Tomorrow were taking Elijah to Disneyland for his birthday. I am so excited! Not to go to Disneyland, per say, because I've already been there a gazillion times. I'm just so excited to take Elijah. He has only gone once before, but he was a baby, so he doesn't remember anything about it. Tomorrow he turns six years old, so he is finally at a perfect age to really enjoy amusement parks (especially the "happiest place on earth!"). I can't wait to see his reaction to the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, Finding Nemo, etc. Clint's family is going with us as well, which makes things even better for us, because it means we can pass the kids over to 'Nanny and Papa' for a little while and hit some of the big rides (Clint has already said that he's not leaving Disneyland until he's ridden Space Mountain). Plus the whole day will feel more special for Elijah, having everyone there.Yesterday at work, the fire alarm went off (unscheduled again), so I began the process of evacuating my students from the classroom. I was just lining them up outside when it was announced over the intercom that it was a false alarm and students could return to class. So we all filed back inside, having lost only a couple minutes of instructional time...no big deal, right? Except for the school could not get the alarm to turn off! So it went on, and on, and ON. It was ear piercing and LOUD. Luckily it only beeped two times about every ten seconds, so I just squeezed in my lesson into those little pockets of available time: "Erika, on question three, what--" BEEP BEEP-- "word is an adjective?" And then Erika would respond with, "I know that--" BEEP BEEP-- "'harsh' is an adjective, but I'm not sure--" BEEP BEEP-- "about the word 'some.'" On it went, until I finally complained to the class that they must be using some pretty foul language, because half of their speech was getting beeped out. Of course the class thought this was hysterical, and now the beeps took on a whole new meaning, so no one could even get through another question while keeping a straight face. The whole situation was so funny, even though it resulted in 4th period falling behind.
I just love Disneyland! Sadly, I have seriously mixed feelings about the last time I was there -- good and bad. I'm hoping when we move there that I can take Matt and we can have a good time and the awkward and difficult feelings I have about it will melt away. I hope y'all have a nice time with your family.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you have awkward and difficult feelings about Disneyland (if you don't mind my asking)?
ReplyDeleteGoing with Matt would be a great idea. I once went on a terrible camping trip to the Sequoias with some friends, and the whole thing left me with a bad taste in my mouth. But the next year I went with my friend Sarah and our families, and now I can think about the Sequoias in a positive light. Although I will admit that it's not a perfect solution, because I still have some residual "awkward" feelings about the first trip. But replacing one negative experience with a more positive memory does help.
To be completely honest, the last time I was at Disneyland was in July 1998. So, awkward feelings are inevitable. It was a long time ago, though. Also, since then, I've gotten a bit more cynical than I once was, which makes enjoying things like Disneyland with child-like abandon almost impossible. Oh, and there are kids absolutely everywhere! Ha! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had a bad camping trip. The only time I ever went camping in the sequoia's was with my family (and Mike) when I was a teen (maybe 17?). We had a generally good time, though the roads in the mountains are absolutely terrifying to someone who's afraid of heights, like I am. I'm not much of a camper, but my favorite camping memory certainly has to be when my family went to the Redwoods in 1988, the year before Candi was born. I still have so many good memories of that trip.
Anyway, there's SO much I want to do with Matt when we move back home! Being from TX, there're things he's never seen. You should have seen him the first time he laid eyes on the pacific ocean. It was absolutely amazing! Or when we went to Universal Studios. Man, I cannot wait!
Okay, now that I've written you a book, I'm going. :)
July 1998...gotcha.
ReplyDeleteEven though you say you're more cynical today, I've noticed in your posts that you still tend to take pleasure in the little things in life, so for that reason I think you'd still love Disneyland. But you're right, there are a LOT of kids...even more than there were ten years ago, LOL.
Although I have to say, going to places with Matt sounds like it's practically the same as going with a child; they both have that wide-eyed awe-struck reaction to all the new wonders they are experiencing. :)