Look Out, Disneyland

Greetings friends and family,

I'm a man of my word so here is the final post in my promise of 4 posts in 4 days.  We are 6 hours away from a departure to Disneyland.  Mouse ears, cameras, swimsuits, and clothes are loaded and ready to go!  This is one of those odd feelings of waiting for something so long that it's hard to believe the time is finally here.

I waited until tonight (the night before departure) to pack, as usual.  We had visitors in and out all day, but that's par for the course.

The past few days were hectic, but productive as we power down the house for our trip.  I took time to fix broken sprinklers, but also swam in the pool every day with the twins.  We also went for a reconnaissance mission to the ice skating rink as a pre-run to determine Easton and Layla's interest level.  We have the class schedule, costs, and you can tell by this picture who is interested and who is not.  They don't hide their emotions!

I took this picture after church on Sunday.  They are standing in front of the new family life center we are building.  By the time my sabbatical is over this will look drastically different.

Easton's flight book was destroyed due to excessive use.  He reads it so much the front and back cover literally fell off.  I found a brand new copy on Amazon for 47 cents.  When I gave it to him it was like Christmas morning all over again.  Before going to bed he set up his space shuttle on the new book so that it will be ready for him in the morning to play with it.  He is enthralled with aerospace even more than Earth science.  My job is just to fuel his fire of passion for whatever he's interested in pursuing.

Layla and I had a great Daddy date morning.  She finally rode the trail-a-bike on a real mountain bike trail and I rode Kendra's bike.  Layla was not impressed with speed or bumps, but she sure had fun on the twisty turns and smooth trails.

After our short journey through the desert on three wheels we went for breakfast together.  She really likes the one on one time we spend conversing and laughing.  Her extrovert personality makes our time together much more enjoyable.

When I should have been packing and sleeping I went to the gym to shoot hoops with my friend.  We jumped in for some 3 on 3 basketball with these big, tall guys.  I expected to get a beat down since the two old, white dudes were on the same team, but we did surprisingly well by winning three games in a row.  I was tired and developed blisters on my feet from my new sneakers, but it was well worth it to exercise, sweat, and compete with my friend.  The guys we met were extremely cool and friendly.  I asked to get a picture with them because I want to show that I can still keep up with ballers and hold my own on the court.  I may be getting old, but I'm determined to stay in shape and as healthy as I can be.

That's all folks.  The next post will be from the Disneyland resort.  Brace yourselves...  boat loads of pictures and stories are coming.

See you soon!