California Christmas

I’m really bummed because I mistakenly left the CD with all my pictures on it in California. My parents are going to mail it and so I’ll have to share pictures at a future date. I did take a few at Disneyland, though, before my camera ran out of battery power!

Yes, my parents surprised us and took us to Disneyland as a Christmas gift. Meredith realized her dream of seeing Cinderella face-to-face and meeting several other princesses. At one point I wasn’t sure if waiting in line with two million other parents and their daughters was worth it. But it was. I got some pictures of Meredith with Belle. Unfortunately Cinderella was not one of the princesses available when it was our turn for the meet-and-greet. As soon as Meredith hugged Belle, she said, “But where’s Cinderella?” (Sorry, Belle!) Later on we got to see Cinderella’s coronation and a story time with Cinderella. Thankfully that was enough.

I told the worker at the princess meet-and-greet that they need to have five Cinderella characters stationed around the park because she is unquestionably the favorite princess. The worker looked at me incredulously and said (for Meredith’s benefit, I’m sure), “But there is only ONE Cinderella.” Yeah, and there’s only one Santa Claus too.

It truly was comical watching all these Disney princesses surrounded by their adoring little fans, Meredith being one of them. Cinderella is probably a woman named Sheryl Jones who takes the bus to Anaheim every day and makes $13.50 an hour, yet to these little girls she’s a beautiful princess and their magical dream come true.

Aside from the princess stuff, Meredith will tell you that her favorite thing was the Peter Pan Ride. If she could talk, Clara would tell you that her favorite was It's a Small World--her eyes were wide with excitement during the entire ride!

Christmas morning at my parents’ house was crazy, as usual. My “favorite” gift was a pair of battery operated socks to keep my feet warm in the winter. It was regifted. Steve gave it to Betsy, who gave it to David, who gave it to me. Be careful … maybe you’ll get it next year. Ha!

The rest of our trip was really great, too. One sunny day we went to a park and flew some motorized airplanes. When Kevin had the controls, the plane took a dive and almost killed me and Christy. But after we overcame our shock, we laughed, and laughed. I also really enjoyed going to Naples to see the Christmas lights. Naples is a part of Long Beach, on the water, with lots of canals and bridges. The homes in Naples are incredible and are all decorated to the hilt for Christmas. The lights are nothing short of spectacular.

Here are some of the precious few pics I have! Hopefully more later!

OH YEAH! And here’s one of Kevin when he went to play “air soft” with David. First, he will tell you, there is nothing “soft” about “air soft.” I was nervous when I watched one Rambo after another filter in. Kevin is really not into the whole guns/Army thing. But I think he had a good time with David.