Laura

So, we went to Disneyland for Christmas this year. (This was partially a whim and partially not - we had savings for, and plans for, an eventual Disney trip. I'd been waiting until the boys were old enough to enjoy it, and when our Christmas plans shifted a bit we said 'why not?' I'd meant to do 5/8 for the ages, but 4/almost-7 seemed close enough.) The one bad thing about timing is that Ian is 41 inches tall at the moment, or perhaps 41.5 with shoes on, and that makes him a half-inch too short for several rides. He was very disappointed by this once or twice, but honestly, mostly he didn't miss it. I think the Grizzly River Run is the one thing he really regretted it on, and if he had ANY idea how cold Andrew and I were...well, he'd still have regretted it, because four-year-old excitement and practicality do NOT mix. Heh.

I am not going to try to describe the Christmas decor in the hotels, Downtown Disney, or the parks. It was GORGEOUS and AWESOME and I will have pictures up later and let them handle it because seriously, awesome to look at, probably boring to read about.

I'm including steps/miles walked, as registered by my phone, because they amuse me.

I'm cribbing some of this from text messages sent to other people to jog my memory, so some of you may recognize parts of this. :) Day by day, because I'm not sure I can keep it coherent even so.

MONDAY (11,112 steps; 5.22 miles):

( Travel, hotel, and Downtown Disney )

TUESDAY (16,475 steps; 7.34 miles):

( Disneyland )

WEDNESDAY (18,098 steps; 8.39 miles):

( Breakfast with Mickey and Friends; Disney California Adventure; Laura's health (bah) )

THURSDAY (18,364 steps; 8.26 miles):

( Chip & Dale, DCA, Disneyland, and the Rainforest Cafe; one lost item )

FRIDAY (18,759 steps; 8.27 miles):

( Goofy's Kitchen, Disneyland, and DCA )

SATURDAY (6,919 steps; 3.32 miles):

( In which small children having their routine disrupted catches up with us, and we go home. )

These are of a gorgeous sunrise last month.

Over here on Flickr

No preview - but go have a look, if you like. I'm quite pleased with them. It was a very obligingly lovely sunrise.

When Drew was around two or a bit younger, we tried baby swim lessons at a semi-local pool. It...did not go well. He had fun, until the first time he had to go on his back. All kids, all the same, all the time. It ended when I stopped taking him after a few lessons because I thought they were doing more harm than good. I wanted him to enjoy the water and swim - I was a "water baby" as a kid, and I wanted to pass that on - and instead it was teaching a horror that actually made *baths* hard for a while. No. Thank. You.

But I do want him to know how to swim, for safety reasons. So...Children of the Sea. It is a local, decidedly not cheap, place that specializes in teaching kids to swim, with a good student/teacher ratio and a heated pool. 92 degrees. And, yes, a heated room around it, so you don't freeze the second you get out.

This morning was his first lesson, and for the last month he has wavered between saying that he wants to take the swim lessons and that he doesn't. Luckily, he wanted to this morning and was so excited that putting his hair back in a ponytail (required because of how long it was) was totally ignored. He normally hates having his hair back.

First lesson, and they had him blowing bubbles with his face partly in the water, and accepting being guided across on his back with his head supported with a modified swim noodle. Well, then. The lesson was a half hour, and as we left he was pitching a fit because he didn't want it to stop.

So we went back tonight for open swim, which I wanted to do anyway to get Ian in the pool. (All the lessons for his age range at times we could make it to were closed when sign-ups opened to the public. I'll have a better chance next session, since we'll sign up when member families do.)

One hour in the pool and the boys had a BLAST. Drew gave us quite a start early on, though. Ian and I went ahead to the pool while Scott and Drew got ready - and Scott couldn't find where I'd set his swimsuit. So he came in to ask, of course with Drew with him. Drew was already in his suit, and he saw the slide into the water, dashed to it, and went down it with us yelling 'no'. Neither of us were in the deep area to catch him, and I was by Ian, who was sitting on the steps - I couldn't just dart over. Scott managed to grab him and another mother helped him out, and he was fine and even happy with himself.

While I was watching both boys - on the steps - while Scott got his suit, Ian jumped off the steps unexpectedly and ducked under and I go to fish HIM up - so they both took unexpected dives, but Ian's was a lot less nerve-wracking, IMO. And both were quite happy to stay in the water for the remainder of the hour.

Drew put on flippers and floaties and swam back and forth between the walls, with one of us next to him but not touching, and was SO pleased with himself. LOL. Ian mostly sat on the upper step and played with a couple of pool toys, but he was happy. He did insist on going down the slide - about six or seven times! Unlike Drew, he did it with me waiting at the bottom to catch him. Once or twice I caught him without his head going under, but mostly he got ducked briefly, and he was game to go right back. Drew didn't try the slide again, even when offered - but I don't *think* it was fear. He was mostly game until we told him he had to take off the flippers and floaties for it. He loves those things now.

