Because of my school retirement party, we decided to have our summer vacation early this year. Todd, Kathy, and the kids arrived on Sunday evening to spend the night here. Then, Monday morning Amy, Todd, and the kids joined us and we were off for Disneyland. We got 3 day park hopper tickets, so we had plenty of unrushed time to see and do everything. We stayed at a hotel right across the street with a terrific water play area for the kids, but we didn't use it much because we were having so much fun at Disneyland.
Of all of the kids, Emma was the one chosen to be trained as a Jedi. After a few minutes of training, she actually got to go up against Darth Vadar! It was really fun to watch her, and I must say, the others were really good sports about not being chosen.
The girls loved their time with the Princesses. They were able to have some quality time with Jasmine. Belle, and Tianna.
The rides were awesome. We managed to get on everything, including the new Star Tours and The Little Mermaid rides. We actually got on the Matterhorn and Space Mountain several times.
But I have to say that my favorite was the parade. I loved watching the faces of the kids as the characters went by. Luke and Tayson had an up close experience with Captain Hook, Carson and Wyatt got high fives from many, and the girls were in "heaven" when the princesses blew kisses to them.
Thank you Disneyland for the great time. Memories were created that will last a life time.
A few notes about this picture collage: in the Colonial Day picture, that is Jane Calister with me. She was my partner for many years, until she retired a few years ago. She lives in Huntington Beach and we used to car pool often. Katy Grosse, my other partner, is also pictured with me outside our classrooms. Katy, Jane, and I traveled to Fiji to sail for a week on Katy's parents sail boat. More about that in another post. The podium in the upper right was build for mom by one of her past student. When she retired, I took it over, and now it is in Amy's classroom for a third generation. Who knows, maybe Emma will get some use out of it too?
When I found out that I was the only one from San Joaquin retiring, I asked if I could have the kind of retirement party that I wanted; low key, casual, in a backyard, and kid friendly. My party was all that and more. Katy hosted it in her backyard with a beach theme. (My friends really know me well.) It was beautifully decorated all in turquoise and lime green with shells, buckets, and shovels all over the tables. We had a taco man cater it and dessert was, my favorite, strawberry shortcake. The b
est was that my mom, kids, and grand kids all attended. It was so fun to show everyone off. For a retirement gift, the staff gave me a Kindle and some gift cards to start my electronic library. I understand that travel is much easier when you only have to take the small Kindle instead of several books. I'm hoping to try out that theory very soon.
Our 4th day of vacation was spent at the pool. The weather had been great for Disneyland, not too hot, but Thursday dawned cloudy and cool. When has that ever stopped kids when water is involved? The play area had a pirate ship, slides, a big bucket that dumped tons of water every few minutes, and lots of water gun. I'm not sure who had more fun, the Todds or the kids.
Of all of the kids, Emma was the one chosen to be trained as a Jedi. After a few minutes of training, she actually got to go up against Darth Vadar! It was really fun to watch her, and I must say, the others were really good sports about not being chosen.
