Back to the Park

 After our Disney mini-vacation in September, we realized how much we enjoy the Disney parks. So, our Christmas gift to each other was Magic Key passes for the year. Ours have no blackout days. HOWEVER, you now have to make a reservation in order to go to the park.

When we first got ours, there were no available dates in December at all. I was able to get one date in November, so we took it. I really wanted to see the Christmas lights and decorations in the park.

Near the end of November, I looked again, and a few December dates were open, so I snagged a couple of those!

On the first trip in November, we started at the tree on Main Street. (This is why we don’t take selfies!)

We went on several of the old favorites.

In December, we were able to get on Rise of the Resistance again. I liked it much better in the cooler weather.

On the 13^th, It’s a Small World Christmas was back in operation. The only time I like to go on that ride is at Christmastime. (A flood in the electrical room under the ride caused it to be out for several months.)

At least once on each trip, we like to sit in the lobby at the Grand Californian and listen to the piano. We also like to people-watch.

Theme Park aerobics is my favorite form of exercise. Now we’re getting back to it! And I love it!

Our Trip to the North Pole

Ever since I first heard about the Polar Express train in the Grand Canyon many years ago, I have wanted to go. (Yes, I am still a kid when it comes to Christmas!) However, adults were required to take a child with them to get on the train. We had no little ones in the family at the time. Besides, it would have required a long drive and an overnight stay.

This year, my brother-in-love and sister-in-love (Baba and Nana) have a four-year-old great-granddaughter…

I discovered the Polar Express Experience in Perris, California at the Railroad Museum—about a forty-five-minute drive away.

For quite a few years, we have tried to give gifts to create memories. We figured sharing a trip on the Polar Express train would create wonderful memories for all of us—especially four-year-old Everleigh (called “Evie”). So, I made reservations for the five of us for December 2 at 4:30 p.m.

We met Casey and Lucy at their son Shaun’s home in Orange, where they left their car. The drive was smooth and uneventful. However, locating the entrance proved a bit of a challenge. We met it, however!

Pajamas were suggested (not required), however nearly everyone on the train wore them. We did, too!

Uncle Larry, Auntie Lorna, Baba, Nana, Evie

After we checked in, we donned our jammies. (Masks were required the entire time on the train.) I wear children’s masks because the regular ones are just too large. I took an extra. It was pink. Evie loved it, so I gave it to her. (Her favorite colors are red and pink! A girl after my own heart.)

Outside, we took pictures before we entered the waiting area.

Everleigh

Nana, Everleigh, and Baba

At last, we entered the waiting “room” (a large tent), where more photo opportunities presented themselves.

Auntie Lorna, Everleigh, and Uncle Larry

Then we boarded the train.

During the ride, actors portrayed the story of The Polar Express and sang songs from the movie, including serving hot chocolate and Walker’s shortbread cookies.

They engaged the participants throughout the ride.

At one point, elves danced outside the windows, and the kids were encouraged to get near the large window to see them better. Evie took part with enthusiasm.

She also danced in the aisles when encouraged to do so by the cast members.

Near the end of the ride, a narrator read the actual story while the actors passed through the car showing pictures from the book. Evie wanted to get the book at the gift shop. Fortunately, they didn’t have any because I had already bought her one for Christmas. She settled on a little stuffed bear in a conductor’s outfit.

On the last part of the ride, Santa entered the car with his helper, who carried his large bag. He took lots of time with each of the kids and personally gifted them with a bell. The adults got them, too!

Here is Everleigh with her bell.

She would not stop ringing it!

After the ride, we went out for dinner, and she took it with her. She kept ringing it until her Nana threatened to take it—or her—to the car. She finally put it in her pocket.

Clearly, she had a wonderful time and so did we. What a wonderful Christmas memory we will all cherish forever.

A Year of Grief

A Year of Grief

One year ago today, a child we have loved since he was six ended his own life at seventeen. As his mother said, “The year went so fast, but the days seemed endless.”

We first met William when his mother left us a message while we were at work. “This is your neighbor. This is a call no parent wants to make. My son broke your window.” He was six at the time, a beautiful little boy with huge eyes. She ended the call with, “His father will bring him over on Saturday to apologize. Be tough on him.

I started laughing. Sure. Be tough? On a six-year-old?

However, on Saturday morning, he and his dad arrived. He apologized, and Larry and I managed to keep straight faces—barely. He was truly contrite. Thus began our relationship with his family, which eventually grew to six children.

In December, we asked their mother if we could “rent” the kids to help finish decorating our tree since I had run out of steam. There were only five at the time, but their cousin came, too. They trooped over, put the ornaments here, there, and everywhere, and I loved it!

When the tree was complete, they decorated the sugar cookies I had baked ahead of time with icing and lots of sprinkles. Of course, they had more inside them than the finished ones. And sprinkles covered every surface. They each had a small plate on which to put the three cookies they wanted to take home with them. I used the rest to serve my guests throughout the holiday season.

Bridget, their cousin, William, Wyatt, Audrey, Claire

The tradition continued through 2019. Last year, we had to cancel, not just because of Covid, but also because one precious child was missing.

I always considered William the most sensitive of the children. That first year, I told them each ornament on the tree had a story. (There are no “generic” ones.) William was the one who would bring me an ornament and ask me to tell him its story. This year, his younger brother, Wyatt, channeled William, asking about specific decorations.

Wyatt always hunted for two specific ornaments: a ceramic surfboard and a tiny wooden sailboat. (When I mentioned this, he described them both without any hints. He shared that memory with me.) Once he’d located them, he always stopped hanging anything else on the tree and sat on the sofa playing with them. (This year, he kept adding decorations to the tree, but he still set “his” ornaments aside.)

We told him he could choose one of the two to take home with him, but Larry added, “You need to leave one so you’ll return next year.” He decided to leave them both so he could hunt for them again.

The oldest child, Claire, always corralled the younger ones and kept them at it. She joined our critique group when she was ten! She was a terrific writer, even as a little girl. And she became one of our best critics. She published her first novel at sixteen. She is now a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame—on a scholarship.

Audrey, the next eldest after William, is my “angel girl.” She shares my love for angels. She is a sophomore in high school and was too busy to join us this year, but I sent home a couple of big angels for her.

Bridget, who is now in eighth grade, was the “messy” one. She was impulsive and demanding and so much fun. She was also independent and opinionated, and I must admit, I really liked those qualities. Now, she is kind and thoughtful and creative and deliberate. Yep, she is growing up, and it makes me a bit sad.

Wyatt has also grown up. His first year, he broke one ornament (to his mother’s chagrin) and spilled his hot cocoa. I didn’t care. I so loved having them there—and I still do.

The youngest, Sydney, who is now six, was only old enough to come starting in 2019. She, too, is growing up. She is creative and neat and enthusiastic.

Thank goodness we were able to have them again on Tuesday to help with the tree and cookies. Once again, they each got a mug of hot cocoa with five miniature marshmallows. And they each left with an ornament from my collection. Quite a few others already decorate their tree.

Lorna, Bridget, Sydney, Wyatt, and Larry

It wasn’t quite the same, and it never will be again. We will always miss sweet, dear William. But I am so grateful to their parents for sharing them with us through the years.

Christmas has now officially arrived in our home.