28/09/05: In which we experience “The Happiest Homecoming on Earth”
Friday, 23 December, 2005
We're up on time and out the door by 9 am. Traffic was absolutely horrendous and I was glad Kenneth was driving and not me; being on the wrong side of the road was disorienting just being in the passenger seat. I fell asleep in the car as we drove all the way across the city.
I woke up as we reached Disneyland. They dropped me and Ben off and we caught a tram from the parking site to the entrance of the theme parks and to Downtown Disney. Part of me thinks that all of LA is just a movie façade with sets giving you the illusion of what's there—which is nice, but not necessarily real, and it makes you keep looking for the reality behind all of that.
We lined up to have our bags inspected by the staff. There were lots of people everywhere. We bought tickets—1 Park for 1 Day (USD $56/head)—but we forgot to specify which park (there are two; the normal Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. I had left it up to Ben to choose and he decided on Disney's California Adventure as I'd never been there before. The last time I came to Disneyland was 1990). We had been telling the girl at the box office that we were from Australia and that Ben had never been there before and I guess she just assumed we wanted to go to plain old Disneyland. Anyways, the lady at the gate sorted us out (since it was just the same price) and we were in.
(NB: To do both parks in the one day costs more and really you'd be too exhausted to do it. I think that ticket option is just there for the foolhardy or to push the majority of customers into buying the 2-Park 3-Day pass.)
Already the sun was beating down upon us and I was glad that Uncle Joe and Auntie Ruth had gotten us to take water bottles as Disney's California Adventure had very little shade cover. We went first to the white water rapids and got soaked.
Quite nice for a hot day. And then we went to Soaring Over California which was air conditioned (they strap you into a rows of chairs that lift up off the ground in front of this massive floor-to-ceiling screen where they screen footage of landscapes to make you feel like you're really flying over California).
By this time it was lunchtime and we were hungry so we went to the Hollywood Backlot where Ben said he felt like having a hot dog (being in America and all). We ate at umbrella-covered tables on the sidewalk while Mickey Mouse signed autographs and took pictures with little kids in the background.
(I had this great idea for a photo: Ben holding a sprawling Mickey Mouse in a headlock. But Ben would have none of it though.)
We had a quick look in the shops but there wasn't much there, although I was sorely tempted by The Muppet Show Season 1 on DVD. Instead we went into Muppet 3D (which was the best thing about the park, in my opinion!)
Outside there were all these props, including crates containing Miss Piggy's luggage (labelled with things like “hats” and “more hats”) and a statue of Beaker being subjected to some wicked machine:
Going in, we found everyone sitting or standing around in this room which had all these TV screens across it, featuring various Muppets telling us what was going on and giving us a bit of a “pre-show” show (e.g. Sam American Eagle singing a song and Rizzo the Rat dressed up as Mickey Mouse). We were given 3D glasses and ushered into the big theatre where Statler and Waldorf called out their sarcastic comments from their usual box. There was an orchestra of penguins in the pit and the Chef was apparently running the projector (and firing off the occasional cannon).
The film was an oddly postmodern with all sorts of Muppet mayhem thrown in for good measure and a large serving of let's-get-the-audience-to-experience-some-of-the-reality thrown in (so it rained on us, there was actual smoke in the theatre, bubbles came down from the roof as the character on screen blew them). The finale showed the entire film going astray.
Went went into the Disney animation and Sorceror's workshop where we saw Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo:
They must have done some sort of pre-animation or standard moves because he would swim around answering all the kids' questions in his terrible Australian accent (Ben says he can't stand Crush the turtle because of that accent and he refused to sit through the whole of Finding Nemo when I borrowed the DVD off a friend) and it all looked like he was alive and he was really there.
In the Character Gallery there were alternate sketches for Ursula from The Little Mermaid, the Beast from Beauty and the Beast and others. Chicken Little was there, obviously trying to promote his new film (which I think looks absolutely ridiculous and have no intention of seeing on the big screen). We snubbed him just like Mickey Mouse.
