Sam's Sayings: Disneyland, Day 2

We had a great day at Disneyland. Unlike our last trip to Disney World, when Sam was 5 and Kate 2, we all agreed easily on what to do and see and had a great time. The only thing that didn't cooperate was the weather-- it was colder and cloudier than we expected! We followed our touring plan and got through most of the big rides at Disney by lunchtime.

The one ride Kate refused to go on was the Haunted Mansion-- between the name and the two entry rooms, she'd had it. No problem, I just backed out of line with her (which was a bit of a challenge). We ended up escaping with a nice man in a wheelchair who had ridden and quite enjoyed it. He and several castmembers came out of character to encourage her that it was more silly than scary, but she wasn't buying it. He was a pin collector and gave her a neat Tinkerbell pin to cheer her up. What a great guy.

Sam's funniest moment of the day was at Indiana Jones. That was the ride both kids listed at the top of their list of to-dos, so we headed there as soon as it opened. The whole thing is structured around the temple of the forbidden eye, and they give careful instructions that anyone looking at the eye will be headed for DOOM! Well, naturally, everyone is headed for doom, this is the point of the ride. But my sweet rule follower Sam took it to heart, and when I looked at him mid-ride, he had his head down and his hands hiding his face. I thought he must be either scared or sick (either seemed possible), but when we got off he said it was because he wasn't supposed to look at the eye. He missed the whole thing! So, we arranged to go back on it later (thanks to Stu, king of the fast pass). Kate, however, had had enough Indy, so we ended up doing the jungle cruise every time Sam wanted to go on it (which was a lot). Woo. Jungle Cruise.

We went back to the hotel for swimming and nap, though by the time we went swimming, the front was coming in and it was pretty cold. Too cold for me to get in a swimsuit, I'll tell you that. At one point I was actually using a pool towel to cover my legs. Brrr. We had to rest up though, because we wanted to see the LATE showing of Fantasmic (at 10:30). It was really fun being out at the park after dark. The kids did a great job of enjoying their late night and never complained once about feet hurting or being too tired to walk. Kate's dogs were barking a bit on the walk back to the hotel, but at 11:30 PM, I can't blame her!

A big hit for Sam was being able to drive his OWN car at the Autotopia. He was SO excited to qualify to be solo, you'd have thought that he had turned 16! He was a very cautious driver, I must say, so I hope that this is foreshadowing! Kate and I drove together behind him, with Stuart bringing up the rear. It's pretty slow going on the Autotopia, but it was fun.