Disneyland!!!

Dills and Bugs
Originally uploaded by pure_h2o

Last Wednesday, Franz, Sona, Eli, Max and I drove down to Disneyland to meet up with a whole bunch of family. First off, let me say, that getting sixteen family members in the same room is very difficult. I don't recommend trying it, as it may make you crazy. It had that effect on me. But when we were together, things were so fun and watching the kids play together was awesome.

Eli, for the most part, had a blast. Oddly enough, I would venture to say that his favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel's pool. It was so nice not to have a time limit on how long he could swim. He loved getting out of the pool and doing belly flops over and over and over again. It was quite entertaining. I had no idea that most kids can't swim like Eli. Every time we were in the pool, people came up to us asking how old Eli was, and then they would tell us what a good swimmer he was. I felt like saying, "Well, I hope so, the kid's been in swimming lessons since he was three months old!". I'm glad they've finally paid off.

Now for Disneyland. It turns out that not everyone loves Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It scared the crap out of Eli. He cried the whole time. Franz and I figured out that Eli had such a hard time with the "story" rides because he's just so literal. When we were in The Bugs Life section of California Adventure and there were bug sounds all around, he thought that they were real, and he didn't stop freaking out about it until Franz showed him the speakers, and even then he wasn't totally convinced.

As a side, just to further prove Eli's literal tendencies, Franz's cousin Art asked Eli to give him five. Eli did. Then Art told him, "Let me get you back." Eli turned around. Precious.

This is not to say that he didn't enjoy some parts of Disneyland. He was all over the merry-go-rounds. On King Triton's Carousal, he was announced over the loud speaker as "Prince Eli" and got to wear a crown the whole time; I was elated. He didn't think it was such a big deal. He also LOVED the Tea Cup ride, which none of us were surprised by, because come on, its all about spinning, how could he not love it?

As for Max, well, he tolerated it. We pushed that poor kid to his limit every day we were there. He's not one to nap in the stroller, well, at least not easily, so that made things a little difficult. There was lots of screaming involved. It was a good thing that there was plenty of family there to pass him around to, as that was when he was at his happiest; when he was being held. Like his older brother, he had the best time in the pool. The weather was pretty hot, and Max is like his mother, a delicate little flower, and turns beet red when hot. so the pool was a relief.

Franz and I also got to have a nice time. Drena was a saint, and one night she stayed behind and watched the boys so we could have some time in Disneyland. I forgot how much I love roller coasters. It made me eager for when Eli and Max are old/tall enough to go on them with me.

I have to say, that no matter how cheesy this sounds, seeing all of our family was the best part. I want our boys to know where they come from. I think he'll remember Aunt Marilyn, and he'll certainly remember his Uncle Bud, because he still talks about how he has a hearing aide and how he can take out his teeth. And that is wonderful.