A Live Dragon

Usually, our yearly experience gifts are spread out throughout the year. But this year it seems like all of them have been in April. Nathan’s trip to Texas, Matthew’s band tour to California, and Malia’s parallel trip to Cali have all been this month. And this evening was another of Malia’s experience gifts. 

Malia has been a long-time fan of the movie “How to Train Your Dragon.” She spent several years very focused on Toothless, the main dragon character. She watched the movie over and over and over again. She dressed up as a dragon rider for Halloween one year. She even had a “How to Train Your Dragon” themed birthday party. And she still has framed art from the movie hanging on the wall in her bedroom. So, when I saw that the Utah Symphony had added this particular flick to their films in concert series, I knew we had a winner on our hands.

Malia said this evening’s performance was amazing! The music was wonderful, and the audience was actively engaged in the film, cheering at all the appropriate moments, etc., which makes things so much fun. Some years back I took the boys to see “Singing in the Rain” when the symphony played and we loved it, so I understand her enjoyment of the experience. We’ll keep our eyes on the schedules so we can see what other wonderful live soundtrack movies we can catch!

A Bit Road Weary

Although the number of miles is the same coming and going, for some reason the drive home from a vacation always seems interminably long. Today was no exception. Our pitstop at Alien Jerky was an indication that we were just getting started and not a sign that we were nearing the end. Malia got so bored that her main mode of entertainment was playing with a plastic water bottle like she did when she was two. And using gas station bathrooms got really, really old. While I have enjoyed all my recent travels, two trips in three weeks is not normal for me and I’m good and ready to sleep in my own bed. Kev’s a bit road weary as well, but he is even more justified in that feeling than I am. He was in Philadelphia for work a week and a half before we went to Texas and a week and a half from now, he will be in Philly again. I’ve never been to Philadelphia, and we’ve talked about me joining him on one of these trips so I can see the sights, but right now is definitely not the time. I’m very much in need of some time at home!

An Advantageous Change of Plans

Our original itinerary had us driving back down to San Diego today to go to the zoo and the natural history museum. But after the marathon drive to get here on Wednesday, the gridlock traffic we encountered after SeaWorld yesterday, and the thought of the long drive back to Utah tomorrow, Kevin, Malia and I were all in agreement that we wanted to stay a bit closer to home base today. Google gave us some entertainment options closer to the hotel, and we settled on a 10-minute drive to visit Mission San Capistrano, an old Spanish mission that was established in the 1700’s and still exists as a museum, gardens, and operating church today. The historic nature of the mission made it just the kind of thing I really enjoy. The buildings, which were built over a span of several hundred years, were fascinating. The gardens are absolutely spectacular, and we spent far longer wandering the grounds than I had originally anticipated. It was a photographer’s paradise and Malia and Kev took full advantage of that. While the pictures don’t do justice to the brilliant colors of the garden, they do show the diversity of the plant life and the variation in the architecture. I think we all enjoyed taking things at a slower pace and enjoying something a bit less hectic than the amusement parks. 

One of Malia’s must dos for this trip was to watch the sunset from the beach. So, after a mellow afternoon hanging out and napping at the hotel, we headed to Laguna Beach to find a good spot. I’m not hugely familiar with southern California and while I have definitely heard of Laguna Beach, I had no idea that it is a wildly popular beach which means…more traffic. We had factored in some extra time for driving and lucked out finding a parking place, so we didn’t have too many issues and arrived with a bit of time to spare. 

We started off walking right down to the beach, but because of the exact spot we were in, there would have been an outcropping blocking our view of the sunset. In addition, because she has grown up in a landlocked desert, Malia has had very little exposure to the ocean, and she is appropriately cautious where the beach is concerned. That meant that as the tide began to come in and crept closer to the rock we were standing on, she started to get nervous. With two strikes against us, we opted to walk back up to street level where there is a paved walkway/park area all the way along the beach. We found a great spot and settled in (with about 60 gazillion other folks) to watch the sunset.

For those who have never seen a sunset from a beach in a sunny locale (think California, Hawaii, etc.), there is a huge difference between what we see from our little valley and what you see when you are right on the water. I knew Malia had never seen such a sunset, but I didn’t realize that Kevin hadn’t either. With all the traveling I did with my folks as a kid, I saw many such sunsets so although it has been years, I knew just what an amazing display we were in for. For me, half the fun was seeing the wonder in Malia’s eyes and watching her get all excited about something that I suspect many people take for granted. It was a beautiful sunset. And just in case you’ve never seen a beach sunset, it really is worth your time.

