Rite of Disney Initiation

Prayer of A Young Charlotte
Dear God,
    Please please please let my family go to Disneyland.
 I promise to be good.  I'll never ask for anything again.
 Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.  My life will
 be complete if I could just go there. Thank you.
 Amen.
(uttered every night ages 5-9)

I desperately wanted to go to Disneyland when I was a child.  My desire was only heightened by the commercials I saw on the Disney Channel.  It seemed like everyone but me got to go (this perception was probably boosted by the fact that I went to a private school).  My wish finally came true when I was 9 years old and my family went to Disneyland 3 days after 3rd grade let out.  We stayed at the Seven Seas Westward Ho Motel and it was magical.  My chest practically burst with joy the first time I walked down the Mainstreet of Disneyland.

The second time I went I was a young adult.  Dave and I went during a road trip on our one year wedding anniversary.  It was Dave's first time at Disneyland.  We had a great time and enjoyed our ability to go as single riders and move quickly through the park.

Dave and I decided to finally take our own children to Disneyland this year.  As luck would have it, the kids were aware of Disneyland due to their friends.  Just as I purchased tickets, the kids started asking when we would ever go.  I brushed them off with worries about cost.  I'm so mean.

I cashed in my personal days and we were off!  Unfortunately, our trip was planned to coincide with the worst storm in years in southern California.  We packed lots of socks, extra shoes, raincoats, and hoped for the best.  Going in February, and in the rain, means smaller crowds (yay!) or lots of ride closures (boo!) for rain and refurbishment.  The only two I was really bummed about being closed were the Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean. We stayed at the Grand California.  This was cool because it has its own entrance in California Adventure and it is right at Downtown Disney.  This made it easy for wanting to take breaks during the day, especially for Robin.  It also means we got to "magic morning" every day.

Our first stop at Disneyland was City Hall.  There we picked up a disability pass for Robin.  This pass made a huge difference in our experience.  Since most Disneyland ride lines are not wheelchair friendly, the pass allowed us to bypass lines and enter through the exit.  For some rides, it meant getting our own version of the fast pass.  California Adventure is wheelchair friendly.  Robin's stroller counted as his wheelchair.  Having the pass meant that while we still had to wait in line with everyone else, Robin got to stay in his stroller.  I cannot imagine not having the ability to let him be in the stroller.  Lucky for us, Robin loved his stroller.  He frequently would grunt and then pull down the top.

Eileen insisted we get our ears before we did anything else.  In addition to ears, each kid was allowed to buy one toy.  Linus built his own light saber, Eileen got a Mickey bubble wand, and Robin got a Robin LEGO set.

These boys might look cute, but this pictured caused our first full day at the park to start with squabbling children. Awesome.

The character breakfast at Storyteller Cafe was great.  They were able to easily accommodate Eileen's dietary needs.  Unfortunately, we had to pretty much throw Eileen's diet out the window for most of the trip.  Unless we were eating at one of the super fancy Disney restaurants, the menus were not accommodating.  Eileen had never been happier.

Robin was not a fan of the Disney characters walking around.

Jungle cruises are very intimidating.

Eileen impressed me on the trip.  She didn't complain about being tired or her feet hurting or not being able to walk.  I was shocked.  She went on all sorts of rides.  Her bravery increased as we went on more rides.  She even conquered Space Mountain.  Her favorite rides were Small World and the Symphony Swings.  Eileen truly loved everything, even the ducks that were all over.

Well except one thing....In her words it was the "dumbest, most terrible ride."  Splash Mountain.

So many good times.  Robin loved everything he could go on, especially the "up and down horses" (carousel) and the Gadget Coaster.  Linus loves thrills.  He really is the perfect companion for amusement parks.

There were many sweet moments.  Eileen reminded me again how much this girl loves her mama. I love these pictures of the two of us at the Alice in Wonderland house.

 Linus loved Robin. 

