shock and awe

I have a wonderful family and amazing parents.  These 11 individuals are my world.  I value their time and their love, our dedication to each other.  As a 38 year old, I still want my parents to be proud of me and value their opinion.  I love my sister (and her family) and my brother fiercely and would do anything for them.  My husband and children mean more than the world to me and I will protect them forever, as best as I can, from all the nasty in the world.

I was raised to be thoughtful and kind.  To treat others with respect no matter who they are, what they look like, or how dumb I might really think they could be.  To work hard to get what I want.  To be on time.  To treat others as I'd like to be treated.  I'm doing my best to teach my children these same things.  We have conversations about race and gender.  Every single day when they get out of the car to go to school I tell them, "Be kind to everyone!" and hope that they heed my advice.

The outcome of the 2016 presidential election, and my current morning after are hitting me harder than I thought.  I've found myself fighting back tears and my stomach hurts.  How silly, right?  My country, my state, members of my religion elected a bully to be president.   Chose someone who has said out loud, so many hateful and horrible things about so many different people...said things I fight every day to keep my children from feeling and thinking.

I voted for Hillary Clinton.  Not because of her history or her controversies, or even so much her politics.  And not as a protest to Trump.  I voted for her, because she was a HER.  Because I felt so empowered as a woman in a country run by men that, the mere possibility that a woman could be in charge - could be the commander in chief gave me goosebumps.  She was no more corrupt than anyone else, no more scandalous.  But I truly felt that I could believe that a woman, a mother, a grandmother, could bring something to this office, this country, that we had never had before.  I was so hopeful that my sons could see a woman in power, for all the girls of America to see that yes, the really could do it.  A girl could finally win!

The femminist in me doesn't believe in giving up, that there will be another chance, maybe even in my lifetime, for a woman to reach the highest office in the land.  The realist in me however, is questioning so many things this morning, that I don't even know where to start.

This was an historical election, and I am historically bummed.

#BoompaGoesToDisneyland :: Mickey's Halloween Party

So, for our third day, we didn't have a plan for the 12 of us.  We decided to let our kids sleep in a little, which they did.  But, we missed breakfast at the hotel, which stressed Elliott out.  Nothing a giant cookie from one of the Disney Bakeries couldn't fix however.

When Elliott and I had a minute, just the two of us in the morning at California Adventure, we talked about important Petersen things - like walking.  I told Elliott that he may be a Howden in name, but he is also a Petersen.  And being a Petersen means lots of things, but at Disneyland, it means we walk fast.  He knew exactly what I was talking about.  I told him that Uncle Willie calls it the "art of the dodge and weave".  There maybe isn't anything more annoying at Disney than people who don't know where they are going and stop right in your path.  Elliott was blessed with longs legs for a reason.  And, he is learning how to use them!

Anyway, CA Adventure was a mad house!  Absolutely stifling with people.  We got some fast passes, hung out in bugs land for a bit and then high tailed it over to Disneyland.  We were a little grouchy, a lot hungry and super stressed out.  The goal was to get a picture of all 12 of us in front of the giant Mickey pumpkin that morning, while our matching t-shirts were still clean.  Getting everyone at the same spot was a big tricky.  But, we did it, and then splintered again.

Grandma Judy set up shop on a bench for the parade - which at the time was 2 hours away.  Willie and I enjoyed a conversation with Mr. Lincoln.  My mom has the best job at Disney...she sits on a bench, people bring her food, and she hands out money.  I aspire to her job one day.  At one point, all the big boys (including Wyatt) headed back to California Adventure to ride Tower of Terror a couple of times.  My mom, Haley and I along with Molly, Jack and Quinn hung back to eat popcorn and watch the parade.

Note:  My children drank almost more Diet Coke than me on this vacation.

Finally, it was time to take a small break and do some souvenir shopping and get ready for the day's main activity:  Mickey's Halloween Party.

Long story short: Worth the extra $80 per person.  We will do it again.  We may never go to Disneyland ever again EXCEPT in the month of October because being in the park with 30,000 people instead of 100,000 is so worth the "price of exclusivity" (Ross' words).   The ambiance was awesome, the rides open with no lines and the fireworks were very cool indeed.

We did not manage to see the parade - tired kids and an early morning drive home were waiting for us, but the stressful morning we' had getting everyone together melted away as we wound down the day.