We head home tomorrow, but I think this little whirlwind of a vacation has been great. The family dynamic is different when it is just the three of us, and it is going to be just our little trio more and more often over the next few years. Although I’m sure she thinks we are old and boring sometimes (or many times), I do love that Malia is not opposed to hanging out with her parents. 

The Weirdest Manicure I’ve Ever Gotten

Malia is our animal lover. When we plan trips, she is usually the one who wants to go to zoos, aquariums, and other animal focused attractions. It’s not that the rest of us don’t enjoy those things because we do, but they are generally her first-choice options while the boys often opt for airplane and space themed stops and I have a tendency to love historical houses and the like. And when we travel, she is usually the one who takes pictures of wildlife. As such, we knew that to get her excited enough about this trip to make missing school ok, there would need to be some wildlife. And no, Mickey Mouse does not count. 😉 So, with Malia in mind, and because both Kev and I have been in the past and think it’s great fun, today’s adventure was SeaWorld. 

When we first entered the park, we were met by shallow “petting” pools containing large numbers of small fish. We were able to stick our hands in the water and not necessarily pet the inhabitants, but the fish would swarm around our hands and nibble on them, removing dead skin and dirt and such. It was a weird feeling. Seriously weird. But it was also kind of cool! It felt like a ton of tiny little suction cups tickling our skin.

After some serious hand washing, we wandered the park and arrived at the giant octopus exhibit just in time to hear the keeper presentation. We learned some very interesting facts about octopi, things like the fact that they have nine brains-one for each tentacle and one for everything else. That explains perfectly why each tentacle can work so independently. They can also regrow tentacles if they are lost in an injury or something and can actually choose to let a tentacle detach, if necessary, like a gecko does with its tail. Octopus are also great problem solvers, and the keeper actually has to work hard to stump this particular octopus when it comes to her enrichment activities. The octopus was sleeping while the keeper was talking to us, but when she was done, she woke him up so we could see him in action. I’ve seen octopi in aquariums before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this big. He was more than 6 feet from tentacle to tentacle. Lots of people just walked past during the keeper presentation, but I’m really glad we heard the whole thing. Octopi are fascinating!

The big draw for today were the dolphin and orca shows. Let’s face it. Those shows are what set SeaWorld apart from all the other aquariums. We have been to a number of aquariums and while they each have something unique to offer, the shows and “splash zones” that you experience at SeaWorld are pretty spectacular. Malia was completely enthralled, and I have to say that even though I had seen the shows in the past and knew what to expect, it was still so fun! I won’t try to describe them, just know that if you have never been to SeaWorld, the shows are worth the ticket price!

While we were experiencing SeaWorld, Matthew was at Huntington Beach. He and his band cronies had a great time digging a giant hole in the sand and basically just being kids at one of nature’s great playgrounds. One of these days we are going to get our kids to a beach when they can actually don their swimming gear and take a dip in the ocean. But for now, shorts and sand were the ticket for today. 

Whenever we are planning a trip, one of the things I always do is search for allergy friendly restaurants in the area we will be visiting. Often, bigger cities have options our own little town doesn’t, so I always check to see if we can create a neat experience for my food allergy kids. Disneyland had some of that for both of my younger kiddos, but honestly, it is a rare thing for Matthew. Malia has a number of popular chain restaurants that we can visit from coast to coast and while she isn’t usually brave enough to try, there are generally other sit-down restaurants that can accommodate nut allergies. But finding safe food that we don’t prepare ourselves is a rarity for Matthew. 

As we were planning this excursion, I did my normal internet search for possible options for safe food for my kids and discovered an allergy friendly bakery about fifteen minutes from our hotel. As all really good allergen free establishments do, they have all the ingredients for each item listed right on their website. And as I looked, I realized that I wasn’t seeing anything that Matthew can’t have. I started to get a little bit excited and as I looked further, learned that the bakery had been started by a mom whose son has allergies very similar to Matthew’s. That made me even a little bit more excited because someone caring for an allergic individual is honestly going to know exactly what precautions to take to keep their loved one safe. I tried not to get my hopes up too high though, because Matthew is allergic to chickpeas and peas which are common ingredients in egg free and dairy free foods. Because they are not on the top allergens list, they are usually not included in the “we avoid these ingredients” lists. I didn’t see them on any ingredient lists, but cross contact is an issue for us, so I sent an email requesting additional information. I had my fingers crossed, but honestly didn’t hold much hope. 

