Rain or Shine

December 2010

January 2008

The new and improved Van Stone family meets Disneyland.
When carefully compared, the differences found on the two pictures: a brother and lots and lots of rain!

It all started on Thanksgiving day. We let the kids open a present once they finished their big dinner. They opened a long paper chain that had a scroll attached to it. The paper chain had dates on it, starting with Thanksgiving and ending on December 19th. The scroll, once unrolled, revealed the picture of Mickey Mouse and a message from us. Thus, our countdown began.

The kids were very excited to leave for our trip, to say the least, so it was impossible for us to change our plans even with the knowledge of the winter storm warnings that were bringing so much rain to Southern California. So out the door, in the car, and on the road we went early on December 19th, just as planned. Brandon and the girls were amazing little travelers. The last hour or two of our drive was rainy, just an indicator of what was to come for the next four days. The kids opened Disney related gifts in the car on the way. Disney lanyards and 8 official trading pins each for the girls and some warm Mickey inspired clothes for Brandon.

We were able to spend about 4 hours at Disneyland the first day. It was a long enough day with the drive and the rides. The first couple hours were great, just a little misty or just a gentle rain, but then it turned on us and really got us wet, especially on the walk back to the hotel with some of the deeper puddles. I was uncertain about what kind of experience we were going to have with the gloomy forecast that was ahead of us. Our suite was armed with an iron and a blow dryer, so they were well used to help dry out our clothes and shoes that we were going to have to wear again. After a pep-talk about the kind of family we are, and little orange diaper baggies on out feet inside our shoes, we were off to experience all that Disneyland had to offer. Brad had dry socks for the kids in his pockets, to provide some relief later in the day. We were able to spend 10 hours at Disneyland that day, and 10 hours the next. Although the weather may have dampened our fun in some ways, such as all the parades and fireworks were canceled, I’m sure we benefited in many others. We only had to wait in a few lines. We were able to get to see and do so much in the time we spent there. If it would have been pleasant weather, it would have been jammed and we would have been in line a lot.

I’ll post the highlights of our trip soon. A trip to Disneyland is more info than can be addressed in one blog entry. Our journey home was a little scarier. We saw some mudslides, flooding, and a lot of closed roads and exits/entrances. We had to alter our route, but we got home safely and that is what is important. In case you were wondering, Disneyland is still one of the happiest places on earth, rain or shine.