I do wish open swim were earlier. It's from 6:45-7:45, and Drew resents the idea of getting home and going straight to bed. Our normal bedtime is 8 pm, but we're flexing it tonight. (To be fair, he took an inadvertent 2-hour nap in the car earlier, and he usually doesn't nap. So, that's part of it too.) We may have to flex it whenever we do open swim. I hope he doesn't expect it every week. It's not cheap. It is fun, but it's not cheap.

We have keys to the house. I got there about 3 pm today, our realtor met me and gave me them. While I was there, I met our new neighbors a couple doors down (very friendly, holding a garage sale), our next-door neighbor and her daughter (nice people, friends of my realtor as her son is in the same class as the daughter at school), and another neighbor from the end of the cul de sac who was getting her mail. They were all very friendly and welcoming, and assured me we would love the neighborhood.

I love the fact that it IS a neighborhood. I also, of course, promptly forgot all their names. Argh. I stink at names.

Anyway, since I had access again, some more pictures of the house. Pictures are thumbnails, click to view larger on Flickr.

So, last night from 5-10, Drew's daycare did a special session the kids could go to for an extra fee - a "pajama party" while parents had a nice night out for Valentine's weekend.

We took Drew. And then we came home and played World of Warcraft, cooked beans, and did laundry. LOL. The date part was WoW - we hardly ever dare to do anything like an instance any more, even a short one, as they're all too likely to be interrupted. It was fun! Silly, but fun.

Also yesterday we got Drew new shoes - he does need them for if he's outside as he does stand and cruise and will presumably toddle soon - which went surprisingly well. He likes his new shoes. Alas, he shut a thumb in a toy at the shoe store. No damage done except that he was VERY unhappy for a little bit.

I let him have a bit of my (unsalted) soft pretzel. He promptly leaned over and tore off a section about 2 inches long. LOL! I guess he likes pretzel, and I guess I should be better prepared to protect mine. ;)

Then we went to the YMCA swimming pool. We skipped the lesson this morning and will for the rest of this session. He is getting too upset at them. Instead we'll go during open/family swims. Early in the baby lesson they put them on their back. He hates it. And he hates being forced at their pace. And the lessons are pretty much ON his morning nap time. He was starting to dislike water and not trust us. So we took him in the afternoon - he slept in the car and when he woke we took him in and swam. He was VERY wary for a minute or so until he realized he wasn't having to do anything he didn't want to, and there wasn't a circle of parents-and-babies, and hey look the water bubblers and splashers are running and there are bigger kids and things to watch....

We stayed in for about 45 minutes and you could just see him unwind over the first 15 until he was having a total blast. And we still practiced lots of swimming stuff (kicks, splashes, blowing bubbles, climbing out) - we just didn't force, we coaxed, and we didn't flip him on his back. That'll come in time. For now, I'm glad to have his trust back in us in the water.

Just got back the results of my yearly cholesterol check, and every single measure is back in the normal range, with not even one hanging out in the marginal range. So yes, the changes of the past several years are definitely working. Glee!

When I was at the Gardens on Friday, I did not take very many photographs. It was one of those moments that does not feel like it can be captured in a photograph, when too many things felt or heard but not seen play a part in the totality, and when, for that matter, the moment and the things around you are so vividly there that to put a camera between you and it would be to lessen the experience. (The camera almost always enhances it for me, by helping me look deeper, or has no effect - but in this case, not so much so. It was one of those endless long moments when I was just there, wholly there, and didn't really care to step back enough to frame pictures.)

I took a few photographs, mostly when the mood broke or for a few other reasons. And I sat and wrote, on a bench by a little waterfall.

( What I wrote )

--

After I wrote that I continued up to the Pavillion, where I did take some photos as they are remodelling it - new wood, mostly, but also replacing the stone stairs that faced toward the entrance gate with wooden ones. Inside was the doll exhibit, which I wandered through but took no photos of. It felt a little disrespectful to do so, which is why I put the camera away as I entered (though there was no sign saying not to), but also once I was inside, I did not find the dolls all that interesting or attractive, so I soon wandered back out.

The pictures I did take and upload:
Pond in the strolling pond garden - near the iris beds.
Waterfall pond in the strolling pond garden - other end of the iris beds, with a nice framing (my opinion!) of the lantern.
And the front and back (new steps) of the reworked pavillion.

For our anniversary, my parents bought a cake. More accurately, they bought us a replica of the chocolate raspberry cake that was served at our wedding, with only the decorations changed to reflect that it was a first anniversary cake. Made by the same place, and the same woman, who remembered the order from last year when Dad got part way through the description! Dad dropped it off today. It was gorgeous, and just as yummy as the wedding cake was. Of course, it took us a little bit to find that out because I insisted on photographing it first:



Scott made spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. Yummy.

I won't say the day has been productive - we've mostly spent it playing WoW and hanging out - but it's been fun.