. . . Some of Our Nightmares Did, Too . . .

A description of our trip to L.A. would not be complete without a mention of the "darker side"--which started on our way to Disneyland.

Ben was really quiet in the car, and we thought the sun in his eyes was bothering him--or maybe he was just a little excited . . . or nervous . . . or carsick. Whatever it was caused him to throw up all over the shirt he was wearing--and into Jason's hat (which Ben had borrowed to shade himself from the sun). Ben was so embarrassed, but luckily he had a jacket he could wear--and it turned out okay once we found a gift shop (not too difficult at Disneyland, as you might imagine) and got him a Mickey Mouse shirt :) Janae got a super-sparkly Princess shirt, which she could not stop looking at. . . .

The day went pretty well--it was sunny and full of fantasy, adventure, and LOTS of rides. Ben even went on all the "big kid" rides like Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Star Tours. He was so happy to be with his cousins and to experience all the excitement of Disneyland.

By the end of the day, we were getting tired, but Ben wanted to go on a few more rides. We thought we'd end with the carousel, which seemed like a nice, calm, happy ride that both Ben and Janae would enjoy. I was sitting with Ben, and Jason was looking for a spot for him and Janae. When the ride started, I noticed they were standing off to the side. I smiled really big and waved enthusiasitically, only to be met with a scowl from Jason. When we came around to the unhappy pair again, I realized Janae had thrown up--all over Jason, her sparkly Princess shirt, the sidewalk. This "trend" continued--with Janae being sick every day from then until the day we left. Poor girl!

 

Jason and I also ended up with the stomach flu, and our family generally proved ourselves to be probably the worst imaginable house guests for Anita and Mike. For example, no-one wants to hear their guests telling you another member of their party is now vomiting, or to ask any of these questions:

Can your bathmat go in the washing machine?
Do you have any more pillows?
Could we have another one of your bowls to take upstairs?
Do you have any more bedsheets?
Where do you keep your plunger?

I don't know if we'll be invited back any time soon, but I did offer our place to Anita if her family ever gets sick while they're visiting in Canada :)

Despite our weak stomachs, we decided to go to California Adventure on Wednesday (our last day in L.A.) as opposed to Tuesday, as we had planned. We didn't want to waste our tickets, or miss our Princess lunch. Anyway, Benjamin and Jason braved the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror--after which Ben said, "I don't want to go on any rides like that again!" (Of course he was asking to go on it again about an hour later.)

 

Finally, at 2:00 this morning (the day we flew out of L.A.), Ben came down with the stomach flu. I think we used every air sickness bag on the plane, as well as all the bags our souvenires had been in while we were at the airport. Poor little guy. I definitely don't recommend air travel while sick with the flu.

 

We left sunny California for a surprisingly snowy B.C. Janae wasn't impressed that she had to wear her coat again. Our time in Los Angeles went by way too quickly, especially with the time we "lost" being sick. We missed so many things that we wanted to do--a bonfire at the beach, Jamba Juice with Jordan (which I'm still craving!)--and I was really sad to leave.

 

I guess you have to take the nightmares if you want to have the dreams--we had some of each, and they definitely made our trip one that we'll remember for a long time!