarine ride and spun in the tea cups...
The boys usually crash for the night at 7 pm but that was the start of the parade and we couldn't miss the parade...
We left the park, tucked the boys into their car seats where they almost immediately fell asleep and drove them nearly two hours back through Los Angeles. Luckily, we managed to transfer both boys into their beds sound asleep where they found themselves the next morning.
The drive home was uneventful. We stopped a few times for food and once to see a waterwheel described in the AAA guide.
Notice I did't once mention screaming? There wasn't any. Simon was so thrilled the entire trip that he pretty much forgot to misbehave. He was polite and loving and helpful and very good at entertaining Adlai in the car. He also nearly forgot his fear of public toilets and told us in plenty of time when he needed to go. Adlai was easy, as usual, and wonderful about napping on-the-go as well as being restrained in his car seat.
As we drove into our driveway on Wednesday evening, Simon burst into tears. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't explain well enough why our really great vacation had come to an end.