Friday, May 27, 2010

Yesterday after school we went to Disneyland. Our California resident season passes have black-out dates for most of the summer so we wanted to get one more day of fun in while we could. We met Barr at the usual In-n-out parking lot off of Jamboree so we could drive over together. Of course we had to get some burgers and fries to tied us over at least for the first 2 hours. It's amazing how often our family is hungry. I know my kids (and I used to be) calorie burning machines. Ben is often asking why he eats all the time and is still as skinny as a bean pole. So of course I also had packed bagels, granola bars, fruit, cholocate covered pretzels, and drinks for the 4 hours of Disney fun. I'm too cheap to buy food at the parks. Not sure if it's a learned thing from my parents or just an inherit inability to pay more for something than it's worth.

Anyway, Christy Dayton told me a few months ago that I can get a disability pass for Brooke to get quick access on the rides. The best discovery in the world!!!! It allows up to 6 people on the attractions. So in 3 1/2 hours we rode Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which broke down while we were on it!), Snow White, Pinocchio, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, the Madderhorn, and watched Captain EO which was at Barr's request and was the stupidest thing I have ever seen! I would feel a little quilty just walking on the rides and seeing everyone else standing in lines forever. I wasn't sure what to think of Ben's comment, "Brooke, I'm glad you're handicapped!". It seemed like a selfish thing to say. We were all benefiting from Brooke's disability. But then I think of all the things Ben, Brittany and Brigham deal with that other families don't: having to watch the James' room video for hours a day going on 3 years now, getting pinched and grabbed if they are standing too close to her or sitting by her in the car, getting her diapers, shoes, pants, etc..., helping her walk around and get in and out of the car and her bed and her chair, and the countless other acts of service they perform unnoticed. I guess as a mother I view these things as sacrifices my kids are making, but in reality I should be counting them as blessings. Brooke is just that, the greatest blessing this family has. Even after dragging her on Thunder Mountain Railroad which terrifies her, she said "thank you Daddy" as he helped her off the ride. When she peed through her diaper and I was changing her in the bathroom she said, "I'm sorry Mom". And hearing her try to sing "It's a Small World" through the entire ride brought such joy to me. She has come such a long way in these last few months. I guess it's nice when the world offers us special treatment like quicker access on attractions, but they don't realize we receive special treatment every day by hearing Brooke laugh or feeling her arms around our neck.