When I received a response to my email the following day, I cheered and did a happy dance, literally, and shed a few tears because for the first time ever, I had found a bakery where Matthew could safely eat every single thing they make. I don’t ever tell my kids about any near misses as I don’t want to get their hopes up and then dash them, so when I went public with the knowledge that I had found a little miracle in the form of a small bakery in Southern California called “Sensitive Sweets,” there was a good dose of skepticism immediately followed by wonder and then gleeful enthusiasm. In the weeks that followed, there was a good amount of time spent perusing their menu, deciding what to try.

Just before we left for Cali, we submitted an online order for bakery pickup this afternoon. Since we knew we would be in San Diego and the bakery is in Fountain Valley, we selected the latest pickup time available which was 5:00 p.m. They also close at 5, so our plan was to arrive before closing to make sure we could pick up our order. It took us just over an hour to get down to SeaWorld in the morning, so we allowed ourselves double the time to get back in the afternoon knowing traffic in southern Cali can be a beast and thinking that would give us an appropriate time buffer zone. We hit the expected headed north and despite our well-laid plans, we were down to the wire. The Google maps estimated time of arrival kept getting later and later and as we crawled ever more slowly towards the bakery, I was starting to think we might not make it. But we lucked out and arrived in the Sensitive Sweets parking lot at 4:53 p.m. 

Baked goods in hand, we divided everything into separate boxes and dropped off a deliciously sweet package at Matthew’s hotel after which we ate dinner and then sampled some goodies ourselves. The miniature apple pies had a totally weird crust which was more like an unsweetened crumb crust with nothing wet to hold it together, but the filling was tasty, so we ate that part. The cinnamon crumble bread was good but the blueberry citrus one felt like it needed a bit more baking time. The cookie dough truffles, however, were a winner and would be super simple to recreate at home. Our overall assessment was that some things were tasty, although not quite as good as homemade. But as far as being able to buy bakery goods away from home, it was a success! Once Matthew arrived back at his hotel, he shared with us his inaugural taste tests. He was a huge fan of the truffles as well!

Other than the longer than anticipated afternoon commute, today was a success. And honestly, we have lucked out traffic wise thus far, as we always seem to be headed in the opposite direction from the bulk of the other travelers. So, I guess a bit of gridlock just allowed us to experience yet another quintessential aspect of life in California. 😂

The Magic is Real

Let’s talk about Disneyland for a minute. One of the big marketing campaigns has always been about Disney “magic.” For little kids, the magic is having their favorite fantasy characters come to life just like they wish they would. They get to walk in those magical movie moments for a day or two. For those of us who are older, the magic comes in being able to revisit the wonder of our childhood for just a little while, in being able to walk back into the simple, imaginative days of our early lives and remember just how charmed and worry free they were. I think that is why Disneyland has such universal appeal. It is all about the magical and amazing things that accompany the very young before they are bogged down by real life. Because let’s face it. Adulting is hard. And sometimes we all need a chance to set aside all our grown-up problems for a day. Of course, we have to go in knowing that our inner adult is going to have a conniption if it thinks too hard on the price tag that accompanies our day of time travel, but if we can get those older, responsible voices to take a day off, we can have a jolly time!

Now let’s move on to some details about our day at Disney.

Dole whip. That was the highlight of my day. That might seem a bit lackluster since we spent the day at Disneyland but let me explain. Dole whip is totally Matthew friendly. And since it is the only thing they serve at the Tiki Hut in Disneyland, the risk of cross contact is nil. All that means that we met up with Matthew after lunch today and we ate Dole whip together. Again, that might not seem like a big deal. But let me assure you that for Matthew, it is huge. A big freaking deal. And he thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I. And the enjoyment was for more than just the fact that it is a delightful frozen dessert that we can’t get at home. The enjoyment was for the tiny bit of normalcy he found in enjoying a special treat with his family while we were abroad in the world.

My second favorite part of the day was the fact that Malia got to have a nice conversation with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider Eugene and the fact that all three of her brothers were insanely jealous that she got to do so. 😂 It was highly entertaining to see her converse with the stars of her favorite ever princess movie and unconsciously use angry Italian hands during the conversation. (As an FYI, when she was in her watching “Tangled” everyday stage, she would always correct me when I referred to Flynn. She would look at me like I was one card short of a deck and say, “It’s Eugene!” Made me laugh then. Still makes me chuckle.)