Linus and Eileen fought non-stop the entire trip.  Linus demanded to know who I loved more, him or Eileen.  Here's how that conversation went:
Me:  "Daddy, duh. Don't ask me a question if you don't want the real answer."
Linus: "What!?!"
Me:  "Think about it.  Daddy always lets me be in charge, have my own way, and get whatever I want."
Linus:  nods in complete understanding
I don't love Dave more than my kids, but Linus needed an answer different than I love you all equally in order to be satisfied.  He knew I wasn't being serious.

Occasionally, Dave and I would split up.  This is what happens when Daddy takes the kids to the Tiki Tiki Room for a second time.  Fake nose picking.

It was an exhausting trip. We walked a ton, ate lots of junk food, went on tons of rides.  I was grateful that my kids had zero desire to go meet Disney characters.  In fact, Eileen came out strongly against anything princess.  Since it was Presidents' Day Weekend I made my kids go to Great Moments with Lincoln.  Lincoln's sage words still hold true.

The rainstorm came on full force on our third day.  It wasn't so bad at first.  Less crowded, short lines, but wet.  And then.....OH MY GOD!  As we tried to make it to cover, I thought to myself, "This was a mistake."  We finished the day sopping wet.  The wet clothes and wet shoes smells took multiple times through the wash.  In the end, I can view certain moments (like getting into a Small World Boat swamped with water) through a comical lens.

During our final day of vacation, we slept in, packed, went out to breakfast, played at the LEGO store in Downtown Disney, and then went to the LEGO Batman movie.

We all headed home exhausted.

Eileen took a final shot as we flew home.

I had fun.  I'm exhausted.  I'm ready for a vacation from my kids.  I don't think I'm ready to become a "Disney Mom" just yet, but I would be happy to go back in a few years. I watched moments of sheer joy in my kids' faces.  There is so much of the world for us to see and experience.  Almost 30 years since I first went to Disneyland, and it is still a magical place.

From the Mouths of Babes in January

I made the grievous error of buttering Eileen's toast, not realizing she wanted to do it herself.  Eileen crossed her arms, collapsed, and sadly stated the following.

Eileen:  I guess you just don't understand me.

Eileen and Robin are taking a bath.  Dave pours water over Robin's head to wash out shampoo and Robin giggles.

Eileen: Robin is gaying.
Dave:  Why what?
Eileen: Like his robin song, "showers always make you gay."  Robin is gaying.

Linus: Robin say, "Oh my God."  Mom I'm not trying to get Robin to swear.  I'm trying to teach him the Act of Contrition.

While playing "I spy" with Grandma

Robin: I spy with my little eye something that starts with I.
Grandma:  I don't see anything that starts with I.
Robin:  I love you.

Grandma:  What letters are in "NO?"
Robin: N and O.  Attached there are no letters.  giggle giggle giggle

Surviving the Cold When You are Dairy Free

Eileen said good-bye to dairy at the end of August.  Needing to now embrace a gluten free, dairy free, egg free lifestyle has been an adjustment, but I've met the challenge head on.  It's been a mixture of success and failure and something in between.

It has been a cold winter by Puget Sound standards, and an even colder winter for the rest of the US. As someone who naturally gravitates towards the cozy, my thoughts go towards snuggling up with a hot cocoa by the fire.  My kids are like minded.  Unfortunately, traditional hot cocoa is pretty much a delicious dairy and milk chocolate concoction.

Determined to give my daughter the childhood she deserves, I searched for decent non-dairy hot cocoa recipes.  We tried the non-dairy cocoa mix with the polar bear on the front (meh).  Other methods that involved melting down dark chocolate were somehow not quite right, lacking creamy richness.  Adding a layer of difficulty, we are trying to avoid soy as much as possible.

Finally, with a decent hot cocoa recipe in hand (I admit it was for regular red wine cocoa), I visited many grocery stores to find just right ingredients.  I discovered Guittard semi-sweet chocolate baking chips.  They are peanut free, gluten free, dairy free.  Even better, it uses sunflower lecithin instead of soy lecithin.  When I first made the hot cocoa, something was missing--the creamy richness.  At the suggestion of my sister, I added vanilla almond milk yogurt (Kite Hill brand).  Success!