The Aladdin musical was just finishing so there were people streaming out the doors and down the steps. We walked to the end of the backlot and saw the Hollywood Tower (where they drop you x number of floors in the dark). I wasn't game to go on that one so we turned around and wandered around the other side of the park—riding the spaceships, the hornet swings,
the Mulholland Drive mini rollercoaster (which was enough of a rollercoaster for me ... this is where I discovered the hitherto unknown fact that my husband actually loves rollercoasters and other scary rides. He thinks they're fun!!) and the ferris wheel
(which had gondolas that scared me by rocking back and forth on their tracks). I get mild motion sickness so such things are not much fun, whereas Ben doesn't seem to have any troubles with his head or his stomach. I thought of our old minister, Shaun, who gets motion sickness at the slightest thing (he once got motion sickness from filing) and who cannot be a passenger in someone else's car (he has to be the one who drives) and wondered how he copes with rollercoasters.
By this stage it was really really hot in the sun and we were getting a bit sunburnt and dehydrated. Along the waterfront near the ferris wheel there were all these stalls where you could play games (like throw the ball down the clown's mouth) and there was a fishing one where everyone wins a prize for catching one of the fish. I had a go for fun and “won” a yellow puffer fish (which one of my Andrew friends thinks is the ugliest fish in the world. It was my mascot during the exams):
I also went on King Triton's carousel (I love carousels) but Ben did not.
We went and got an ice cream together (Ben got this Minute Maid Frozen lemonade which was delicious)
and sat by the fountains near King Triton's carousel to eat them. I noticed that all these kids who walked past licked their lips when they saw us.
When we were done, Ben decided he wanted to go on the Maliboomer (one of those ones where they drop you 180ft. This one was outdoors). He went alone as I wouldn't come. Instead I took pictures of him.
Because it was so hot, we went into the Golden Dreams cinema (air conditioned) to watch some silly ideologically-driven film about the history of California, starring Whoopi Goldberg as the Spirit of California. Parts of it were interesting though; I hadn't known that the Chinese and the Japanese were in California so early on.
The hot day meant that there weren't many queues for things (I could't imagine what it was like in high summer when all the kids were on school holidays). Where there were queues, they were quite short and, while we were waiting, I quizzed Ben on Greek vocab.
Our final stop was A Bug's Land. We walked into a giant ant hole where we found another waiting room, featuring posters from well-known movies and musicals that had been altered to include many-legged creatures:
(others included Antie and The Dung and Me). We went into the cinema where we saw another 3D film about how hard it is to be a bug, starring Flik and a host of other insects. Again, there was smoke, water spray (which was the poison from some sort of bug), a poke in the back and, as the lights whirled and Flick said, “Now before you leave, just stay in your seats for a moment while we let all the cockroaches and maggots get back to their places, there was what felt like a cockroach running underneath me on the seat. I squealed and jump three feet in the air and Ben laughed at me.
In A Bug's Land, everything looked like it had been fashioned from leftover garbage; the entrance was made of an old cereal packet; the toilets were an upside-down tissue box; there were drinking straws for poles and paddle-pop stick benches. I insisted on dragging Ben on all the rides, even though they were all for kids: Heimlich's Chew Chew Train,
Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies (slowest dodge 'em cars in the world), Francis' Ladybug Boogie,
(which had spinning ladybirds, not spinning teacups, and we had to go on it anyway beacuse our friend Cathy made us promise that we would) and Flik's Flyers.
Certain sections of the area also had these fountains which would squirt water randomly out of the ground. It was a welcome relief from the heat and I ran through them.
Ben wanted to go back and ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror (the one where they drop you in the dark) so I said I would wait for him in one of the shops. I saw all these very pretty costumes for kids, taken from well-known Disney movies—Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, etc.
I bought some gifts for people who like Disney stuff and then, while I was waiting for Ben, I went through all the photos on our camera and deleted the unnecessary ones.
Then it was time to go. We had half an hour before we were being picked up so Ben and I went into Downtown Disney and wandered around the shops. In Häagen-Dazs Ben got a Bailey's milkshake and I had a mango sorbet sipper (which tasted like heaven in the heat).