Other highlights of the day included Matthew walking into his childhood when he visited Cars land, Malia safely eating two meals at two different restaurants as well as having an allergy friendly chocolate chip cookie from the Jolly Holiday Café and Bakery, hearing the Disneyland marching band perform several times, and seeing the spectacle of a Disneyland parade. And despite her many declarations before we left home, I did manage to get Malia to wear some mouse ears! I think they were actually the best ears I’ve ever seen-the “Monsters, Inc.” Mike Wazouski ears. Kevin enjoyed Star Wars land and personally, I think that portion of the park is one of the most visually spectacular ones. No detail was too small and the whole thing looked amazing. And Malia came home with a new friend for Jolly-Stitch is now a member of her stuffed animal entourage. I think the general consensus when we came away is that one day is not enough time to do everything. The last time I visited Disneyland was when I was 18 and the whole California Adventure Park didn’t exist then. Sometime we will have to go back to experience all the things that we couldn’t fit in!

Today’s adventure yielded 20,000 steps. Despite my lack of an actual workout, I think that counts as my exercise for the day. 😉 And I did, in fact, get to experience several magical moments with my kiddos today. So yes, the claim is valid. And yes, some of our magical moments would be considered mundane by most folks, but this is the very first time ever that I’ve gotten to take Matthew out for ice cream. That definitely sets today apart for us. And it is definitely magic of the highest order.

One Day, Four States, and a Giant Thermometer

It has been one short week since our return from the lone star state and we are on the road again, this time headed west instead of east. Matthew’s high school band is touring southern California this year and like last year, he requested that Kevin shadow them to act as his emergency food backup plan. When we started talking about this tour back in the fall, Kev decided that if Matthew is going to Disneyland, he is going to Disneyland. And I figured that if Kev is going to Disneyland, Malia and I were going to Disneyland too. Because seriously, how sad would it be for the two of us to be sitting here at home while Kevin and Matthew are at Disneyland? And thus, a plan was born. A plan that would involve Malia missing three days of school to experience just a little bit of Southern Cali. And a plan that means Kevin and I are having two vacations in three weeks. After some initial hesitation to submit to the plan because she didn’t want to miss school, (I love the fact that she loves school that much!) Malia ended up being on board with the plan as well. 

Matthew and the band are leaving Utah this evening and driving through the night, but Kevin and I 1) are  getting too old for that kind of travel, 2) will have a serious need for at least one of us to actually be awake for the whole driving part, and 3) are hoping to have enough energy to have fun at Disneyland tomorrow, so we left home bright and early this morning so that we would already be where Matthew needs us to be by the time he arrives in the morning. Malia was not a fan of the “bright and early” part, but she was excited to go and since Tiny Toothless got to accompany us on our Texas trip, we decided to take Baby Buc-ee with us to California.

Unlike the kids on the bus, we got to choose our pit stops and being the wacky folks that we are, we opted for some rather unorthodox stopping points. We did stop in St. George, which is a totally normal stop for breaking up a long drive, but another of our stops was in Baker, CA. What is there in Baker, you might ask? And the answer is…practically nothing. Baker is really just a wide spot next to the freeway. But it does boast several random tourist attractions that are just our cup of tea. Our first stop was to see the world’s tallest thermometer, which is appropriately placed as it is very near to Death Valley. Even in mid-April, the temperature in Baker was 92 degrees. It was in the 50’s when we left home this morning, so that was a big temperature swing for us.

When Kevin discussed our upcoming trip with his work crew, one of his co-workers told him he had to stop and get some alien jerky. Yes, I know that sounds a little weird. It definitely sounded weird to be too. But what I discovered is that just down the road from the gigantic thermometer is a store called Alien Jerky. Their specialty is beef jerky in a variety of flavors, all alien themed, of course. In addition to the giant wall of jerky, they carry a small collection of drinks and a freak ton of alien themed mementos. There is also a big old UFO of some sort being constructed behind the main storefront, so in future there may be even more out of this world experiences to be found in Baker, CA.

It seems like the dullest part of any road trip is the actual driving down the road part. But with a couple of totally random stops, we managed to visit four states (Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California) with only a bit of mind-numbing monotony. And tomorrow we are off to visit Mickey Mouse so that promises to be far more exciting!

