Tonight is our last night in California. I am pleased to report we are nestled safely in a San Diego hotel room and we are not, in fact, trapped in the bottom of the San Andreas Fault. (You know what's funny? The whole time we've been here, when I've chatted with store clerks or people on the bus, and the fact that I'm from Oklahoma enters the conversation, they all say the same thing: "OKLAHOMA? Oh, do you get lots of tornadoes? I could NEVER live in Oklahoma!" I feel strangely vindicated to know that my irrational fear of natural disasters may be universal after all.)
It has been such a remarkable trip--one of our best, I'd say. In addition to all the fascinating things we saw on our first couple of days, we've now added Disneyland to the list. We felt like my daughter would love it; at four and a half, she's old enough to articulate her enjoyment, but young enough to believe in all the magic she would see at the park. At least, I hoped she was, and our first meeting with Princess Ariel put any of my doubts to rest. Corrie grabbed both Ariel's hands and, eyes wide and sympathetic, she said, "I SAW your SHOW with the {dramatic pause} SEA WITCH." And that sweet Ariel just jumped right in and talked all about it with my girl, assuring her that yes, Ursula was very scary, but she's doing better now.
My boys rode every roller coaster in both parks, some of them without us, because I prefer to avoid barfing on my vacations, thank you very much. Everyone found at least one ridiculously-overpriced very sentimental souvenir to take home. We did the two parks in two (very full) days. It was probably enough, though I suspect we could've gone on longer. We all agreed that we'd see what we could, and not worry about the rest. It kept expectations realistic(-ish). We missed Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan's Flight, but the guys did Thunder Mountain Railroad twice. Corrie and I rode King Arthur's Merry-Go-Round (or, as Corrie calls it, the "miracle round") a whopping FIVE times. The family favorite was Soarin', just as it was when we did Disney World a few years ago. It's a can't-miss attraction.
On our last night in LA, we stood at the base of Sleeping Beauty's castle for the incomparable Disney fireworks show. To the utter joy of my daughter we got to see Tinkerbell fly in and light the castle. It was jaw-dropping. And Corrie, being my animated little chatter-bug, felt the need to call play-by-play game analysis of the whole thing: "LOOK! SHE'S COMING IN! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S REALLY FLYING. HOW IS SHE FLYING? MOMMA, IS THAT REAL? I THINK IT'S REAL. OH, LOOK, SHE'S FLYING AWAY. WHERE IS SHE GOING, MOMMA? I THINK SHE PROBABLY HAD TO GO GET MORE PIXIE DUST." Her thrills over the whole thing filled my heart up so full, I still feel a little glowy.
So we ended up here, in San Diego, where we've spent a couple of quiet days. There's tons to do here, but we've mostly been lying low. We visited the seal habitat at La Jolla Cove, and then we did a little of this:
We walked the shops and restaurants of Seaport Village (positively charming!), and then we did this:
We drove around downtown and saw the colorful happenings at ComicCon. We had a good laugh, and then I did this:
It's a hard job, but I tried to do it well.
Tomorrow we head home, and I'd appreciate your prayers for safe and peaceful travel. Because you know what's between California and Oklahoma? It's a whole lot of FLAT. Just flat, flat, flat. Which is great for driving, but not so great for the cheerfulness factor of four children who would like to look at something other than all the FLAT. Perhaps I should prepare a two-hour lecture on the socio-economic history of the American prairie? I'm sure that would cheer them right up.
See you in a bit....