I saw another one of those Build-A-Bear-Workshops and asked Ben if we could have a look around.
(This shot was taken of the Build-A-Bear workshop in the Kodak Theatre. I just wanted a picture of the “Stuff Me, Fluff Me, Dress Me” signs.)
I thought it was a complete travesty. Inside there were bins full of different bear skins, like this one:
You're supposed to stuff the bear skin (but apparently you don't even do that; the shop assistants do it for you), then you dress the bear and then you print out a birth certificate for it. I thought my mother-in-law would have been appalled.
It was getting late so we caught the tram back to the parking lot and then got a bit lost, trying to get back into the parking lost. The rest of the family were there, ready to pick us up.
We drove to Little Tokyo for dinner where we went to Sushi Gen where I ate the best sushi I've ever had (I think) and I wondered if Neil had ever eaten there. We ate until we were stuffed and then my dad and Helena said we must try some moji for dessert:
It's ice cream covered with stuff that has the same consistency as dumpling skin and it was extremely cold. I quite liked it.
We drove home. I tried to help Ben get cable properly on the big TV. We got one working but not the other. I found it scary how much unnecessary television there is in the world.
We were pretty tired. Ben said, “I'm looking forward to going home.” But that was three more days away.
Current:
seen: Moon 15/10/2009
read: The Incredibles 11/10/2009
seen: She's the Man 05/10/2009
read: I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura) 04/10/2009
read: Astro City The Dark Ages Book 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) 04/10/2009
seen: Children of Men 02/10/2009
seen: Metric (The Metro) 30/09/2009
seen: 500 Days of Summer 25/09/2009
seen: The September Issue 18/09/2009
seen: Gilmore Girls: Season 1 17/09/2009
read: Flight (Volume 1) (edited by Kazu Kibuishi) 16/09/2009
seen: Ponyo 11/09/2009
read: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert) 05/09/2009
heard: Aimee Mann (Enmore Theatre) 04/09/2009
heard: Ben Folds Solo (Opera House) 31/08/2009
read: Phonogram: Rue Britannia (Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) 26/08/2009
seen: Northanger Abbey 20/08/2009
read: The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot) 18/08/2009
seen: The Phantom of the Opera 17/08/2009
seen: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 10/08/2009
seen: District 9 10/08/2009
read: Shortcomings (Adrian Tomine) 02/08/2009
read: AIR Volume 1: Letters from Lost Countries (Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker) 28/07/2009
seen: Persepolis 25/07/2009
seen: Ghost Town 25/07/2009
heard: Gutter Twins (Seymour Centre) 23/07/2009
seen: Coco Avant Chanel 20/07/2009
seen: Gutenberg! The Musical (Seymour Centre) 16/07/2009
seen: So You Think You Can Dance? Australia Live Tour (Sydney Entertainment Centre) 11/07/2009
seen: Every Little Step 07/07/2009
seen: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 03/07/2009
seen: Synecdoche, New York 30/06/2009
seen: Charlie's Angels 27/06/2009
seen: Penelope 26/06/2009
seen: Coraline 10/06/2009
seen: The Sky Crawlers 08/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Ultimatum 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Supremacy 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Identity 06/06/2009
seen: Stick it 05/06/2009
Comment:
Hi Karen,
Congratulations on Astrid’s birth.
A quick tip that we learned when we became parents and my wife was breastfeeding (don’t you love tips from strangers 
):
Instead of writing down which side to feed on next, stick a hairclip, or peg on your bra strap on the side they will next feed from. Then swap it over when you feed.
Then you never have to remember, and you don’t need to worry about writing it down.
That is indeed an epic post! Brings back a lot of memories of Puff’s first weeks.
As far as how long until Astrid hits 16kgs, you can read it off the graphs in her blue book. I would guess somewhere between 2 and 3 years old.
Hi Karen - yes! But we’re finished at Moore now and living back in Tassie so it’s unlikely. I enjoy still enjoy reading though, hope you don’t mind!
