We took a great trip this spring. When I was a kid, we talked about taking a trip to Disneyland but for one reason or another we never made it. So this spring before Josh left on his mission for two years, before Jon and Ruth moved to Texas, and before Jake left for overseas duty we loaded up and went to Disneyland and the beach in southern California. What a great chance to spend with each other for about a week. We got our pictures taken in the animation studio to see which Disney character we would be. We had some predictable results. Jake was cast as Gaston, Jared was Aladan, Rachel was Tinkerbell, Sarah was Nallah, Mom was Mrs. Potts. I was proud of Brock being Jimminy Cricket, responsible and upstanding. I was also Jimminy. Probably the best one was Dad who was cast as Buzz Lightyear. It described Buzz as being the defender of the home-front, if a little impulsive in his zeal. Doesn't that sound like Dad. These qualities were on display when we camped out for the fireworks and Buzz, er Dad, was great at defending our territory, running off intruders at every turn.
Rachel loved trying to catch up to all the characters and get her picture with them. We caught photos with several, but there were enough left that we'll have to plan another trip. Jared is a thrill seeker. He got to take off with his uncles and go on the "big rides". What a thrill that was for him. What great uncles he has. Brock loved the whole experience too. I think everytime we got in the car for the next week or so, he asked if we were going to Disneyland.
It was great to have Granny and Grandpa there with us too. They were as happy as the little kids to see and do everything. They entertained us by racing around in their motorized wheel-chairs. Also by virtue of their "status", we got to go up the exit-way to most every ride - a wheel-chair and 6 guests (x2 = the Bryan family). Jake did a great job navigating us around.
I loved having a week to spend with the whole family. I feel really lucky that our whole family was able to arrange to get that time off and spend it all together. They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, and for those three days, it certainly was.
We also had a day to spend at Newport Beach. We couldn't get Jared and Rachel out of the cold Pacific. Brock enjoyed helping me work on a sand-castle. It was a beutiful day, again made all the more beautiful by having our family with us.
I love California.
