paul: [making sounds into a cheap echoing microphone toy] hoo-oooh!
nola: hoooooh!
paul: we're making a noise contest!
paul: hoooo-ooooooh!
nola: [noticing for the first time that paul has her echo-phone] hey!
nola: paul, that's mine!
paul: [tries to drop it behind the couch]
me: that was unnecessary.
paul: [picks it up and waves it just out of reach]
me: paul, just give it to her.
nola: [crying] paul, give it to me!
paul: [dangles it by cord, then tugs cord when she reaches up]
me: [annoyed] paul, let go.
nola: [crying] paul, let go.
paul: [dramatically lets go]
paul: she didn't fall backward like i hoped.
me: nola, like i said earlier, paul is a bully.
paul: hey!
me: [sighing] paul, when you see preschoolers at school, do you push them and yell at them?
paul: there's a FENCE. [duh]

hear the drums and cymbals? he's here every night.

in retrospect, i shouldn't have been so quick to have him return the toy to her, but his attempts to keep it away from her were just so... irritating.

it never occurred to me that such a thing might be a good idea until our trip there on the day before christmas. paul rode star tours what seemed like half a dozen times, and nola began an unhealthy obsession with disney junior live on stage.

faced with their obvious interest in the disney empire, i agreed with the idea of an annual pass, but at the same time i pooh-poohed it.

no, i'm sorry, annual passes to disneyland are for the obsessed. the people who know which characters are at what place at what time, the people who know the words to every movie and every song, the people who feel the need to just "drop by" disneyland in the way i "drop by" target.

but the idea kind of grew on me, and today we bit the bullet and bought the passes.

as a result, we had the most lowkey disney afternoon EVER. we got there after three. i took paul on star tours while cam and nola went to see the last showing of disney junior live on stage. we bought two bags of cotton candy and a loaf of boudin sourdough. (cam also bought a beer and directly confronted paul's obvious disapproval. har.) then we went home.

"we won't regret this," said cam on the tram back to the parking structure, a mere 3+ hours after arrival.

no, i don't imagine we will.

i've spent the last 30-something years looking at amusement parks as full-day excursions, events to plan to the ground. such days started at dawn and ended at midnight. you wore such-and-such lightweight jacket, wore your most comfortable walking shoes. you either needed a locker or tried to boil your accessories down to the essentials so you could skip the rental. if you didn't ride X number of rides or see Y number of sights, it was an unsuccessful day. when you've got small children, who needs that? and disney's so expensive, honestly, a few trips and the pass is already covered.

here's to a new era in the happiest place on earth. i hope this little investment proves to be a sound one.

true to my normal response, i said, "i'm sorry."

surprised, she looked at me, patted my arm and replied, "you didn't do it, mommy."

i wonder how old she will be when she realizes that i am one of the most... apologetic people on the planet?

me: nola, you're such a daredevil.
paul: *i'm* more of a daredevil.
paul: but i'm not at full capacity right now.

yesterday i felt so guilty that i accompanied the fam to the natural history museum and the california science center, but i was such a pathetic wheezy mess at the nhm that cam made me sit down by the mcdonalds at the science center while he took the kids upstairs.

once seated, i was charmed by a blond woman and her two children (boy named walter; didn't catch the girl's name).

girl: help!
girl: help!
mom: am i supposed to rescue you?
girl: no, walter.
mom: i hate to tell you this, but he's a terrible prince.
walter: [grinning happily while eating an apple]

when the mother suddenly called out, "who likes french fries?" i realized that there was a dad with them (with french fries in hand), and that that dad looked really familiar to me. i tried really hard to not look at them, but i was very amused by the fact that they talked like they were comedians.

google, wikipedia and imdb proceeded to show me that they actually were comedians. the dad was john ross bowie (from lots of things, but probably best known for a recurring spot on "the big bang theory") and the mom was jamie denbo, and good for them for being known yet unknown because i can't find the name of their daughter anywhere.

so--finally, celebrities. i've lived here almost all of my life (minus those 2.5 years up north), and i have almost no famous people stories to show for it.

it was a very charming show. i didn't think she really enjoyed it, but when we got home i caught her singing along with videos. and right before bed she tearfully declared that she wanted to see them again.

my wee groupie.

cam baked me a vegan chocolate cake.

the kids gave me puzzles they could do with me. (awww.)

now i'm drinking wine and having a snack with my best friend. (never mind that said best friend bought me a 40th birthday card. um. jerk.)

i'm more fortunate than i have any right to be.

(dictated but not read.)

nola: i wear this and you will be so happy.