@Miriam - I had a very fast labour too (lets just say it was quite a bit quicker than 4 hours) and I almost felt embarrassed telling people! I’d never imagined I’d be one of ‘those’ women. Still, friends who’ve had longer labours followed by shorter labours assured me it’s the same amount of pain, just squeezed into a shorter time span so I try not to feel too bad 
Congratulations Karen & Ben. What a beautiful daughter. Thanks for sharing your birth story - sounds almost identical to mine, except my labour was only 4 hours! My midwife also told me not to share it at mothers group as people would be jealous hehe
Enjoy this wonderful time getting to know Astrid.
Miriam
Thanks everyone!
Wow, Bron, I still can’t believe I haven’t met you yet! Thanks for continuing to read this blog!
Little Rachel, now I’m intrigued!!!
It’s so funny reading your labour experience. It’s so funny she came out when you were standing up and the midwife had to catch her. Wow! I will remember to go through your blog more carefully when my time comes around. It’s very informative.
Congratulations to you all and many blessings. Astrid is a little sweetie.
Congratulations Karen and Ben. A gorgeous girl with a gorgeous name. Praise God!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Congrats, Karen! She looks wonderful, so alert and adorable! Glad that everything went so smoothly (comparatively).
Well, one of your details clears up a conversation Jess and Anna and Liza and I had! I’ll tell you later.
I think you and Ben did amazingly well, and that the staff were right: you were pretty tough! I will have to give all those exercises a go when that time comes.
Yay for Astrid! Such a beautiful name for a precious daughter.
Hello! Thanks for sharing. It sounded tough and bewildering! Can I come and visit sometime? Tonight or tomorrow night? I’m away for the next 4 days after that. Love George
Congratulations! Astrid Winter is a gorgeous name. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing your story. It’s interesting to hear from other women. Now I’m expecting my second I’m starting to think about all that again. Eeeeek!
RPA is very busy, apparently they’re at 3 times capacity for the area. When we were there last year the night my daughter was born there were something like 8 births in 45 minutes. As soon as I’d had a shower we had to be out of there! I remember being rather surprised at having to walk up to the post-natal ward. “you want me to what?!”
I don’t think it’s exclusively the change of temperature: young babies like to be cuddled up (or wrapped in a blanket or similar) as they adjust to being on the outside after so long being wrapped up on the inside.
Oh yeah, it makes perfect sense that babies would cry if you put them in a cold bed! I totally never thought of that!
I love your posts, they are so fascinating! :D
Oh Jess! There are so many good things about Sydney
Looks like really nice adventures! I don’t really think of Sydney as a place to explore.. hmm.. you have opened my mind up to The Staycation.
I get depressed at the adrenaline crash also because then I have time to think about how shitty everything is lol.
Hmm...food for thought indeed. V. interesting, thank you for posting
lol! Karen, you’re so frank and I love it. “the non-constipating kind” of iron pills. hahaha.
i know how hard it is to not tell people the sex of your baby. I am tempted to tell strangers or acquaintances what you’re having because, as Ben reasoned with the waiter, I’ll either never see them again or it’s not like their going to tell anyone of consequence.
Thanks Kathleen! Glad you’re finding them interesting!
These posts are fascinating, Karen, and I’m happy/sad for you.
Hey Little! One of the things that astounds me is that people all over the world give birth everyday in different circumstances, and they seem to get through it. Maybe all the bells and whistles of the western world are simply that—bells and whistles, and things we do to make ourselves feel better about such a painful and momentous occurrence. I’m sure Mongolia has its own ways of looking after their expectant mums!
Great post, Karen.
As I said to you last Friday: the Toturo thing is gorgeous!
Thanks for posting about the changing relationships between friends. I’ve been struggling to come to terms with my best friend’s relationship with her boyfriend and the loss I feel. It’s been 18mths now, but I guess it’s taking longer for me to deal with because he’s not something we talk about and I don’t often see them together. However, it’s still known. It’s good to know I’m not alone or going crazy or whatever.
Also, thanks for the updates on Peanut. Can’t wait to meet him/her!
