The First Leg of Our Ultimate Vacation

Ok, maybe not ultimate (it seems like another continent should be involved if you use the word ultimate) - but VERY close. We left NC behind on June 12th. Our trip started with a two hour flight to Newark where we changed planes and took a 6 HOUR flight to Orange County. Talia was a total nightmare on the plane. She threw playdough at the people in front of us, tried to defect to the row behind us while continually yelling "Hi!" to its poor inhabitants, and to top it all off, her diaper leaked all over my pants. I've never been so happy to get off a plane in all my life.


We spent the next three days in Anneheim at Disneyland with Mike's parents and his sister, Lisa (Siena's mostest favorite person in the whole world). I'm pretty sure we should have been written up by Child Protective Services for scaring Siena on all the big rides right at the beginning. There was no "working up" to her first roller coaster ride - we stuck her on the Matterhorn as soon as we got into the park. The worst was Splash Mountain. When we got off the ride we could hear people commenting on our picture, "Look at that little girl's face!" The look on her face was pure terror. I should have bought it but was feeling cheap and thoroughly ashamed. She didn't speak, make eye contact, or smile for about an hour afterwards. I think she was trying to figure out why we were trying to kill her and how she could MacGyver her way out of this horrid, painfully colorful, place. Once we decided to let her choose the rides she had a lot more fun. Her favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride and she loved the princess area (three months later and I can't remember what it's proper name is) where she met all the princesses, learned a dance, and got her face painted. Talia's favorite part was playing in Little Bear's Adventure. She loved climbing the bear shaped rocks and going down the slide. None of this mechanical madness for my crazy girl!

Many thanks to Aunt Lisa and Mike's parents for watching the girls while Mike and I enjoyed the big kid rides at California Adventure. I forgot how much I love being thrust into the air several hundred feet (slight exaggeration) and jolted back down again. All in all Disneyland was a blast. Siena's already talking about our next trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Next we headed to San Diego to spend a few days with the Springs. When Christian and Jana lived in Berkeley we were all carefree and childless. We would spend oodles of time together eating, hiking, and playing games. It was very fun to catch up (i.e. eating, playing games - but sadly no hiking) and let our kids torture each other. Jana showed us around Sea World with her three beautiful children (4 years old and under - she's amazing). Thank you for hosting us. We had a great time and want to see you again SOON.




Talia loved Sea World. She especially enjoyed the orca tank and would get very excited every time they'd swim past her. She liked all the shows and being drenched by us every chance we'd get.

Next up, leg two - The Beautiful Bay Area