June 2022

Okay. So, in case you were worried about Mikey having COVID, don't be.

He tested positive that morning at the end of May, slept for about 6 to 7 hours and woke up just fine.

I mean, like, nothing had ever happened.

No fever. No cough. A few sniffles.

He was ready to go back to school the next day, but COVID protocol said he had to stay home and isolate for at least 5 days.

This meant that he had a week off of school.

He was really bored.

But, thanks to remote schooling and the new tech the school district adopted,

he didn't fall behind at all.

I like to buy hanging strawberry plants each spring.

They produce a surprising number of strawberries, and the best part is that Ralph can't eat them because they are up in the sky.

This year, I bought two.

A bird decided that the plant at the front of the house was lonely and built a nest in it.

I guess there are worse places to hatch a chick.

The chick did indeed hatch - although there were some close calls with the local crows - and the nest was soon vacated.

The sad part was that it killed my strawberry plant.

Boo.

We bought Mikey a new pair of Ralph-approved sneakers.

June is usually almost as busy as September is - at least school and PTA wise.

There are lots of end-of-year meetings and events to attend.

Besides a slew of PTA meetings, the first major event of note was Mikey's

Advanced Drama Variety Show.

I believe it was billed as being the 25th Annual.

It's a one-night show that features skits made popular by tv, movies or YouTube as well as some student written skits.

Mikey was in quite a few of them.

Mikeys' contribution to the Variety Show was a rendition of the hit "Muppets Most Wanted" song: I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo In Malibu).

You may have to turn up the sound to hear this amazingness....

I get the feeling that Mikey likes to make people laugh...hmmmm.

This was his first performance without a mask.

He couldn't get enough breath to sing the song, so he took it off.

I'm not sure how he is going to top that performance.

At the end of the Variety Show, the class gave out the Hammy Awards.

Patterned after the Academy Awards, they recognize students that went above and beyond.

The award winners are selected by their peers.

Mikey picked up Best Supporting Actor.

Mikeys friends, S and B, also received awards.

Can't forget the drama teacher!

And, not wanting to be left out, the two older kiddos got in on the picture action.

Mikey was so proud of his award.

The next day the drama class had an end-of-year party.

They ate way too much sugar.

If you know drama kids, then you know they don't need any sugar. EVER.

We capped off that week with two high school events.

The first was an "interested families night" where I spoke to potential families about the benefits of Katie's high school. Ugh. Public speaking.

The following evening was an end-of-year party hosted by our PTSA.

I spent the majority of the evening dancing and singing along to some K-POP while manning the PTSA table in the lobby.

I got a new phone!

I was tired of the low quality of the pictures that my old phone took.

I was also annoyed that others could take video and take pictures at the same time.

That capability would come in really handy for drama performances!

Behold pretty pictures from my Pixel 6 Pro!

Ralph and Mikey were the only ones around for me to practice on that first day.

Hmmm.

I guess it got annoying.

All he needs is Spongebob pajamas....

Annnnyways....

What better place to practice taking pictures than an awesome local gourmet ice

cream shop!

 Yep.

They've got dairy free ice cream.

And gluten free ice cream.

AND gluten free/vegan waffle cones.

Katie put her math skills to good use and helped a friend study for a final exam.

They spent TWO DAYS studying.

(The friend ended up passing)

Remember how I said I wanted a phone that could take video but also take pictures at the same time?

Well, looky here!

Here is a picture of Ralph trying to catch a treat.

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

Mikey's middle school staff pulled a prank on the ENTIRE SCHOOL and held a surprise field day in the middle of the week.

Tee-hee.

I was in on the secret and volunteered to help keep an eye on kids.

Mikey came to say hi to me.

Then he ran off to "play" tennis.

There was a lot more laughing than actually playing.

On the last day of school - which was only 2 hours! - I volunteered to help keep an eye on kids at Katie's high school field day.

We asked parent/guardians to donate frozen treats and boy did they come through. 
Katie's school only has about 200 students and we had enough treats for probably 400+.

Here's Katie with some friends chowing down on some ice cream.

The best part of that day was watching teenagers do a three-legged race.

A few couples fell and about three phones were dropped.

Katie and her buddy did not fall or drop their phones.

They got skillz.

Still messing with my phone.

I like the portrait mode.

I feel like I should write something clever or snarky here...but I am at a loss.

Maybe we'll play "Caption this Photo".

Go!

Summer is shedding season for Ralph.

Who's kidding? 

ALL YEAR is shedding season for Ralph.

This was a purposely made hair mess.

I brushed him in the living room instead of outside.

It was rainy.

Never ones to pass up the chance to get ice cream, the kids agreed to bike to the gourmet ice cream store with Huzbend.

We figured it was a great way to celebrate the start of summer.

I met them there.

Yum.