I think that your child will one day be thankful that they can read about what their mother was thinking. They won’t have to wonder if you’ve forgotten anything or just telling the good things! I think the positives are more believable when accompanied by the negatives, that’s just more realistic.
The PGP sounds really hard! Also not something that people talk about, so is it hard to get understanding from people when you need to go a little slower? Though perhaps they just expect that of pregnant women… gah, there are so many steps at MM! :(
I worry about the money stuff too… though I guess in Mongolia maybe they won’t do all those medical things so I won’t have to pay for them! 
Keep blogging! You know I’m fascinated. ;p
Thanks Miriam! That’s good to know!
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the long update. It sounds like you are experiencing very common emotions (high and low) of first-time expectant mothers.
In answer to your question about breastfeeding in 5mins - that’s pretty common. In the first few weeks as both you and baby are learning how to feed (it takes a while to get the hang of it)feeding takes a little while (about an hour for me and Alex). This was actually a blessing for me as it meant I could sit and rest for that period of time, 5 or 6 times a day! Lovely, especially as it was such a tiring time of my life, with all the adjusting that comes with the birth of a child.
The milk flow can be quite fast to begin with(often too fast for baby!) and it means they take in too much and then need to be burped, which all takes time. After awhile though your breasts will adjust and regulate themselves as they work out how much milk is needed. THey are amazing the way they work. They actually feel quite soft and empty after a few weeks and lots of new mums worry that they don’t hvae enough milk, but it is very normal, and just means your body has regulated the amount of milk it makes.
Check out the Australian Breastfeeding Association webpage - it is full of excellent information. I would recommend joining the association - you receive a magazine every 2 months, which is filled with wonderful articles. I found it very helpful (and still do after 3 years of feeding). A great bit of reading to have in your hands while sitting down to feed. You also receive an excellent book “Breastfeeding....naturally” which answers just about any question you may have about breastfeeding. I read it many many times!
Mim
Congratulations again - and it is very interesting to hear what happens!
@Sarah: Thanks for the tip RE Australian Breastfeeding Association! I never would have thought to look there. Ditto KMart: I was wondering if they did since Target don’t.
@Rae: Thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out.
@Little Rachel: Oh, I’ll definitely be up for visitors! I may not be very good company (brain-dead, etc.) but I’ll certainly appreciate visits!
@Rachel C: CONGRATS!!! So excited for you Yours sounds like a good philosophy. One day I shall have to blog about Outliers!
@CafeDave: Thanks for the tip!
@Elissa: Thanks for your kind words! It makes me happy that you and Dave were excited we were getting married! Thanks also for the prayers!
@Elsie: There are lots of other lovely things I could have said about you, but let’s not overload my readers, shall we? ;P
Aww...thanks for the lovely things you said about me! I enjoyed reading this post (as I do with all yours). xo
Congratulations to you both. I know you will be such wonderful parents. You sound WAY too sensible! 
(Sorry to read that there were some unusual comments made about your marriage! We thought it was exciting. We still have a lovely photo of you & Ben in our lovely box of special memories. (I was only 22 when married & I was 30 when we had Bonnie...)
Everyone is different! I nodded through your post. SO many people feel the curious need to share their “horror stories” which is just dreadful. I remember complaining to David who said - go find people who are positive & listen to them. Great advice, which I did. Those people still have a big place in my heart because their advice was honest & gentle.
Bless you & Ben & the little Peanut. We pray all goes smoothly over the coming weeks/months ahead. We sometimes forget what a precious little miracle life really is…
Another book from the dad’s perspective I found helpful was From here to paternity - it’s an Australian book, and was followed up with a blog.
Hi!
I’m so excited for you reading your blog about being pregnant I am 13 weeks pregnant with #2.
You’re so right about all the pessimism “advice” that you get. I got so mad about it but never found a good response. I’ve had such joy right from day one with E that I just don’t want to buy into the negativity (I’m sure kids pick up on it too!).
My philosophy was/is to be a relaxed mum and from that figure out what was best for my baby/child. Get advice when you’re not sure on things or want to know how other people approached things, read books (loved Outliers!) that aren’t all about parenting… but just enjoy.