I served it recently at a baby shower I hosted and it was a big hit.  I shall share it with you.

Charlotte's Vegan Hot Chocolate Perfection

Cook time: about 5 minutes
Servings: about 8 small servings ( little goes a long ways)

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup Guittard semi-sweet chocolate baking chips
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 individual yogurt of vanilla almond milk yogurt

Instructions:
1.  Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium-low heat.
2.  Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is hot.
3.  Remove from heat.  Pour into mugs and serve.
4.  Try adding orange zest if you really want to take it over the top.

*I like to make several batches and put it in a crockpot to keep warm.
*If you want to add red wine, use 1 1/3 cups.  Wait to add until you remove from heat so as to not to lose its alcoholic effect.

Happy drinking everyone!

Mouths of Babes in December

Eileen:  I know how Santa got his job.  Before he did all his other jobs, he was a mailman.  Then he became a zookeeper and one day the reindeer followed him home.  That's how he became Santa.

Robin: (brings in stool and stands on it) Mama I am getting big. I will be so big I will have to be outside.

Robin: Mama I don't need you to scare me.  (I was trying to vacuum)

Robin:  Mama I saw a castle!
Me: That was a church, Blessed Sacrament.
Robin: It was a castle.

All the hot water in the house disappeared.  Sleuthing determined that someone turned off the hot water heater.  The culprit finally revealed the truth and their rationale.....

Robin: "You drink cold water.  You bathe cold water."

Robin was very grumpy.  Linus begged Robin to let him read to him and
compiled on the Elephant and Piggie in the house.

A Christmas in Many Parts

I feel like I've been in a whirlwind since winter break.    I've baked, I've cooked, I've hosted.  And then I've baked, and cooked, and hosted some more.  Along the way there have been many joyful moments, coffee, and wine.

This year I managed to pare down some of my hosting responsibilities, but there was still a lot.  I plan Christmas for my immediate family and Christmas with my siblings and parents.  I also host my sister and her family for several days, along with lots of visitors.  It's all very wonderful and I wouldn't have it any other way.  But whew it's required a lot of energy.

Christmas Eve was spent prepping food and doing schoolwork.  We enjoyed our traditional Thai food takeout for dinner and went to mass.  Linus was in an extra good mood and felt compelled to dress extra nice.  Instead of his nice Christmas sweater, he opted for a dress shirt, tie, suspenders, and fedora.  I didn't even have to ask him to wear his dress shoes!  This is a far cry from last Christmas eve where we could barely get him to put on pants.

So much excitement waiting for Santa!

We try not to go over board with Santa.  This year Linus got one main present (relatively modest at that) and Eileen and Robin got two presents that equaled about the same as Linus'.  Addionally, each kid got two books.

Contraptions for Linus.

 A Goldie Blocks zipline for Eileen and Robin got his blue birdie!!

I got Dave a flux capacitor car charger and a book.  Dave got me a book and a cast iron skillet.  Once all of Santa's presents were open, the kids opened a final present from Dave and me.  Dave and I decided to do our main family vacation to Disneyland!  The kids opened a box with 3 Disney lego minifigures, telling the kids they couldn't wait to meet them.  Eileen leapt for joy and hugged me.  Robin didn't know what was going on.  Linus basically responded with, "Meh."  Well alright then.

We spent the entire day in our jammies and ingested sugar.  No one changed until after dinner when we showered and put on fresh jammies.  It was such a relaxing day. The kids played.  We all napped.  Dinner was nothing fancy--kraft mac n cheese.  It was my concession to the kids for making them eat Thai food and knowing the next day they wouldn't like either.

The next morning we went to the movies as a family and saw, "Sing."  I wanted to make sure the kids got out of the house before all the guests arrived.  When we got home I got to work.  This year's Christmas menu needed to be gluten free, dairy free, and egg free.  Instead of mulled wine, this year I made red wine hot chocolate.  I made a vegan non-alcoholic version as well that was equally delicious.   We still had the roasted cranberry pork tenderloin along with balsamic brussel sprouts, a paleo "cheese sauce" (using butternut squash and coconut milk, nom nom nom" poured over roasted cauliflower, and gluten free shell pasta.  I have a favorite everything free baguette and served that with bruschetta and an apple cider pepper spread.  The adults enjoyed it the food.  The kids did not.

