Sean and Mike were so excited about the California trip, but I might have been the most excited of all. Having a special need kid who is extremely impulsive and non-verbal, going on a family vacation to a place like Disney is out of question. When I hear about friends going on a vacation to popular out of state destinations, I felt heavy in my heart that we couldn't. Then, my parents offered to pay for a vacation of choice since Mike turned 40 this year. They wanted for him to make a special memory in his 40th year. That gave me the push to book a trip for Sean and Mike to LA. Sure, going as a whole family would have been better but some of us being able to go is the next best thing! The girls were very understanding about it and were happy for Sean and Daddy.
Well, they had a blast! On the first full day, they went to the Disneyland bright and early before they open just like they recommend on guidebooks. They hit the popular rides first since there are no big lines first thing in the morning and then maneuvered cleverly to hit as many rides as possible. Going there on Thursday helped, too, and they were able to conquer 13 rides, some of them multiple times! That is far better than five rides the girls and I did in Tokyo Disney. Sean is quite a thrill seeker. He liked the Space Mountain the most. He must have gotten that from his Dad.
The next day, they hit the beach. The beaches in southern California are very different from the rocky and lush Washington beaches. They decided to go check out the Huntington beach since it was closer to their hotel. There they soaked their feet in warm tides and road around the shores on rented dual rider bikes enjoying the scenery. Sean likes palm trees and he saw plenty of them. It must have been mesmerizing to be in a completely different setting than where we live. They ended the night with dinner at Medieval Time, a medieval themed dinner show complete with knights on horses jousting and sword fighting! It was very exciting for Sean and Mike said the food was delicious.
The third day was just as exciting. Sean met his cousins for the first time in person. My cousin, her husband, and their three children moved to LA from Northern California after we moved to Washington. We exchange Christmas cards with family pictures every year and Sean has been very curious about his cousins in California. The oldest boy is a year younger than Sean, so they played video games and threw catch in the backyard. My cousin is the only family living in America for me and I wish we lived closer. But it is what it is. I am glad Sean and Mike were able to spend some time with them. After visiting cousins, they went to see Sean's favorite friend at his grandparents' house. Yes, it's Parker! Parker's family spends time in LA during summer so Sean hadn't seen him for over a month. He was looking forward to reuniting with his best pal. His grandparents' house is located on a hill overlooking the city. They have a beautiful backyard with a big pool, so the boys played in the pool while Mike enjoyed the view from their patio. They served homemade Korean dumplings and Mike was a happy man.
On the final day in LA, the boys decided to go to Disney California Adventure Park right next to the main Disneyland. Being Sunday, Mike was worried about the crowd but he said it was surprisingly empty. There was no line in most rides and were able to ride almost all of them. Very lucky of them! They have a replica of Radiator Spring, the town from the movie Cars. Sean met Lightning McQueen and his friends and although he is a bit too old to be impressed by talking cars, he enjoyed meeting them. Sean's favorite and I heard they did it more than five times was a ride called California Screamin'. It's a loop roller coaster that is surely would make me pee in my pants but apparently such a big fun for my 8 year-old son. I am glad Mike was the one who took him because he probably had to ride those all on his own if it were me. They spent the entire day there until they closed and played hard. Mike said they spent the last hour on a quieter ride over and over again since they were both tired and finally got off when they shut down the ride.
They were tanned and all big smiles when we picked them up at the airport. The day they returned was the hottest day we had in Seattle this summer. I felt like they brought back California with them! We do what we can to be able to do things in our own way. It may mean going on vacation separately but that way we can go instead of excluding certain destinations. Honestly, I felt like I were there, too. Of course, I was constantly texting Mike wanting to know what they were doing then. Mike did a pretty good job responding to me with pictures because I demanded updates from him or I will be mean. :-) Thanks for the great trip, Mom and Dad! They had a great time for sure. Three kids had gone to Disney. One more kid to go... and when he does, it sure would be a big moment for all of us.
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