Saturday, September 24, 2005

Disneyland 2005 (Jillian's Birthday)

Dear Lauren,

A few weeks ago, we went down to Disneyland for your friend Jillian’s birthday. I think that we’ve been there a few times already. I picked you up at school on Friday and we went to the airport. We flew down to LA, and Jillian and her mom, Pam, picked us up and we drove down to the hotel we were staying at. On the way down, we played a game where I would say the name of an animal and what it looked like, but I would get it wrong. I’d say “A cat lives in the ocean, and has eight legs”. And then you’d say, “No, that’s an octopus.” And, I’d say “No, an octopus lives on a farm and gives milk.” And, you’d say “No, that’s a cow.” And, I’d say “You don’t know your animals very well. A cow says ‘quack’, and lives on a pond.”

The next morning, we got up pretty early, had breakfast at Denny’s and walked over to the park. The first ride we went on was the Teacups. All four of us went in the same teacup, and spun around a lot. It was really fun. Next, we went over to It’s a Small World, which was your current favorite ride. We rode Small World about 5 times over the two days we were at Disneyland. This year, there was a topiary of a moose. :-) There were other bushes shaped like animals, and we played the animal game again.

Pam’s boyfriend, Eric, came along and brought his daughter Riley. Riley was a pretty good sport about hanging out with us, and going on the rides.

We hung out in ToonTown, where we went on the Roger Rabbit ride, which was a favorite from your last trip there. There was a roller coaster in ToonTown that we went on. We also went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which used to scare you a little bit when the boat went over the little waterfall, but now you say it’s your favorite.

I took your picture with Pluto.

Saturday afternoon, we went back to the hotel and took naps, so we could go back to Disneyland at night for more rides and the fireworks. The fireworks were amazing. There were smiley faces, and hearts, and Tinkerbelle was flying around over the park with her wand.

You were a really fun person to go to Disneyland with. Sometime, I’d just look at you and feel so overwhelmed with how much I love you. I loved swimming in the pool at the hotel. I liked having lunch at the Italian restaurant. I liked how we talked about getting a big lollypop, and I liked that you’re just a lot of fun to travel with.

I Love you,

Daddy

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

First day of kindergarden

Today was your first day of Kindergarden.


First day of school

I am so excited. I met you down in Santa Cruz first thing in the morning because the school, Spring Hill, was having a pancake breakfast for the parents and students. You were too busy playing with Mia and Claire to eat much. You did have some bacon, because you love bacon.


Claire and Mia


After the breakfast, we went down to your new classroom. You already knew where it was because you'd been to the same school for summer camp. We got to your classroom, and they had a table set up with stickers that had your name on them and a red apple with your name on it on a string. You were one of the first kids to pick out your cubby for your stuff. You picked on on the top row, and put your name sticker in it.



Choosing your cubby

Before you put your name tag around your neck, I wore it and kept saying that I wanted to go to school and you were going to go to work. Then you put it on. I am so proud of you when I look at this picture that I can hardly stand it. I just think about all of the great things that you'll have fun doing. Even just the smell of the classroom reminded me of going to school when I was your age, and it brought back such wonderful memories of innocence and joy.


I'm so proud of you

The best part of the whole day was when I called you at night to ask you how it was. You sounded so excited, You said "I LOVED it!! It was GREAT!!" You said it was really fun, even more fun than you expected.



Your classroom

It was really special for me to hear about how excited you were. It made me very happy to picture you in your classroom with the other kids having a really great time.

I love you.

Daddy