In a sample size of one to date, I’ve had such a happy, chilled out son right from day one. People say all the craziest advice… glad you don’t do guilt
With love,
R
Thanks so much for writing more! I love hearing how you’re going and all your thoughts.
After watching my sister I agree with you that it seems the first six months are perhaps the hardest. She got quite lonely at home all day; weekends were all right because then her husband was around but it’s just as you say… one feed ends then the next begins! If you are accepting visitors during this period then I hope to use some RDOs to come have grown-up conversations!
The book review of The Second Nine Months makes me want to read it now!
Names: We have one girl name that we both like and no boy names that we agree on. But they are also top-secret… so if anyone else uses them we can’t accuse them of theft!
Yay Peanut, keep on growing, can’t wait to meet you!
Hello! Thanks for sharing
I loved reading your pregnancy update! I am glad to hear that things are all going pretty well, and I hope the rest of your 2nd trimester is as good.
I just wanted to add, that some other blokes decided that there was not much for the fathers-t0-be, and made a couple of DVD’s just for expectant dads. They are called ‘Being Dad’and i think they are available at big W. I have both though, if you would like me to send them!
Just wanted to wish you all the best!
Love
Rae
re: gluten: no idea!! I didn’t have to go on that diet - it was probably related to the test I didn’t do.
At the risk of adding to your list of advice:
Re: maternity bras - because I’m big I had to look hard for something nice in my size and discovered the Australian Breastfeeding Association. They have a massive range online and most are (dare I say it) sexy.
Re: maternity clothes - Kmart have a nice range of basic stuff.. I only found out towards the end of pregnancy and I would have liked to know earlier!
Re: Parenting classes - if you’re at RPA you can just ring the midwives section (they’ll put you through) and ask directly.
Congratulations again
Don’t laminate your ultrasound picture That is my advice.
Congratulations! This is so fantastic!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this… people swap engagement stories but rarely pregnancy stories! And it’s kind of similar don’t you think, all this excitement leading up to a big day!
So happy for you guys! Actually never been more excited for anyone except my sister! I think it’s because I think that you will both be amazing parents and love the idea that someone could grow up in your family.
Looking forward to many more posts on the topic.
Blinks:
"For a long time, I was waiting for my life to go back to normal," he said. "And then I realized, this is my life. So this is my normal."
How to make wontons.
Short-sleeved cardigan with lace edging.
Interesting answer.
"We pick out people who have the same kind of unhappiness we do. And we gravitate toward them and try to help them.
"Many of us are like this. Every time we try to help someone else and fail, it feels weird. It feels bad. We do not know exactly what is going on but it is upsetting.
"Until one day we realize that what we are doing is avoiding our own pain. We have learned to act as though it is not our pain that is at issue, but other people's."
Cleaning tips for all sorts of things. White vinegar is apparently wonderful!
The case for print.
"Laura Miller has argued eloquently in Salon about reading on the iPad as a serene experience, a sanctuary from the link-surfing that dominates so much of what we read online. And yet, I know what having an iPod has done to my attention span and ability to sit through an entire album, in order, by one artist ... and I'll be damned if I let the same thing happen to the way I read. Out of every argument I've heard in favor of e-readers ... my least favorite might be the central point of the thing: the fact that it allows you to choose from thousands of books at any given time. I simply don't want that kind of potential for distraction ...
"For me, to deny books their physical structure simply ignores far too much of what makes them enjoyable. The commitment they require, the way they force you into a state of simultaneous calm and focus—these are things I have yet to duplicate by any other means."
Something to do with leftover wool. Makes good toys!
The reasons behind the creation of the 4 am news slot. Interesting how lifestyle fuels these sorts of cultural changes.
Via Elsie. Consumer addiction used to distract or cover for emotional emptiness/loss/grief, etc.
A parenting philosophy to introduce media to children late and slowly.
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Comments
Oohhh...that sounds like so much fun! I really hope I get to go to HK Disneyland before I get too old and lose my sense of adventure and before the mainlanders make it yucky!!
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