Disneyland

We just got back from a trip to Disneyland. We left last Wednesday after school and drove to Las Vegas. The kids were amazed at all the glittering lights, among other things. We were driving to our hotel when I heard George exclaim from the back seat, "Sam, that man is stealing."

I glanced out the window. Right next to us was a homeless man. I said, "No, that man is homeless."

George responded, "No, look at all that stuff. He's stealing!"

I said, "George, he doesn't have a home. He has to carry his stuff with him."

"Oh, that's sad," all the kids agreed. Only one dissenter. Max said, "I have a home." And of course, the back window was open during this interchange.

The following morning we took the kids to the breakfast buffet at Circus Circus. The food was fine, not memorable. But Sam disagreed. He came back with his third plate of food and exclaimed, "This is literally the nicest restaurant I've ever been in." There were smiles from the tables surrounding us. Steve started laughing. Cara and Sam could not understand why he would laugh at that.

At the same meal, Max looked down at the plate of food I had prepared for him. He asked, "Is this blood on my eggs, or ketchup?" I really don't know what is in his past that he needs to ask me that.

After arriving in Anaheim, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I thought the food was better than Circus Circus, but Sam was not impressed. After ordering and receiving his meal, he looked down and said, "Wait, why do I always have to be treated like a little kid. Like Max and George." He was looking down at his kids cup.

I said, "I thought you wanted that pizza and soda."

He said, "I did. It just makes me feel so unsophisticated." I'm looking at him and thinking, "join the club."

For the 'Happiest Place on Earth,' I'm not sure it helps their cause to fill all the rides in Fantasyland with villains. Even Cara jumped when the witch in Snow White turned around. I took Max and George to see the 3-D bug movie while Steve took the older kids on the rollercoaster. They were absolutely screaming when the black widows descended from the ceiling. Telling them to shut their eyes didn't do any good because you could feel things slide under your seat. Absolutely disgusting. Now that it's over, Max can talk about it. "Remember when the black widows came and I cried?"

Disneyland was fun, and very tiring. It's crazy that you spend so much money to fight crowds just so you can walk. At one point, Max was walking and stopped and crumpled to the ground. I said, "Max, get up. Don't you want to ride on the Tower of Terror?" He replied, "I can't. I just ran out of batteries."

On that note, I think I just ran out of batteries. But lest you think we didn't have fun, we did. The kids will be talking about it forever and that is what it's all about.