When Jack's fifth birthday approached, he told us there was one thing he wanted--dinner at a restaurant. And after asking him the name of the place and expecting McDonalds or Arctic Circle or Leo's--all with extensive play areas--to be the answer, he said something unexpected: Goofy's Kitchen. It was a large brunch and dinner place in the Disneyland Hotel, where we went during each trip. When Jack was first speaking, we sat at a table, and suddenly he yells, "Baaaalooooo!"
I had no idea that he knew any of the characters of obscure Disney films, and I say obscure, because I think that this bear was from the movie The Jungle Book, but I am not sure. Jack was only two at the time, and we still laugh about that. On that day, Jack crawled down from his chair and ran to hug the large bear. The first time I had a chance, I bought the stuffed animal for him.
On this day in February of '08, we were lucky to take him on the trip. And while we were there, it was a bit cold. We were in the Brother Bear play area at California Adventure Park, the other Disney area now, which they built in the former parking lot. A Disney worker, dressed in Ranger "duds," had these floating ducks in various colors, and he let Jack and Tommy and Anna float them in the tiny stream they made there.
All three had fun with it. We did the same thing in irrigation ditches when I was little when we made boats and floated them. It was fun for me to see all three have fun doing that, although it pained me to spend time doing something I did as a child in Malad for free, when we were at Disneyland. But I have to remind myself that the day is about what is fun for the little ones.
And by the way, Anna's signature color is pink. I don't remember what colors the boys decided to use. They had fun regardless of the color, at least our boys did. The Disney Ranger was not only nice, but he also spent time with the three kids letting them have fun. In my book, I don't care what their favorite color is when they are as nice as they were with my grandchildren.
And it is not that I am homophobic by any means, because Ann and I are not. It's just some of the feelings we have left from the two days at Disneyland and one day at Disney World when we unwittingly visited the parks on pink triangle day. You have not lived until you have seen men grabbing each other in the restrooms, two doing the lambada in front of the Disneyland castle, and unmentionable things the men and ladies did on the Peter Pan and other rides in the dark. Straight people would have been thrown out of the park and taken to jail. It was more than I wanted to see once, and we were unlucky to see it three times. But like I said, the ranger was nice with my grand kids. He didn't have to spend time like that, and few do what he did for close to twenty minutes. Most adults really don't go "out of their way" any more, unless it is profitable. This man did what he did, because it made three children smile.
That trip was a perfect trip, one that we will always remember. It was a bit cold occasionally, but the trip was well worth it, and for me, it was worth catching a cold that was dangerously close to pneumonia. I spent several weeks getting better, and the first weekend home I visited the E.R. I had trouble breathing. In spite of it all, I have no regrets about going. Seeing the joy in the eyes of little ones makes it all worth while.
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