"(Trip) Pictures Tell a Thousand Words"

We're back! Our "wish" trip to California last week was amazing. We packed a ton of fun into eight days and trying to capture it all in one written post is a daunting task so I've decided to let our pictures tell most of the story ...If you are 10 and 8, Disneyland is the place to be on a sunny January California day. We managed to get Ashley & Dane to stand still long enough to pose for this photo as we set out to explore the wonderful world of make believe, roller coasters and Disney paraphernalia.

One of the many benefits of being a "wish" family is we received special guest privileges at Disneyland. We had a pass that took us to the front of the line and this enabled us to by-pass any long waits and ride the various roller coasters multiple times. The kids thought this was awesome and they convinced both Dirk and I to accompany them on most of the "great" rides. This is us post-Matterhorn, a "tame" roller coaster in Fantasy land. The fact I'm smiling and my sunglasses are still on is a sign I managed this ride without too much fear! The kids were invincible and their favorites in no particular order were Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. The Mountain references are a good tip-off there were hills, drops and turns on all these rides and that brought many smiles to their faces.

After eight long hours we managed to convince these two that it was time to call it a wrap. Of course day one at Disney wouldn't have been complete without a couple of sticky lollipops to keep them occupied on the shuttle bus back to our hotel. Thank goodness Clare was too young to join them or we would have been covered head to toe in sugar!

Not to be left out of the action, our Ms. Clare took to the rides on day two at Disney. This was her one-and-only solo trip and as you can see from the smile, she is having a ball!

No trip to California Adventure (adjacent to Disneyland) would be complete without getting absolutely soaked on the "Grizzly River Run". The kids put their guest pass to good use and shot the rapids three times. Good thing this mom was thinking and brought rain coats and a change of pants. Now only if we'd remembered some dry shoes ...

So if you are a "pre-teen" (yikes) who is about to celebrate her 10th birthday on this trip, how do you pass up the chance to pose so elegantly with the letter that starts your name? Ashley looks mighty comfy perched on that "A" and check out the tam - it was a "must" purchase for our accessory gal!

Here is a little test for all you faithful readers. If it's 65 degrees and clear blue sky, what do Winnipegers do every morning in California? If you guessed go for a dip in the outdoor pool/hot tub at the hotel, you would be right. What do native Californians do in those same temps? If you guessed join us, sorry that is the incorrect answer. If you guessed wear mitts, earmuffs, boots and multiple layers, you win the prize. We are sure people thought we were absolutely crazy ... we swam almost every morning in the heated pool (82 degrees or so) and we had the place all to ourselves. Our last day in Anaheim we actually suntanned at 10:30 am and it was heavenly. It's amazing how warm 65 degrees feels when you've had snow for three months! We only had a few hours of rain all week and that was a huge relief as the week before California experienced the "storm of the century".

Of course we had to visit Universal Studios as well. After two full days at Disney we were all pretty tired, but we managed to get on some interesting rides (The Simpsons was the kids' favorite) and see behind the scenes of a major movie/tv studio. Late afternoon rain put an end to our day a little earlier than expected, however that gave us the chance to do some "outlet" shopping (good) and experience our first & only LA traffic jam (bad).

The reason we made the trip of course ... January 28, 2010 - Sharks vs. Blackhawks at the HP Pavillion. An awesome place to watch a hockey game and we couldn't have picked a better match-up, as first place was on the line. You could feel the intensity in the air and our Dane was soooo excited. We had to force him to eat a few bites of his dinner as he didn't want to miss one minute of the action. He was riveted to his seat from the pre-game skate to the final second of OT!

Our "Hockey Day in the USA" started out on a great note ... we were able to sneak into the Blackhawks pre-game practice courtesy of Cam Barker, a Winnipeger and fine young man. We had the rink pretty much to ourselves and after they finished skating, we waited for Cam and he presented Dane with two autographed game sticks. One was his and the other was J. Toews. It was pretty interesting checking these two items on the plane for the ride home. Rest assured they will be featured prominently in our refurbished basement soon (renos are currently in progress).

"Sharky" the SJ mascot paid Dane a special visit midway through the first period and as you can see, he "ate" him up. While waiting for a stop in play, he sat on his lap and gave him a bag of goodies courtesy of the Sharks organization ... included were a Thornton jersey, a new cap and a pennant. We LOVE this picture!

Another surprise for Dane ... the opportunity to ride on the Sharks zamboni between the 2nd & 3rd periods. We figured he would be shy, but given the smile on his face while he's viewing himself on the jumbotron, his tendency toward "stage fright" appears to be gone!

The event Dane has been waiting for this past year ... the chance to meet his idol, Joe Thornton. WOW - what a moment when Joe came into the Sharks' locker room and shook Dane's hand. As his parents we were overcome with happiness for him as we know this is truly his "wish" come true. He never wavered on what he wanted to do with his one chance and we told Joe how thinking of this day helped him fight his leukemia battle. We were very impressed with JT and the special attention he gave Dane.

The big surprise of the evening ... not only did Dane meet Joe T., he also met Patrick Marleau (next to Joe), Dany Heatley (next to Dirk) and Rob Blake (SJ Captain). They were all wonderful and signed every puck, mini-stick, jersey and poster the two kids presented them. Joe, Patrick and Dany will form one line on the Cdn Olympic team so Dane's meeting was pretty "star filled". The comic relief came when Dane asked Joe what line he would be on in the Olympics and Joe said "I'll be playing with Patrick and Dany". Dane said I know but what line ... "1st, 2nd, etc." talk about pressure! Joe laughed and said "I hope we just get to play".

So as captured in these photos, that is our trip in a nutshell. The adjustment to life back at home has been not too bad and we were back at the Clinic yesterday for Dane's monthly IV treatment. His neutrophil count was very, very low before the trip so we had to suspend his chemo pills for the past two weeks (first time for us in Maintenance). He is back on 100% dosages and we'll see how his levels hold-up.

Until next time, take care and enjoy this post. Hopefully it doesn't crash your systems - Janie and Dirk