I Think I’ve Become a Fan of Zydeco Music

Before Texas (because I suspect there are several ways in which my life will be defined in terms of before or after Texas, things such as my appreciation for kolaches before Texas and after Texas as well as my understanding of what makes a good pecan pie before Texas and after Texas) I only knew what zydeco music is based on one episode of The Gilmore Girls. And that one episode presented zydeco in an unpleasant, totally redneck kind of fashion. But after our second lunch at Razzoo’s Cajun Café (yes, we enjoyed the food that much) I’m starting to like it. It is zippy and upbeat, makes you want to tap your toes, has its own unique sound and is actually quite fun. I suspect I’m going to have to do some exploring once we get home to find some tunes to add to my music library. The soundtrack of my life is already quite varied, and adding some zydeco will give it yet another element of musical whiplash. LAUGHING WITH TEARS SMILEY

This trip to Texas has been a quick one, just a brief foray into unknown territory, but I have enjoyed it. While it has been said that there is no place like home, and I am glad to be headed to mine, there are some things about Texas that I find quite appealing. For instance, the bluebonnets, which are considered weeds by some, are far more picturesque than the thistles and sagebrush that spring forth of their own accord in my own neck of the woods. And honestly, it’s a bit tough to find good Cajun food in Utah…

Three Square Meals

I have a confession to make. We ate kolaches for breakfast again. And lunch. And dinner. Yes, they were that good. And no, this is not normal for me. I don’t usually eat dessert three times a day. Or even three times a week. In general, I have a fairly healthy diet. But when I go on vacation, I have a tendency to make allowances. I mean, eating the local cuisine is part of experiencing a new locale and when I travel, I like to partake a bit more freely than I might at home. So yes. Kolaches three times today. But at least the ones we ate for breakfast had eggs, sausage, and ham so they were more than just empty carbs. 😜 (And FYI-because of how they are baked, kolaches from Pearl Snap are square.)

One of the reasons we scheduled our trip for this week is that the Fort Worth area is in the path of totality for today’s total solar eclipse. Based on their experience when Kevin took our boys to Wyoming to see the last total solar eclipse, we opted to just hunker down at the hotel and watch the eclipse from here. Many other guests did the same, so we were definitely in good company. Nathan’s need for some good Texas BBQ was not fulfilled by our dinner on Saturday evening, so we picked up some BBQ for lunch and brought it back to enjoy at the hotel while we watched the first part of the eclipse. There was even a small serving of green beans included with our order, so I had a few veggies. I’m not sure they were the healthiest veggies I’ve ever had as they were cooked with bacon, but they were tasty!

When all my men folk went to see the last eclipse, Malia and I stayed home. The big reason for that was the fact that it was August and since getting overheated is one of my migraine triggers, I knew that being outside all day in the middle of nowhere was going to be a miserable experience. I did check Malia out of school so we could watch the eclipse from here, but there is a big difference between 90% and totality where a solar eclipse is concerned. My boys came home with some amazing tales and spectacular pictures, but honestly, having seen a full solar eclipse with my own eyes, pictures can never do it justice. We were afraid that the weather would not cooperate today, but we lucked out and it was clear up until about a minute into totality when a cloud drifted over. So, while we didn’t get to see the full 3 ½ minutes of totality, we were lucky enough to experience some of it! And it was pretty darn cool!

I know there are plenty of people who think that the world and the universe are just one big fluke, a random event that just happened to end with people walking the earth, but I can’t believe that. For instance, the moon is the exact right size and the exact right distance from the sun so that a total eclipse is possible. If the size of the moon or the distance between the moon and the sun were even just a tiny bit different, it would be an impossibility. And I just can’t see things like that happening as a result of the big bang. As the Alma taught, “All things denote there is a God.” (Alma 30:44) And major celestial events like this are yet another reminder of the mindful creation that put us where we are. 

This afternoon we just hung out at the hotel. It was basically the relaxation portion of this vacation. I watched part of a movie, took a nap, and read for a while before we ate dinner. And guess what I had for dinner? BBQ? No! Potato salad? No! Kolaches? No! (Well, yes, but after my main course. 😉) A nice big salad? YES! And it was delightful. There is a Panera Bread in the parking lot of the hotel and that was our dinner stop. It made me soooooo happy! 

To wrap it all up, Nathan’s dream came true today. He worked on homework while we waited for the eclipse, so he did in fact do math in Texas. 😂