A picture of Katie explaining that she would eat this ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Summer was officially in full effect.

The first full week of summer was spent doing NOTHING.

That was on purpose.

Badminton: Katie vs. Me

Ugh.

I am so old.

Ralph enjoying a little sun.

Sometimes he's just so garsh darned cute.

We planted some wildflower seeds.

(Spoiler Alert: They didn't grow)

Ralph doesn't bark very often. 

And when he does, it's usually at invisible animals that have invaded our yard or when someone comes to the front door.

One day, he went absolutely ballistic barking out the front windows.

Soon after, some crows began cawing up a storm.

I went outside to see what all the fuss was about.

Turns out we had a visitor.

I'd never seen him around before.

But I had an idea why he was visiting....

He had his eye on the Momma Bird living in the (then still alive) hanging strawberry plant.

Somebody was looking for an easy lunch.

Badminton: Daddy vs. Mikey.

Mikey was invited to go to Disneyland for a friend's birthday.

And you better believe he said yes!

And you better believe I chaperoned!

Here we are on the way to the airport.

He fell asleep in an UBER.

We found our travel mates!

Say hi to S with the blonde hair, S's mom and B with the panda hat.

Because I helped with the planning of the trip (and making lots of dining reservations), I received a plaid vest as a gift.

Just like a VIP Disney tour guide.

"We're going to DISNEYLAND!"

We arrived in Anaheim a bit before dinner time.

This was the view from the balcony of our room.

Group photo.

I taught the group a new word...
ESPLANADE.

(The esplanade is the courtyard that separates Disneyland from Disney California Adventure.

Yes. You can literally walk from one gate to the other gate in less than 5 minutes.

Disneyland for the win.)

We strolled through Downtown Disney to waste some time before our reservation at Tortilla Jo's.

(aka: Tortila Ho's or ToHo's)

The food was yummy.

I had flautas.

Along with a delicious blue margarita that had SUGAR on the rim.

As it should be.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel.

Our hotel was across the street from a Disneyland parking lot.

We took a shuttle to the Toy Story parking lot and planned to walk to our hotel from there.

It didn't take too long, and it was a lot better than walking all the way to the hotel at night.

When we got back, the kids went swimming.

I parked myself on a lounge chair and relaxed.

I came prepared.

I had one whole suitcase just for food.

I brought Mikey-safe muffins for breakfast. 

And since Mikey can no longer have real Churros (Disney churros have dairy in them), I brought Churro cereal.

Since this was not our trip, our park touring was going to be significantly

different. 

There wouldn't be any midday pool breaks or naps.

We opened the park most days and almost shut it down most nights.

I have to admit we got a lot done.... but I don't think I would do it that way again.

Way too tiring.

First park up was Disneyland!

Here we are waiting for rope drop.

The first ride we hit was Indiana Jones.

For those that have never been on Indiana Jones, the ride is a super jerky jeep ride that starts and stops, goes around sharp turns, goes down hills while avoiding rats, snakes, spiders, poison darts and giant boulders all while in a lot of darkness

As we exited the ride, we learned that B kinda had an anxiety thing going on.

Turns out that dark, loud, fast, droppy rides scared her.

Huh.

Hmmm.

We weren't quite sure how significant the anxiety was at this point.

We hit up the Jungle Cruise next.

Just as hokey as ever.

"And here we are approaching the beautiful Schweitzer Falls named after the famous explorer Dr. Albert Falls."

The best time to visit Disneyland is in the morning.

See how many people are behind us in this picture?

That's right.

Rope drop, people.

Rope. Drop.

We headed on over to the Haunted Mansion.

It is here that we learned the extent of B's anxiety.

We made it through the stretching room all the way to our Doom Buggy.

We boarded our Doom Buggy's - the kids in one, me and Other Mom in the other.

Next thing we know, B. is yelling to us that she is exiting the ride and will see us outside.

WHAT?!?!?

It was too late to get out to make sure she was okay, so we had to ride the ride all the way through.

She was waiting outside.

Yay for smart phones so we could text her.

Next, we got in line for Big Thunder Mountain.

We made it all the way up to actual boarding and B couldn't do it.

I exited with her in tears.

She was upset that she was missing out and that she was disappointing everyone.

We talked and she calmed down a bit.

I told her that I would be her buddy and we'd work around it.

Anxiety is not nice.

It sneaks up on you and overrides any sane thoughts you have.

It has no room for logic.

It's a jerk.

After that bit of sadness, we had a bit of success.

Everyone made it on the Millenium Falcon ride!

We chose to wait in the Standby line.

Ugh.

Mistake.

It took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Finally made it to the preshow.

I think it helped that we said it was like playing a big video game...but in a spaceship.

"All you do is push the button, push the button, push the button."

