i dohn yike big pooh

aaaand we're back, disneyland!

our summer vacation was a two-parter this year, and part one was two days at the magic kingdom. while i personally feel that "brainwash" is a strong word, i will say that mama the hype machine had violet primed for her return to the park. at 23 months, violet didn't appear to have any recollection of her first trip (at 14 months), but she was excited nonetheless, thanks to our daily readings of her prized "mickey books," a steady rotation of the official album of disneyland's 50th anniversary (kevin and i were in attendance on july 17, 2005, so obviously i needed the double disc), and of course my daily chatter about how the pirate boat would speed down a big hill and go splash! as if disney marketing really needs help from me.

with nana, poppy and auntie courtney joining, i thought it would be fun to do a character meal, so i signed us up for the minnie & friends brunch at the plaza inn on main street. things started off great. violet got a balloon. she was psyched.

i made sure to arrange her high chair so that she had the best view of the room, and soon enough, tigger happily ambled towards our table. "yay! look! tigger!" we enthused. violet's eyes went wide, and her face fell as she dissolved into a frantic mess of utter terror. knowing the drill, tigger executed a dancy 180, but the damage was done. we rearranged violet's chair in hopes that she'd forget about the roaming costumed giants, but for the rest of the meal, it was all we could do to wave them off as violet would wheel around in her seat and scream, "i dohn yike big pooh!" now there's something you want your kid yelling in public. for the rest of the trip, violet repeatedly clarified that she likes the "leetle" characters; the big ones, not so much. as we exited the plaza inn, she pointed at tigger across the room, crucible-style, and shouted, "you go home, tigger! you go home to your own house!"

don't worry, though. we had plenty of success. violet's #1 favorite ride, far and away, was the carousel, and she talks about it practically everyday. she rode it at least three times. her #2 favorite was the horse-drawn trolley. those main street vehicles are so great for the toddler set. she also loved the jungle boat, the teacups, alice in wonderland, casey jr. circus train, winnie the pooh, the tiki room (probably because we lied that the toucan was her beloved señor toucan from dora), and of course the disneyland railroad. she was pretty lukewarm about peter pan and it's a small world, and she hid her face in my chest for the vast majority of the finding nemo submarines, the haunted mansion (shocking, i know), and the pirates of the caribbean (despite her continued insistence that she loves riding the pirate boat that goes splash). man, i've never realized how LOUD the rides are. i think that's really what scares her -- that and the darkness. it's not like a skeleton means anything to her at this point. in fact, she loves this totally age-inappropriate children's book about a ghost who's searching for the leg bone that a dog stole from his grave.

she was also obsessed with dumbo, but kevin and i weren't willing to stand in line for that on day one.

she watched for awhile, so longingly that i brought her back super early the next morning just so that we could ride without the pain of a long wait. also, because she was disappointed in our inability to snag a purple teacup (we had to settle for a measly pink), i managed to get us into a purple one early too. i'll take my number #1 mom pin anytime, v.

other big hits were goofy's house in toontown

princess tiana's jewels in the bibbidi bobbidi boutique

and of course a steady diet of bread and cheese.

the big highlight for the adults -- aside from the joy of witnessing violet's joy, which i say without a trace of snark because it really is truly, truly awesome -- was our stay at the recently renovated disneyland hotel. the detail work is just fantastic. even the sconces aside the bathroom mirrors are held up by mickey's gloves. if left to her own devices, violet probably would have skipped the magic kingdom and spent all day in the three swimming pools, including a really fun splash pool where she could "swim by my own self." either that, or just played in the hotel room's curtains.

i had big plans to keep her up for the fireworks, but she just couldn't make it. she fell asleep in my arms amid hundreds of people, blaring music and explosions, as we made our way up main street. luckily, we had our very own fireworks display to enjoy.

as i told kevin, this picture will make me happy forever.

go west, young g-ma

hi, family. hi, friends. it's been a little while. we're back from vacation and a lot is going on, but i want to catch up proper, so let's resume where we left off.

grandma linden came to visit! g-ma hadn't seen violet in over a year, but we've talked about her plenty (and to her on the phone plenty: "i yuh yoo gammah leed"), so violet was eagerly anticipating her arrival and just loved having her in the house. it's so exciting to see violet warm to family she too rarely gets to see. i can't wait until we're able to fly back east to see kevin's entire extended family, including three little cousins that violet is dying to meet. we've yet to venture into the world of toddler air travel, and the reason is, well, we're chicken. go ahead and mock, and we'll go ahead and squawk.

lucky for us grandma was willing to come west again. of course violet insisted upon a tour of her favorite haunts, and at the top of that list was the grove and dinner at the farmer's market. violet tried to convince grandma to get rice and beans from loteria, but grandma stuck with a po-boy from the cajun stand. next time don't forget your bib, grandma!

linden's visit coincided with the jertberg family reunion at "the ranch" about an hour east in ontario. my mother's grandmother was one of seven, and every other summer the descendants descend upon the ranch -- an aging storybook property that's been in the family for generations. there's a swimming pool complete with two retrievers doggy paddling alongside all the kids and surrounded by trellises exploding with grapevines in full bloom. i still remember how excited i was the first time i picked a grape as a child, and the disappointment as the sour juice hit my tongue. there are rusted over antique cars parked in the weeds, a barbecue pit where the pig is roasted, and an ancient iron merry-go-round where all the teenagers congregated late into the evening.

linden was an especially great sport about joining the party full of strangers, but violet stuck by her side whenever she wasn't racing around like a madwoman, which i suppose was most of the time. i was especially happy about this picture because violet's expression is almost an exact replica of her uncle mike (linden's youngest) in my very favorite photo from kevin's childhood. in it, kevin is pouting beside his birthday cake while his younger brother takes a lick. i'll have to scan it for the blog one of these days. for anyone who knows kevin, it's a classic.

linden was lucky to witness a big first in violet's life -- the day of the skipped nap! as expected, i was grumpy and apprehensive about my failed plan to get violet to sleep on the drive over, and once violet discovered the magic of the ranch, the nap window was firmly shuttered.

i have to admit, violet was delightful all day despite not napping. she was just so happy to run free, and there were several other little kids afoot. she became absolutely obsessed with "oliver the kitty cat," a sage old guy in the twilight of his life who let her pet to her heart's content. violet chased him all over the place and busted him eating a hunk of roast pork on someone's abandoned plate. it's been a few weeks now, and she's still talking about oliver eating the meat. late afternoon i did manage to nurse violet down for a (cat)nap. she crashed hard for 20 minutes and woke up acting as refreshed as if she'd just logged twelve hours on a westin heavenly bed.

i wish my dad wasn't wearing his sunglasses in this picture so that you could see his eyes. it's kevin's mom and my dad who have the bluest eyes in the respective families, and they must have some pretty mighty genes given the depth of violet's blues.

while we did manage of few of these big outings, the most fun was had just hanging around the house. we danced in the kitchen to violet's favorite song. has this been documented here yet? there are several songs that violet asks to hear, but this is far and away #1. i almost died one day when we sat down to dinner, i got back up to turn on the ipod, and violet wheeled around in her booster seat and declared, "i want rakim!" she now regularly tells us, "don't sweat the technique." i tried to explain that it's only natural to sweat the technique if you're white, but that our family is actually so white that it would be futile to sweat it. after considering, she replied, "i want decemberists." exactly. so much for her street cred.

all in all, we had such a fantastic week, and it was really hard to say goodbye to grandma. violet misses her flip flops

her nightly stories

and most of all her company. after all, it takes being truly comfortable with someone to really let your belly hang out.