He Said: Well, we're home. Flight was an hour and a half, or so, late leaving and they had to bus us to another building across from the airport, but we're home. Highlights:
- Mini golf with Gillian.
- Uno and Chess with the kids at the cabin.
- King Kong and Jaws on the Universal Studios tram tour. The kids really enjoyed those.
- Ryan being brave and doing Pirates and Haunted mansion again on day 5, just like he said he would.
- Colour of Light and Fantasmic.
- Toy Story Astro Blasters. Killed my hand, but it was fun vying for high score.
- Mara's jokes, and sharing a giant pickle with her.
- Family turkey leg. Seriously, why have I not tried those before?
- Pirates and Haunted Mansion still impress me. They seem flawless, right down to the dirt on the foot hanging over the bridge. It weirdly inspires me. Corporate greed aside, the parts that are Walt, or that I assume are Walt...there's something to them. Now they're churning out Sophia the princess who also does spells and "boy stuff", or Duffy, Mickey's teddy bear who has 30 different outfits, but the original heart of Disneyland is still there. The high fours in the morning, the free glow cube when Ryan lost his, the general pleasantness...it's all in what you make of it.
- The evenings in Disneyland.
She Said: yup. But also, when I ducked into a shop while the family was baking in the sun for the California adventure parade, a clerk was humming along with the music. I laughed and said "wow, you hear this everyday of your life and you seem to still enjoy it!" And she said "sure, you gotta love what you do!" Or something lovely like that, and I thought "well, ya, of course I know that people say that to convince themselves NOT to feel like killing themselves after the 400th time they hear the same song at the same time of day while watching the same parade of creepily happy character go by, but she seemed so sincere". Anyway, it gave me pause. I will remember her.