We made sure she didn't pilot, but was a gunner.

Waiting to board.

Everyone had a great time!

I'm pretty sure we got at least two coaxium containers.

Not bad!

We wandered our way out of Galaxy's Edge and into A Small World. 

Yes, the dolls are just as creepy as ever.

Oh my gosh.

This baby on the right loved Mikey.

She just smiled and smiled at him.

Necessary Disneyland tourist picture.

Lunchtime!

We headed back to Main Street to sit down at the Carnation Cafe.

Tried somethin' new...fried pickles.

They were good.

I swear.

See! There's a pickle in there.

And wouldn't ya know it, as we sat there a character cavalcade drove on by.

Mikey was not impressed with his dairy free turkey club sandwich.

But he did love the French fries and ate ALL the leftover fries at the table.

"I wonder if I can order a side of fries to go......"

After lunch, it was getting close to our return time for Rise of the Resistance.

We hoofed it all the way back to Batuu.

One works up a thirst walking to another planet that resides a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

What better way to quench that galactic thirst than with Blue and Green milk!

The best part about them is that they were safe for Mikey.

Yep. Non-dairy.

The Blue is very coconutty.

The Green is more mango-y.

The kids weren't huge fans...as you can see from S's face.

I really liked them.

They were quite refreshing on such a hot day.

Hmmm....I wonder what Mikey and B are looking at?

Uh-oh.

"Clear the way, please. This whole post is under observation by the First Order...."

"Citizen, put away that unauthorized recording device immediately."

Dude literally towered over my friend. It was hilarious.

After our brief brush with the law, we were off to join the Resistance.

B made it about 3/4's of the way through the experience.

Her anxiety got the best of her and she didn't want to do the last part which was the actual ride.

I was disappointed not to finish it out, but we did get escorted out the ride through all these back stage corridors.

Even saw the Cast Member breakroom, which looked like something out of a sitcom.

All these First Order officers eating snacks and having coffee.

We wandered a bit more.

We rode Hyperspace Mountain - Space Mountain with a Star Wars over lay.

And since it was right next door, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

It was inching closer to dinner, but it was still a tad bit early.

We stopped for a Dole Whip and a visit with some singing robot birds.

Mikey enjoyed some bao buns.

I opted to go and save us a spot to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.

I found a nice spot one row back from the curb and put down my blanket.

Meanwhile, the others rode King Arthur Carousel and then searched out some dinner.

Mikey was not impressed with their fast-food picks and decided to wait to get back to me to find something to eat.

As soon as they got back, Mikey and I went off to find some dinner.

The Plaza Inn was right up the street.

We got ourselves a fried chicken dinner and a plate of pasta.

I have to say, it was pretty good.

Mikey scarfed down his pasta and breadstick in record time.

We headed back to our saved spot and watched the parade.

When it was over, we stepped out into the middle of Main Street and enjoyed The Disneyland Forever fireworks show.

I didn't take any pictures because I was live-streaming the nighttime spectaculars for Katie at home.

We still had some time after the shows to hit some more rides.

As we were walking, we noticed there was no line for the teacups.

Like, NO LINE.

The others said they didn't want to go because of motion sickness or something, so Mikey and I jumped on.

Teacups at night is the best.

Wheeeeeee!

The rest of our friends had gone off to do It's a Small World another time.

As we waited to meet them, the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" projection show played on the facade of the ride.

It was decided that we were calling it quits for the night.

As we exited, the second running of the Electrical Parade was making its way down Main Street.

I couldn't help but stop for a few pictures.

Up bright and - not as early as I would have liked - the next day.

It was hard rolling these teens and almost teens out of bed.

The first ride of the day was Webslingers in Avengers Campus at Disney's California Adventure.

The ride broke down as soon as the preshow was over, so we were able to wander and look at

all the "easter eggs".

After we webbed some Spiderbots, we decided to help the Guardians of the Galaxy escape Tanaleer Tivan's collection.

Well, three of us did.

What the heck Mikey?

I think he's ridden this too many times.

Monsters Inc. ride.

I rode with my buddy, B.

I have no idea why she's making that face.

On our way out we said bye to Roz.

Mikey had seen a shirt at the exit of the Guardians ride, but they didn't have his size.

We decided to check the giant merchandise store to see if they had it.

Turns out the shirt was a special release.

Oh well.

Mikey had a little fun with the giant-sized snacks.

Speaking of giant sized snacks, we were all a little peckish.

We ordered a PYM sized pretzel and some "potato barrels" (that's Disney speak for tater tots) to share.

My son is a doofus.

It was time to pay a visit to our favorite talking Cars.

First up, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

This ride has no reason to be this good.

Oh, it looks like a cute little tractor ride spinning to songs sung by Mater.

But, let me tell you, those spins are FAST.

Hi!

