This quote sums up perfectly what I think a lot of us struggle with when our only glimpses of other people's lives come through Facebook or blogs or the annual Christmas letter. In those contexts, everybody's lives look perfect. In contrast, our own lives in the harsh, cluttered reality of day-to-day existence, pale in comparison.
I mention the quote in this post because I want to make it clear that what follows is my highlight reel. We've been in California for about a week now, and I haven't blogged a thing about it, so naturally it only makes sense to catch up with a quick summary, highlight reel kind of post.
Make no mistake, there have been plenty of outtakes. Nathan has had approximately 75 meltdowns, most of them related to us having the audacity to make him eat a meal. Furthermore, I have lost my shit multiple times over the over-commercialization of the holidays, the futility of buying gifts, the hassles of travel, airport security, etc., etc., etc.
But this post is not about all that. This post is the highlight reel.
Of course, the first part of the trip was the flight. I will say that, truthfully, that flight is going on my own personal highlight reel, because there was not one single glitch. The lines were long at every stage of the airport, but we made it through with perfect timing. I brought our own lunches from home to eat at the gate, as opposed to my usual waiting in another long line at the airport McDonald's. I was also really pleased to see that the airport had installed water bottle refill stations, so we were properly hydrated.
Once on the plane, Nathan entertained himself by reading the safety information card, making him the only passenger on the flight to actually do so:
I don't know why, but he has a sort of morbid fascination with the picture of the people evacuating on the wing after a water landing.
The plane had Wi-Fi for $5, so I bought it for the iPad, which allowed me to purchase the hugely popular app "Where's My Water?" for Nathan mid-flight. The other awesome thing about the Wi-Fi was that the home screen had a countdown to the landing. This countdown eliminated the guesswork of trying to calculate how much more time was left in the flight, taking into account time changes and whatnot. Somehow knowing exactly how much longer you have makes the flight go by faster.
Despite several interruptions to solve tricky levels of Where's My Water?, I was able to read 5% of this really awesome new Stephen King novel, 11/22/63. I'm not a huge Stephen King fan because I'm easily spooked, but this book is about time travel, and the Kennedys, which are two of my interests.
The flight landed early, we got our one suitcase quickly, and my mom and stepdad picked us up at LAX.
The next day we went here:
Here's Nathan beginning the day at Disneyland, filled with childlike wonder:
Jungle Cruise:
The Pooh ride:
We saw real reindeer:
Nathan's favorite ride, the Buzz Lightyear one:
He also liked the Casey Jones circus train (modeled after the one in Dumbo), which I liked because my kid rode in a cage:
A highlight for all of us was It's a Small World decorated for the holidays. Here are my mom and stepdad in front of the ride's exterior:
Nathan on the ride:
Nathan with an appropriate expression when we got stuck on It's a Small World:
The following two days, we hung out with my brother Tyler, sister-in-law Kasumi, and baby niece Sydney. I have no pictures of it because I'm kind of bad about taking pictures of everyday life, but I promise to take pictures of that branch of the family during the actual Christmas celebration.
On Thursday my mom and stepdad drove us to the high desert to hang out with my in-laws. Nathan has spent hours and hours playing cooperatively with his cousins (I'm serious), with minimal conflict.
That branch of the family decided to do a Christmas Eve Eve celebration on December 23, which is also the Seinfeldian holiday of Festivus.
Because Festivus is about the frustration with the commercialism and pressure of other December holidays, the relatives decided to forgo a gift exchange and do a cookie exchange instead. This is my mother-in-law Diana and nephew Johnny (obscured per my photo policy regarding children) in front of the initial cookie spread:
Food close-ups!
This is my mother-in-law Diana and her sister Connie, looking festive:
I like this ornament they have, which is made to look like a postcard featuring the holiday tree at Marshall Field's department store in 1953:
They have the Christmas pickle ornament, which is supposed to be based on a German custom (whoever finds the pickle on the tree gets an extra gift), but which a quick Google search revealed may be a completely fabricated backstory.
The pickle in context:
And what Festivus celebration would be complete without the Feats of Strength? In this case the Feats of Strength was a game of soccer keep-away, Nathan and his cousin William (not pictured) against older cousin Johnny (obscured with Rudolph graphic). At one point two neighbor dogs joined in the game, and William said, "All right, we have a dog on our team!"
Those wooden posts holiday up fledgling trees are the closest thing we had to the Festivus aluminum pole. Also, Nathan is wearing his pajamas in this, making it a questionable entry for the highlight reel.
Now it's Christmas Eve, and tonight we're going to my in-laws' church. Tomorrow we do the gifts with the in-laws and then head back to my mom's house for her extended family celebration. On the 26th we're going to my dad and stepmom's house for a belated holiday celebration with them. So, look for more highlight reels to come.
And, for all who celebrate such things, have a very Merry Christmas!
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