Braveheart

Because we still have a few marbles to spare, the Mr. and I decided to take the kids to Disneyland Easter weekend. What actually transpired is that the Mr. had some business to do and could meet us down there. That meant that I needed to get myself and the two kids on an airplane and to the O.C. by myself. So I girded my loins (with goldfish crackers and stickers) and took the plunge. And you know what? It was totally fine.

Anyone looking at me in the airport and on the plane with X and Miss Z probably thought "what a cute couple of kids. What a together mom." I'm not even joking (as X-Man says). Is there something easier about two kids vs. one? Am I jinxing myself to a fresh new hell by writing that? There were a few moments on the plane of "that's stupid" (X's favorite new way to get under my skin) but that was easily outweighed by his total capability going through security, Miss Z's cuteness and well-timed nap during the flight, and the actual helpfulness of X.

And Disneyland itself? We had a blast. Our expectations were very low, which helps (I'm becoming convinced that actual fun with children in tow really is about expectation management). The boys got to go on a few key rides: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, the teacups. We all went on Small World--it was priceless to watch Miss Z--who, my sister pointed out, looks exactly like a Small World doll--clapping in time to the music and pointing at all the fake animals. And on a side note, I totally dig the Small World aesthetic--my 70's childhood showing. Disneyland also has their dude ranch stocked with the nicest, cutest and smallest goats ever (of course, Disney goats)--and the kids loved that. There was a fantastic interlude with a fiddle playing cast member in Frontierland who geared his whole spiel to Miss Z--while she stood in the middle of the crowd clapping, dancing and demanding "mo." And back at the hotel on Friday night, we had some real sibling love going on when we tried to bed the kids down in the same room--the Mr. and I overheard X trying to sing Miss Z to sleep. And when I went in to check on them I found them both in the crib, Miss Z climbing on top of her bro-bro while he giggled. As we dragged him to the other room he kept saying "I don't want to be separated from Sissy!" Pretty damn heartwarming.