1st Day

Last month, Feb the 13th through the 21st, we drove to California in our new car. We thought it was the right time to take our five year old Samuel and two and a half year old Esther to Disneyland, and while in the area also to Legoland. I visited Disneyland for the first time while a freshman in college. It was fun, new, and exciting, but the whole time I thought it would be even better to bring my own children here one day. I could not have been more right about something in my life. The kids had no real idea of where exactly they were going. Samuel knew he would be riding roller coasters and Esther would see Miki's sister, Mini. (We thought appropriate not to correct her as to the true nature of their relationship.) But unless one has been to Disneyland, one does not have an idea of how grand and amazing this place is.

We had a great trip! We stayed with Richard's aunts in Carlsbad, which is an hour drive to Disneyland, so our trip was on the less expensive side. We also enjoy Chris & Patrice's company which contributed to the greatness of our trip.

The kids did amazingly well in the car. Samuel was occupied watching movies most of the time. For him watching more than one movie a day is a treat within itself. Esther watched here and there, but most of the time she looked at books, colored, cut her and her baby doll's hair, put sticky notes all over her seat and car door, and snacked on pretzels and Ann's bunnies a lot! Richard and I drove, read, talked, listened to XM radio, and caught up on some sleep. For us two, the drive was a much awaited quite time, which is a complete luxury these days. With little kids, driving instead of flying is not as bad as it might sound. We did not seem rushed or agitated, or worried about the unpredictability of flights these days. We did it all at our own pace, and we stopped to eat and walk whenever we needed.

It took us exactly 24 hours of driving. We stopped half way to lodge for the night. Aside from Esther cutting her own hair, and I annoying Richard with CNN and Oprah Radio, we have no complaints.

These are some of the pictures I took the first day of the vast land that lies between Texas and California. Note: Most were taken while the car was in motion.