Disney CEO

When Zack was a toddler we would frequent Disneyland Park two and three times a week. Before he was speaking in full sentences he would ask "go park?" and it meant can we go to Disney. Going to Disneyland WAS like going to the park for him. We would go for a couple of hours, he would run around, see the characters and maybe ride a couple of rides. He loved Toon Town; if Minnie Mouse could speak she would have called him by his first name - we were regulars!

Last night I had a totally different experience with that once little kid. As we stood in line for rides it was quite apparent that he has become much taller than me and in fact when we got to the front of the line at Mr. Toad's (Oh yes, it's a must for me!) the ride operator had told the mom and her son in front of us, "smallest rider first"....I'm sure you can see where I am going with this. Zack had a field day with it...Mom, that means you need to get in first! HA, the joke is on him because now I am the one who gets to sit behind the steering wheel! That hasn't happened for 16 years!

Anyway, as you can imagine the conversation was quite different from 14 years ago. Back then we discussed which character to see, potty breaks and trashcans (he was obsessed; he knew where every trashcan in the Park was). Now, we discussed what changes he would implement and the kind of staff training required to run the Park (when HE becomes CEO of Disney, of course).

It was such a special night, just spending time with my bid kid.
It truly is the Happiest Place on Earth.

Stop the Clock

Who has time for a blog? NO, REALLY! Who?! I set out with the best intentions and then life gets in the way. What else is new?!
I thought I would update you on the events of last week. You know it must have made an impact on me because I haven't bothered to write a post in well...years!

Daniel  My baby went off to 6th grade outdoor science camp! (Is 12 too young to call a baby?)
A short four years ago I sent Zack off to the same camp. Some of you will remember the mental breakdown I had with that one; afterall I was sending MY BABY off to 6th grade outdoor science camp. I have been accused of not knowing when to cut the cord...

Anyway, I was nervous to send him just for the fact that he hasn't been away from home for a full week before. Then God decided to have a little fun with me...

Incident One - Fatal bus crash on the main route into camp (the road was closed for 24 hours). Break failure led to the worst bus crash authorities have seen in 23 years. At 7am the morning he is supposed to leave we got a call from the school saying "sorry folks, no camp today". That is when the tears started. (Daniel was hysterical that camp was postponed and I was hysterical that I got to keep him with me another day) The next morning all systems were go; I shipped him off to the mountains. The next couple of days were spent just trying to stay busy. It helped that Gary and Zack bought me a new laptop - they know when a distraction is needed!

Incident Two - Sweeping manhunt (in vicinity of camp) for lunatic ex-LAPD who has shot and killed multiple people. That was a bad afternoon; that was Thursday. Let's see, hysterical mom has to pull off the side of the road because she is crying so hard she can't see the lanes. I attempt to go to design class and leave half way through due to panic attack. Luckily my mom and husband are able to talk some reason into my head or I would have been driving up the mountain to get him.

Incident Three - Snow and rain the morning of the departure from camp. Of course at this time my thoughts went back to incident one...

Something Gary said to me while Daniel was away is that he is not going to come home from camp and thank me for worrying about him. It's not something he would want me to be doing (lucky for me it's just in my nature...)
I hate it when he is right!

Daniel had the best time at camp. He had such great stories, such great memories and was even talking about going to sleep away camp this summer. That will be an entirely different post....
All that worrying and he had the time of his life; and you know what? He never once asked me if I worried about him!
So glad we are all under the same roof! I am one happy mom.