The happiest place on Earth

We came south for a short visit with Ahmee & Baba, auntie Danielle's baby shower and Skylers first trip to Disneyland. Can you say "Amazing?" He got alot of "new" on this trip. And now I can understand why Happy Meals are so popular. (note: that is Stacy Walen's baby Aidan in the pic with Skyler.)

This is what we did.
Friday May 13th - Drive to LA . Exhausting. If you have kids, you'll understand. You have to make alot of stops. 'nuff said.

Sat. May 14 - Shop and swim. It seems that somehow alot of our clothes didnt get packed, so we needed to pick up a few things. We went to Burbank Ikea to get you some doll house furniture. They say they have discontinued it and we cant get it here at our Emeryville IKEA, so we felt lucky to find it instead of paying double on ebay. We then went into Macy's so mom could buy a nice party outfit. You and I, we were bored but we managed to entertain ourselves by running around all the clothes racks for nearly an hour. Mommy found a great outfit and she looked terriffic! Definitely the prettiest one at the party.

Sun, May 15 - Auntie Danielle is having a baby shower for your cousin Sequoia, so while mommy goes to the girls party, us men (Baba, Uncle Bob, You and I) all went to the baseball game to see the Dodgers. We all had a great time. It was very sunny and hot. But why sit down, in that hot sun for an entire game when it is so much more fun to run through the hallways for 6 innings! It doesnt matter where we are, you find the fun. The Dodgers lost to the Atlanta Braves 5-2. We came home and went swimming. LA is SO Hot!

What's so amazing is you even remembered the next day when we asked "What did we do yesterday?" You said "We went Dodgers!" right in front of everybody. It was so cute!!

Monday May 16 - Shopping again. Actually it was returning all the bad outfits that didnt get worn at the shower, so to me it still felt like shopping. We did some buying, but mostly we used the toy store and bowling alley as amusement parks to get you tired. We went to dinner at Vitello's. An old favorite of mommy and daddy's from years ago when we lived in the Valley. It was still excellent after all these years.

Tuesday May 17th - Wake up! wake up! wake up! We're going to Disneyland!! Ok, drop Baba off at LAX so he can go to Mexico. We cruise down to Anaheim, and check into our hotel. It had everything we need and was right across the street from the park.

We are in Disneyland by 1 pm on our first day. I cant even begin to tell you everything but we did as many fun things as we could get to. Your face had a look of amazement. Astonishing! I dont think you could process all that at once. And I dont believe you had ever been in such a crowded place before. You handled it so well and I dont believe any of us panicked even once.

We had a discussion about how important it was to listen to mommy and daddy and to stay close and listen very carefully when we were in Disneyland. Why? Well we want you to be safe and wouldnt want you to get lost and be scared. You understood and and said you understood what I was saying. And you know what...you behaved so well. We were such a good kid the whole trip and you didnt misbehave at all. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and we had the best time ever.

We showed you everything. The Jungle cruise, Peter Pan, and Snow White, Pirates of the Carribean and Hauted mansion, and It's a small world, and so many other fun things too. It's Disneylands 50th year anniversary so they decked the place out in special gold trim, it was spectacular. At 7 pm we saw the parade with everybody in it and at 9 we saw the fireworks. After that it was time to stroll home after a terriffic and exhilirating first day and night at Disneyland.

Wednesday May 18th - The big day is here. Meet the mouse and the man. Yep. As we walk in, there he is, the mouse himself, Mickey! We sneak you up for a quick photo, but then even bigger surprises. We make our way to Tomorrowland and the Buzz Lightyear ride where you get to shoot at Zurg in a dayglow laser shooting game. But even better, as we step out of the ride, who do we see but the man himself. Buzz Lightyear. We ran as fast as we could to him. You got to hug him and we told him how much you love Buzz. And we have the photos to prove it. You were absolutely speechless for a moment there. Your eyes couldnt open any wider!

You drove a car for the very first time at Autopia. You turned the steering wheel and we went as fast as those little cars go! I really think you were enjoying it. We asked "Where are we going now?" since that's what you ask when we drive. Then we'd pont and say "Go this way. No, go that way" and we'd point the other direction" as the car crashed back and forth. Then we all laughed. Naturally you wanted to do it more. After that we went to Toontown had some lunch,and you rode your 1st roller coaster and then we went to Minnie's house and you had your picture taken with Minnie Mouse. She has a very fine house with interesting appliances in her kitchen for you to play with.

By then EVERYONE needed a nap. But we did manage to run onto it's a small world one more time. That may have been a mistake. You were very tired and had your only meltdown of the trip. Primarily due to our own stupidity. We left your pacifier at the hotel. Im sorry to have made that mistake, but it was quickly over. (rolls eyes and laughs)

We actually overslept a little. We dashed to dinner and then went back for our last few hours of Disney fun. I think we re-rode your favorites including Buzz Lightyear, Snow White, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh.

You are so cute, You had fun, smiled and laughed at all the right times. You were scared at the right times too. Not too scared though, you hid your eyes, but not all the way because you do want to see some things. We want to thank the fine folks at disney. Disney does "mean" so well, and you are very intrigued by who is and who isnt mean. "Oooh, MEAN!"

Little did we know you were coming down with a little sickness, which we fully come to grips with on the drive home so I wont bother you with our journey home. Who isnt a bit worn out by then end of a week long vacation anyways?

In conclusion let me say this. We had the best time at Disneyland ever!! Even better than I could have imagined. Everything went just right and we loved showing you Disneyland even more than we could have wished. I cant wait till next year!!!!

Your mommy and I love you so much Skyler.
xoxoxox ∞
Daddy aka Matt