So we basically rolled into town and have done nothing more than sit on the beach, soak in the jacuzi…go back to the beach, surf, make sandcastles, eat Goldfish (me Almonds and Banana ), and watch dolphions and sea lions in the near surf. Very relaxing and just what the doctor ordered after DisneyLand.

TOday we’ve scheduled some private surf lessons for Stefaan and Maria. Pascal and I will repeat yesterday’s agenda on the beach of chasing gulls, building sand castles (yesterday we made an active volcano dressed with kelp strands and a ‘sand monorail’ that stretched all the way out to the sea in case the sea lions wanted to escape the volcano…).

The beach here is packed with activity. We’re right in the middle of the Life Guard Camps which host kids from 3 all the way to teens. It looks like really hard work, especially swimming from shore to the far buoy and back (just the teens). Lots of screaming, and running, and drills. If we lived here Stefaan would definitely be a surfer and a life guard. He is obsessed with the waves and surfing and Great Whites. Sharks are a constant topic of conversation on this trip with both guys. But especially Stefaan.

DisneyLand.

The last time I was at DisneyLand was 1986. I know a lot more about design, and life, and entertainment than I did then. We have 2 kids…a whole new lens through which to experience the park. What a beautiful, fully realized experience it is.

We spent 2 fantastic days cruising the park. Thanks to Maria’s investigative efforts we found out about things like the 7am access for DisneyLand Hotel residents and the just totally awesome FastPass process, which I have been giving a lot of thought to since trying out. Basically you get one Fast Pass at any time for a ride, then you have to come back no sooner than the time marked on the pass (usually like 2 hours in the future). When you get back you basically get immediate access…front of the line. So when there’s a 45 minute wait at Indiana Jones you get in with a 5 minute wait (along with other Fast Passers). Badass. There’s all kind of cool tricks to use to game the lines like…Magic Morning Hour, The Hail Mary Pass, The Switch Off (aka, Chuck-Bubba-Relay…

No kidding. Imagine me of all people trying to get competitive with all of these insane parents. We did though. We shredded it. We never waited more that 15 minutes over 2 days and scored every top shelf ride. We showed up at 7am and went back to the hotel for naps and swimming and then went back in for some evening action. All of this strategery comes from The Unofficial Guide to Disney Land. A book I would normally never own or even gie a second glance but we found it in the home we were house sitting for and Maria basically built our attack plan from it.

I hadn’t realize how deeply ingrained my memories of Disney Land were until I hit the park again. Maybe it was why and when that defined my last visit…maybe it was because I was in the presence if such great design with my family…

I visited last with my cousin Damien and his family, who at that time was fighting off Leukemia and we were hosted by the Make a Wish Foundation. Childhood Leukemia in 1986 was not a known quantity like it is today. I remember the doctors admittedly shrugged when asked about the effectiveness and risk of Chemo…they were essentially making it up based on hints and piecemeal indications.

They saved his life in the end. And I can only believe that our experiences and happiness during that charged summer contributed to his will…and his amazing survival. It was a bittersweet trip but one that changed my life as a creative, and as a friend to a survivor and his family.

How is it possible that such a seemingly innocent trip to a theme park could be so loaded? I know, I know…jeez if I could just gloss over my feelings here…

It’s hard to describe filtering the park through the matrix that we carried: through the eyes design mind at middle age, a purely optimistic 3 year old, a seriously perceptive 8 year old, and a highly creative illustrator/designer. Every pass of each ride in each area took on new meaning depending on who I was with. Maria and I split up instinctively with the kids and scored cool rides with an ‘age-appropriate’ approach whenever possible… the one regrettable exception of the entire trip was taking Pascal into Pirates of the Caribbean..which was beyond terrifying for his little mind. I ended up hugging him to my chest by the time the drunken firefight section…

I think my very favorite moment was running the ‘Its a Small World’ with Pascal over and over…watching him point in slow amazement at all of the animatronic wonders. I’d seen it so many times I barely watched anything beyond his wide-open eyes as we passed through all the nations of children signing. I almost cried. I could feel his wonderment and joy. Hopefully a lifetime memory for him.

I took Stefaan on a couple of rough rides, namely The Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, and Indiana Jones. He was pretty tough on all of them but hid from the Yeti! I explained to him the history of his Tio David’s ‘Yeti’ nickname…he was born in the ice and is only happy in a home made of snow and ice with a blanket made of blue ice. We have more Roller-Coaster training to do!

All in all it was an amazing trip. They had this badass pool below our hotel and we totally leveraged it during our daily routine: 7 am hit the park at opening…rock until noon, pick up some kind of terrifyingly unhealthy ‘park food’ meal for lunch…migrate back to the room for Pascal’s much-needed nap while Stefaan and Maria did the pool and water-slide action. Once Pascal woke up we all joined forces again and pushed on towards the park again for fireworks, Kettle-Korn, and an unholy crowd of dedicated, if plan-less families all at the verge of total family meltdown. Unforgettable sights of kids apoplectic with exhaustion and overstimulation (not to mention sugary treats!).

The one unexpected experience (not even in the park!) was at Ride MakerZ, a kick-ass toy store that was all customizable race cars and monster trucks. The boys wanted to do this over all of the commercialized MIckey-Stuff. We actually left the park with pretty much no branded items. They got to pick the body type, the rims, and accessories. They LOVED it….much to our amusement. Now we get the special privilege of carting 2 expensive, custom remote controlled cars around the countryside asa we explore Santa Cruz, Monterey and final San Francisco on our way home to Austin.