Joy of Discovery

There is nothing quite like experiencing the joy vicariously as your children experience joy themselves. Though I learned this weekend that seeing someone else's child experience that joy for the first time can also be really wonderful. To see this little four or five year old, dressed like a princess, dancing with a 7-foot tall Sherrif Woody, to see how big her eyes were, how gigantic her smile was, it was just so cool.

We went to Disneyland this last weekend. Rachel, who knew of Mickey Mouse, only from her diapers, would not stop saying "Mickey Mo" Every single likeness, some so small we missed them, she made sure we saw. She was just amazed by the 6-foot tall one, but was reluctant to go that close to him until Cinderella and Lori gave her a lot of reassurance and stood between her and Mickey for the picture.

The park was crowded, we didn't get to go on many rides and it probably wasn't in our top 20 best trips, but I doubt Rachel realized that. Sadly, it will end up being awhile before we get to go again, so as far as "last hurrahs" go, I was more of a whimper. But we all had a great time.

I hope it's only coincidental that Rachel, her mom and her grandma all were pretty sick, Rachel the next day, her grandma the day after that and her mom the day after that. Rachel's still sick almost a week later and her mom's not doing so great, either. No sleep in our house these days.