#BoompaGoesToDisneyland :: Hot and Sweaty

Day two at the parks saw us heading into California Adventure for the coveted Cars ride fast pass.  We got it, but the park was super hot and crowded and we hadn't made a really good day two plan, so we floundered a little.  We did the Monster's Inc. ride, which never has a line and sort of wandered around.  Eventually, we ended up indoors and ready to watch Dude Crush at "turtle talk".  I absolutely love listening to crush and am amazed at the technology.  The best part, Crush picked my dad to talk to.  He called him, "Carvin' Karl" or something like that and teased my dad about the possibly too causal way he might swim.  It was pretty funny and a great time.

The rest of the day morning we just sweated, ate churros and fought the ginormous crowds.  The temperatures got up to a sweltering 95 degrees and it was just sticky and miserable.  So, after we all rode on Cars, it was to the shuttle, the hotel and off to the beach!  We put the kids in their suits and Quinn had a rest on our drive the beach.

I think it's mostly because of my mom's obsession with the Beach Boys and all historically California ideals they generate, but our beach of choice is always Huntington.  The pier is cool, there are always surfers, and we can head to Ruby's Diner for dinner - ice cream first.

The beach was a total energizer for all of us, especially the kids.  The only time Quinn cried on the whole trip was the beach...the ocean was a little too big and windy for him, but I was more than happy to hold a squishy kid wrapped in a blanket on the beach.

After our time at the ocean and one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen (seriously, it was divine) we headed back to Disneyland.  We stayed until 11.

The highlight of the evening was our family of five's ride on the Jungle Cruise in the dark.  I didn't know that they ran the ride in the dark, but it's much more fun than in broad daylight.  The boat captain shines a spotlight on the animals and is a little more loose with the script.  Our captain was Juan.  He was maybe the funniest tour guide I have had on the jungle cruise in my life.  And not only was he funny, but, we saw a LIVE RACCOON on the ride.  It totally freaked Juan out and he went off script for the rest of the ride he was so flustered.  It was the best.

Then, we went to bed!

#BoompaGoesToDisneyland - entering the park!

All of us arrived at the hotel in Anaheim at different times on Friday night.  We had a quick team meeting in my parents hotel room and then it was off to bed.  I mean, when your early entry day to the park is your first day, you need your rest.

Ross and i woke up at 5:30 in the morning.  We were all meeting at the shuttle stop at 6:20 am, so we could get into the park right at 7:00 am and ride as many rides as we could before it really started to get crowded.  

First ride: Peter Pan.  Then the rest of fantasy land.  Then, the group splintered, as expected with the "riders gonna ride" and the "sitters gonna sit".  We spent the next three day sin multiple combinations of family, taking turns with the littles.  My mom and I were pack mules, hauling all the crap that belonged to us.  Haley hauled most of her crap in a backpack on her back and a bum bag on her bum.

The weather was VERY warm and in the afternoon, we all started to melt a little.  Nothing that a nice lunch in Downtown Disney couldn't fix.  And, bugs land, in California adventure sure saved the day on the first day.  The kids could just get on any ride they wanted and it was shady and cooler than anywhere else.

By the early evening, Quinn was desperate for his main souvenir of the trip, a giant Buzz Lightyear.  Once I got it for him, and grandpa opened it for him, Buzz didn't leave Quinn's sight for the next three days.  He called him his, "special friend" and never let go.

On the first night, we left before the fireworks with three very tired kids.

#BoompaGoesToDisneyland - more driving

Day two of our adventure, Friday, October 7 was another long driving day, but at least we got to do the driving in the daylight.  We loaded into our rented mini van, started the movies and were on our way.

Things to note from day 2:

*Elliott has decided that Harry Potter is the greatest thing ever.  We are borrowing the books a couple at a time from Aunt Karen and he spent nearly the entire day in the car reading book number 3.

*Wyatt is a great car traveler.  He just sets up shop and hangs out.

*Quinn is great in the car, too....as long as he can keep eating.  He may have eaten his body weight in hi-chews in the car.

*Ross had major work drama the entire drive.  It was so stressful for him, and consequently me.  I'm not sure how many times we had to pull over so he could take a work phone call.  It was rough.

*Shake Shack in Las Vegas.

*The highlight of the day for me was stopping at the 7 Magic Mountains just outside Las Vegas in Jean, Nevada.  It's an art instillation that is up for two years and was super cool.  You take a frontage road, park in the dirt and walk out to 7 gigantic towers of bright and fluorescent rocks.  We were all impressed.

*Semi truck on FIRE on the side of the road in Victorville.

*Eating dinner at a hole in the wall Italian place in Anaheim called Carolina's.  It was absolutely delish!