It was a tough thing to send the family off to Disneyland. Dropping them off at the train station was a very hard thing to do. I had to get back home; since, I had to work early. First thing in the morning, as I enjoyed my morning coffee, Becky sent me a text saying they were stopped somewhere. She figured that they were letting a freight train pass by. I jumped on the computer and used the “Find My iPhone” App to find them at the train yards in Barstow, CA. Today’s technology is a wonderful thing.
Becky also texted me a couple of pictures from their cozy sleeper room on the train. She said that the kids slept well, but considering that they had to get up early, the sleep wasn’t long enough. I heard from them again when she gave me a call a little after I got to work. She gave me a quick update on the advice given to them by Fred, the train attendant, to get off at Fullerton instead of going through LA and Anaheim.
I was amazed when I started to get the Gowalla updates showing them checking in for Magic Mornings at Disneyland!! It was also so cool that within a short period I also got a couple of pictures texted. There were 2 pictures of Donald Duck (my favorite) and then a surprise – a great picture of the kids with Alice’s White Rabbit!! That’s a character we had only seen in parades before.
Thanks to the Gowalla check-ins, I had an idea of what they were up to that morning. Before I left from work, a short call from Becky let me know a few more details about their morning. They had even attempted more attractions than what they had checked-in for, but DS was having some issues. They had left the parks to get some lunch – which was an interesting story. We had eaten at the Rain Forest Cafe on previous trips, and that was DS’s first choice. But upon arriving, the thunder and lightning started to freak him out, so that one was out. His next choice kind of surprised everyone. He wanted to go next door to the ESPN Zone. The picture above of the inside of the restaurant was texted to me – he was telling everyone that they were eating there for me – even though I was not with them! That put a huge smile on my face!!
After I got home from work I was following them on the computer, but their day at the park was about over. They got over to the Paradise Pier and went up to their room. They got an incredible free upgrade to a 2 room Family suite with an amazing view! They e-mailed me a great picture. We did a Skype video call later, and I was able to see the view of California Adventure at night. It was beyond words!! It was wonderful to be able to say good night and “I love you” over the video call
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