Vacation

Oh I forgot to tell you, we went to Disneyland!  Scarlett likes to give a very detailed account of, we went to Disney and then California Adventure and then Harry Pottermore and then Disney again.  But basically, we had a really fun vacation and this fueled me to plan for vacation for the future.  

Grandma and Grandpa flew out from Chicago to meet us.  Here's the Grandma-granddaughter huddle:

We stayed in a lovely rental house less than a mile from the park so, Charlie and I dropped off our homies in the giant van (we rented a giant van), then walked up to the park together.  Here were are on the tram, en route to Disney, the happiest place on earth.

Oh and, it was Aunt Sally's birthday! 

For most our trip, it was upwards of 90 degrees.  It turns out that Scarlett and I do not love roller coasters- which I sortof already knew because we don't like spinning and we get car sick.  I know, we're a blast. 

Jungle River Cruise- this is my kind of ride, because it's slow and you stay near the ground.

We went to Disneyland when Scarlett was three, and her favorite thing was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  I was really excited to take her on it again this time, but that never happened.  The first day, we just never got around to it.  The second day, she decided she needed to pee when we were halfway through the line, so we bailed and never went back.  But on our way back from the bathroom, we saw Kobe Bryant.  So, that was interesting, although good or bad, I cannot decide.

Scarlett likes to tell people that the water in California tastes gross.  It does.  We said- how lucky we are to live in this beautiful place with delicious tap water!  They never mention the nasty water in all those 'come to California and hang out on the beach' commercials.

 

Last time, we rented a big van and drove all the way to Disneyland. This time, we took a plane and just rented a van for the around California stuff.  

All three of us, our favorite ride was Soarin Around the World, at California Adventure. It's awesome and eerie. 

Then, beach day!  And we ate tacos. 

Then, we went to Universal Studios to hit up Harry Potter world, because we are raising a Harry Potter fanatic and I couldn't be happier. Here is a picture with the Beauxbaton and Durmstrong students.  We are wearing our house shirts- the girls and I are Hufflepuff, Charlie and Tom are Slytherin, Grandma and Sally are Ravenclaw, and Grandpa is a Griffindor just like Harry himself.  The bright yellow shirts had the added benefit of making it very easy to see where the girls were at all times.  Scarlett learned the secret Hufflepuff handshake from another Hufflepuff working in a shop, and someone else taught Charlie his house handshake, and they were given explicit instructions not to let the other one see.  They do not break character. 

The ladies and their butterbeers.