Ellen and the kids arrived at General Convention on Thursday. Jim was able to make the drive with them, so the driving and kid-wrangling wasn't so overwhelming. I talked to Ellen when they were about an hour out, and she said she would call me when they got to the hotel. I got the call right at 2:00, just as Bonnie Anderson was announcing that the House of Deputies would come to order in one minute.
After our session I went back to the hotel room and saw everyone. Was mobbed by the kids, actually. The idea was to come into town in time to go to the U2charist, so that was the next thing on our agenda. We got to the ballroom, the service started, and three of the four kids fell asleep. We decided to take them back to the room, and Jim offered to stay with them while Ellen and I went back to the U2charist. In the elevator on the way back we decided to skip the rest of the service, and hit the hotel bar. Good move.
Friday, while I was in the final sessions, everyone else wandered around the neighborhood (heading toward Disney), then they discovered the hotel pool, and hung out there the rest of the day. Dinner was at the New Orleans style restaurant in Downtown Disney, then some browsing on our way back. But the kids did get to see the fireworks from just outside the park.
Jim really wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, and Ellen and the kids had never been there either, so today we piled into the car and drove to Newport Beach. The beach was very different from the one we are used to (Nantucket Sound at Cape Cod). It went on for miles in either direction, and the walk from the boardwalk/sidewalk to the ocean must have been 400 feet (instead of the 4 feet at high tide in Cape Cod! - I exaggerate, but not by much.). The waves were pretty big, and the kids had a fun time playing in the surf. And getting their clothes wet even though we tried to minimize that. But the most amazing thing to me was that there was hardly anyone there. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and there couldn't have been more than two or three dozen people as far as the eye could see. I guess that's what happens when you have these enormous stretches of beach.
On the way to Newport Beach we passed the former Tower Records store in Costa Mesa. It's just sitting empty and falling apart. Sad.
Jim's flight is this evening – he is taking the red-eye back to Tallahassee – so we got him on the shuttle to the airport, then we decided to go visit Disneyland. We got these 5 day passes (for the price of a 3 day pass – what a deal!! Thanks, Mom!) so we figured we'd better get hopping as we are supposed to leave LA on Tuesday (although I'm thinking an extra day might not be so bad).
Our first evening at Disney was spent getting a feel for the park layout, what rides there were, and trying some things. We did some things like the Matterhorn, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, both of which were met with mixed results, to say the least. I had promised Keke that I would take her on the Matterhorn as that was the first roller coaster I had ever been on. I thought it was great, but she was not a big fan. As a matter of fact she hid her head, and tried to duck down during the whole ride. Stewie wasn't a fan either, but I think that was because it shook you back and forth too much. Ellen didn't enjoy it because she spent the whole time keeping Munchkin from sliding down onto the floor of the car.
Speaking of Munchkin and rides, she got off Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and announced that she was never going on it again. What we were able to determine is that it wasn't the intensity of the ride so much as it was that she thought she was actually driving the car, and she wasn't doing a good job of it. Hmmm...better ride prep next time.
At the end of the evening we left Disneyland and went over to Disney's California Adventure. We went specifically for, and got there just in time for, the Main Street Electrical Parade. Of course, since it's now not on Main Street, USA, it's just the Disney Electrical Parade. Still, the magic is there - floats that are lit up and sparkly, and the characters are in lighted-up costumes. I think the music is the same as it was when I was little. The most fascinating thing in the parade was Elliot, the dragon from Pete's Dragon. Amazing, since the movie is not available (AFAIK), but the kids were mesmerized by the disappearing dragon. We'll have to see if we can rent it somewhere when we get home.
Once the parade ended, we left the park, watched the fireworks from the plaza in between the two parks, and then headed home (to the hotel).