Dave was a super husband and cleaned the garage (even mopping the floor) before Christmas.  The kids played all afternoon in the garage.

Grandpa Claus came to visit and pass out gifts.  This year we changed it up a little and the adults drew names and only gave to one person (we all gave to the kids).  Only buying for one adult really made Christmas shopping so much easier.

I spent the next day in recovery.   Copious amounts of thick, delicious, red wine hot cocoa and cookies will do that to a person.  We also began the arduous task of putting the house back together.  The cousins have been playing hard and having a blast. 

Today my aunts Molly and Eileen visited along with my cousin Emily.  Robin snapped a pic of Molly.  He loves to take pictures of everyone in a room.

There was more coffee and more goodies.  My brother and his boyfriend stopped by later and the good times just kept going!  

At the moment, my sister, Beth and her husband, Chris, are out on a date for her birthday.  The kids crashed. You know they are tired when the big kids are fine with watching "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood."  I'm not sure what tomorrow brings, hopefully a nap and the possibility of a date.  

Christmas in the City

School let out for Christmas break on Friday.  Just under two weeks until my kids go back to school! I kid. I kid.  Things have actually been going great.  I warned them ahead of time that it would not be a screen time free for all and that has helped immensely.

Yesterday we went to the library and I checked out a ton of books.  Eileen, Robin, and I baked cookies.  We even took naps!  Linus had a date with Grandma.  As a belated birthday present, my mom took Linus to the Science Center to go to the Sherlock Holmes exhibit.  He had a great time.

Today we made our annual trek to downtown Seattle.  We always park at the Seattle Center and then take the monorail into downtown.  My friend, Beth, joined us for the third year in a row.  We made a beeline for the Sheraton to see the Gingerbread Village and managed to get there just ahead of the line (about 9:45 am).

We were all super excited about the Harry Potter theme.  It did not disappoint and might be my favorite yet!

      The details were so cool and the dragons insane!

    Pure joy came from Linus.  He was so helpful the whole day, taking care of this brother.

There was a basilisk that had a button on top that you could press and would then sort you into a house of Hogwarts.  I didn't get the chance to be sorted.

Fingers crossed for Gryffindor.....                                 

                                                              Gryffindor!

We headed over to the Fairmount for the Teddy Bear Suite.  Linus was impressed by the fanciness and asked to stay there.  Beth and I tried to explain he probably wouldn't actually have fun.  I didn't like the room's color scheme as much as last year's.

Eileen really wants a giant teddy bear.  She loves stuffed animals. Taking her a room full of giant bears seemed to satiate her desire a little.  Linus made himself at home and lounged in the lap of one.

After the Gingerbread Village and Teddy Bear Suite we hit Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  Linus earned a reward a few weeks ago and chose a meal at Cheesecake Factory.  Lunch on a weekday is much easier than dinner on a weekend.  The kids were really well behaved and Eileen handled the lack of dietary options for her with extreme grace.

Walking around downtown with Robin was slow.  Sometimes he wanted/needed to be carried (and I gotta admit he is getting a little heavy and I'm out of practice).  Other times he was content to just mosey, hands in his pockets.  He watched buildings, birds, window reflections.  Eventually, we found ourselves more than a block behind the rest of the group.  We finally made it to the carousel.  Beth was awesome and gave up her horse so Robin could ride.  You can tell he's a pro these days after all his hippotherapy--he looked for the stirrups, sat up straight, and was so comfortable in the saddle he couldn't be bothered to take a hand out of the pocket.

We ended the day back at the Seattle Center and rode to the top of the Space Needle.  It was Robin's first time.  Everyone was tired so it was a quick trip.  As we left the Center, we encountered a street performer (juggler/unicyclist).  It was the perfect end to an awesome trip full of sights and sounds of the city at Christmas.