The kids loved Mater's so much they rode it at least four times (it may have been more).

We headed on down Route 66 to Luigi's for a little car line-dancing.

I don't know how these three fit in a car together.....

Lots of spinning....

Well, OF COURSE, you can see the citizens of Radiator Springs while you're wandering the town.

KA-CHOW!

You can't go to Radiator Springs and not race!

Here we are waiting in Comfy Caverns for our car.

Ready to race!

My buddy B had a death grip on my hand for this one.

But she did it!

We won our race.

Time to say good bye to Radiator Springs and Carburetor Canyon and move on over to.....

Pixar Peir for a little Midway Mania.

Getting ready to play.

My arm just about fell off. Seriously.

LUNCHTIME!

Mikey and I walked back over to Avengers Campus and picked up some shawarma for lunch.

It was a tad bit spicy.

So, a relaxing ride was in order.

"I want mooooooorrrrrrrrrre...."

The world's most exciting ride - The Little Mermaid: Ariels' Undersea Adventure.

We just call it "THANK GOD IT'S AIR CONDITIONED!"

Did I mention it was hot?

A few wanted to go on the Grizzly River Rapids ride.

I did not.

Wet shoes and pants for the rest of the day?

No thank you.

I hung out with my pal B while the others hopped in a tube.

Now the final hill....

SPLASH!

Turns out that some of the water effects were not working and they didn't get soaked.

Three of us rode the Incredicoaster.

Here's Mikey and I at the launch.

Yes, we know where the cameras are.

We hoofed it over to Disneyland to pick up a To-Go Hungry Bear dinner package that came along with a reserved section to view Fantasmic that evening.

I wasn't expecting much dinner-wise. 

The place we were eating has the blandest most boring fast food.

But surprise, surprise!

Their BBQ ribs were delish!

Mikey didn't quite escape the water from Grizzly River Rapids. 

It all landed on his feet, so his sneakers and socks were soaked and squishy.

He used the time we sat for dinner to air out his socks on the back of his chair.

Don't worry, no one was sitting near us.

We had some time before we had to find our spot for the show, so we headed over to Star Tours for a quick ride.

Before we found our "seats" for the show, Mikey and I stopped in the Main Street Confectionary to find something sweet to eat.

A cast member helped us find this non-dairy dark chocolate coconut candy for Mikey.

She was also dairy free and even went to verify the ingredients for us.

He was SO happy and said it was SUPER YUM.

Here's a close up.

Sadly, we went to find these the next day and they weren't there.

I wanted to try a few different things.

NO, I did NOT eat the entire thing of each of these.

Here's a Pineapple cupcake.

It was MEH.

The cake was just plain vanilla - not even a pineapple filling in the middle. Sheesh.

The frosting was piled high and had a very slight pineapple taste.

I expected more.

Disappointing.

Next up, a churro cupcake.

This one was a little better.

Vanilla cinnamon cake with vanilla frosting with cinnamon sugar dusting.

Points for the moist cinnamon-y cake and just the right amount of frosting.

Liked this one.

And last but not least, a cake pop.

I did eat all of this one.

I live-streamed Fantasmic for Katie as well.

Sorry, Disney World. Disneyland's version of Fantasmic kicked the crap out of yours.

The fireworks were set to go off a few minutes after Fantasmic ended.

So, we stayed put while others in our group went to the bathroom.

You can see the fireworks, listen to the music and see the projections on water screens on the Rivers of America.

It's the perfect place to dance and sing to the show without the worry of accidently elbowing someone.

We weren't quite done yet.

We headed back to Batuu to pilot the Millenium Falcon one more time.

Before we headed in to the cokcpit of the ship, the Cast Member told us that Hondo Onaka was feeling a bit under the weather and was wondering if Chewbacca could fill in.

We said sure.

He told us not to touch anything and input the secret sequence of button pushes that allowed us to hear Chewie.

Boy oh boy was he NOT happy with us. S and B were really, really bad pilots.

After we exited the ride, we took a leisurely stroll through "Star Wars Land" and noticed some really cute (and cool) details here and there.

B was remarking on how distressed and beat up the buildings were.

Taking the opportunity to comment about her bad spaceship piloting skills Mikey answered: 

"I'm pretty sure you hit that building as we were landing....."

TEACUPS FOR THE WIN!

This time we convinced another to come along with us.

It was decided to call it night.

We were able to say HI to the big cheese on our way out.

CHEEEEEEEEZE.

G'night Disneyland.

The bus that we took back to our hotel each night was an articulated bus (also known as a bendy bus, an accordion bus, and by many other names or so says the internet).

The kids liked to sit in the bendy section so that when the bus turned, they would pivot towards each other by sitting on different sides.

Not sure how to explain how it worked.

It was B's favorite ride in all of Disneyland.