It's a Small World...

It's not what you think. We haven't visited that ride yet.

We were up early and hit Disneyland as it opened. Maddie & Leah made the mad dash to ride the Mattehorn, while James, Josie & I decided to catch the newly revamped Pirates of the Caribbean. Josie was not enthralled with the Pirates. Again, it was dark and loud, so it only met two of Josie's criteria for a meltdown. As soon as the boat left the launch, she was saying, "hug, hug" which is Josiespeak for "pick me up and get me outta here!" (Most often used when she is strapped into a stroller!) I gladly put her on my lap and had her rest her head on my chest with my hands covering her ears. She did fine. She even wanted to look at pirate stuff when we exited the ride.

We met with Maddie & Leah at 9:30 AM to head over to the California Adventure park. The girls wanted to ride the Tower of Terror. James & I were in search of Mulan stuff. We had seen the Mulan character at this park when visited two or three years ago. (Can't remember when it actually opened...) Anyway, there was no Mulan. There was no Mulan merchandise, not even a sweatshirt! We headed back across the park and took in the Disney Playhouse live show. Josie loved it! She danced, clapped her hands and sang some of the songs. Finally, something she really enjoyed!

We met up with Maddie & Leah at the exit of the park around lunchtime. We decided not to spend the $50 lunch would have cost us - we were going to In & Out Burger instead! As we made our way toward the exit, we heard someone yell "JAMES!". It turned out to be Caroline, a long time and dear friend of James' from way back. We were so excited to see her! The last time we visited Caroline and her family was when Maddie was 4 years old! Since that time, we have exchanged Christmas cards and emails, but sadly not much else. Life is busy for everyone. Caroline was visiting the park with her youngest son, Niko, her partner Ken and his daughter, Amber. It was really a pleasure to meet Ken & Amber for the first time. We also had the pleasure of introducing Caroline's family to Josie. It was such an unexpected and wonderful surprise to see them...so that's the Small World story for today. I'll let you know when we actually get around to the ride.

After lunch, everyone just conked out. Josie, Maddie and Leah all decided to take a nap. That left me a few minutes to take a steaming hot shower (it's cold here!) and get ready for our dinner tonight. We are meeting our friend and James' colleague, Wen, and his family this evening to celebrate Wen's new job. After commuting from Los Angeles (where his family lives) to Michigan (where his previous company moved operations) for a few years, Wen is now employed in the Los Angeles area again! We are so happy for him!

So, its another day down, here in CA. I took a ton of photos, but I only upload a few because of time constraints. If you click on the photo below, it will take you to the photos I uploaded today.

Disney Satuurday 4/7/07 6:16 PM