"Dinleyland"

The trip to California went without a hitch. After the usual Flagstaff leavetaking 4 hours after schedule, we arrived at the Sanders' house long after the sun set. Geri and Del began their royal treatment right away--flowers everywhere and Trader Joe's delicacies (though I found out later that the clamshell of "dunkers" I downed over the week actually belonged to the Sanders). We had some wonderful family time, the highlight of which was a trip to Mickey's house in Toon Town. Sophie rode her first roller coaster and a bunch of other rides that took all of us down memory lane. The only one Sophie missed that I really remembered from my trip to DisneyWorld (which I was careful to point out to the Californians is bigger and, hence, better than DisneyLand), was the Peter Pan ride (Keri and I finally made it after she was already asleep). We almost got sick on the sliding gondola Ferris Wheel, watched the Electric Parade, and stayed up way past our bedtimes.

Sophie loved it all, though sometimes only in retrospect. We waited in a long line to say "Hi" to Mickey in his "screening room" only to have Sophie shriek in terror, clinging to Keri as though the waving, primary-colored overgrown rodent was a battery-powered fluffy toy or a dog. However, when we asked her later what was her favorite part of Disneyland, she surprised us all, "Meeting Mickey Mouse."

Geri and Del treated Keri and me to a wonderful night in Laguna Beach, shades of our honeymoon. I enjoyed being on the beach for hours more than I ever have. We worked through the questions in a marriage book, talked, prayed. It was wonderfully restorative to bodies, minds, relationship.

We stayed the entire week in the Sanders' lovely home while they were away at Berkeley. For those of you not fortunate enough to have been there, it is shrouded in beautiful, sweetly-scented vines, is cool and inviting, and had TWO playrooms for Sophie filled with a dollhouse, beanbags, enough plastic food for a grocery store, books galore, etc. We all loved it.

We also spent a morning with the Nesbitts and then headed down to the beach at Oceanside for the afternoon. Sophie loved chasing a retreating wave back toward the ocean and then running (but only in my arms, of course) screaming away from the next oncoming wave.

We closed out the week with church at Grace, gazing in disbelief at the foundation already poured for the new church building. I cried throughout the service, hearing about the Thoennes' adoption of their daughter Caroline (what a picture of God's grace!).

And then it was home, with a stop at the Ludlow DQ (best one on the route) for another example of God's grace, a Mississippi Mud blizzard. Of course, it is always nice to sleep in one's own bed, but we will miss our California adventure for some time yet.