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So, remember how my boss gave me that money for a trip?

We went to Disneyland.

And no, the money didn’t cover the whole trip. Not even close. But you cut a thousand bucks out of the price tag and it begins to be doable for us, if you take into account the fact that PH is more willing to spend money on life experiences than tangible possessions. Pefect Husband had already been thinking about taking me for my birthday BEFORE we got given the money, because he’s like that.

So, off we went.

It did not start out auspiciously.

We picked up Owl from daycare after I worked a half day, and the first thing he did as we set out for The Farm Fairy’s house to drop off the dog was… throw up all over himself.

Then he began to wail.

Now, we knew he wasn’t quite right. His appetite took a noticeable dip over the last couple of days (as in, he would eat a bit and pronounce himself done, rather than continuing to eat everything right down to the tablecloth), and he had even stayed home sick on my birthday.

But overall, he had seemed pretty much fine. A little off his food, but otherwise fine.

And now, an hour before we planned to cross the border, he was vomiting.

He didn’t have a fever so we crossed the border anyway. He was fine until the next day, the day we went from Seattle to Denver to Anaheim. That was when he decided to have frequent and extremely liquid diarrhea, resulting in one change of underwear and multiple trips RUNNING for the nearest bathroom.

Not so fun.

Anyway, things weren’t looking good.

I had visions of Owl becoming dangerously dehydrated, being hospitalized in an American hospital, catching some American superbug (when my Uncle was transferred from Florida to Halifax, they quarantined him for three days for fear of American bugs) and dying in my arms, and then us getting a $100,000 bill from the American hospital and PH’s travel insurance inexplicably refusing to pay it. ALL BECAUSE I CROSSED THE BORDER AFTER HE THREW UP.

But despite all of this, Owl was in good spirits and very excited for “Distmasland.”

Somehow he picked up the names of various Disney characters and talked often about going to see Mickey Mouse, and Goofy, and McQueen despite never having seen any of those characters in any movie or tv show.

Plus, PH had told him there were RIDES THERE.

“Roller coaster in it. Boat in it. TRAIN IN IT.”

Parenting is easier when you’re going to Disneyland.

Say your kid doesn’t want to put on his shoes. You can say, “Don’t you want to go to Disneyland? Well, then you have to put on your shoes so we can go out to the car so we can go to Seattle so we can get on the plane so we can fly to Disneyland” and the kid goes, “Oh, OKAY!” and runs to get his shoes.

But this morning Owl was so tired from a late night after travelling and constant liquid poops that we weren’t sure he’d enjoy anything.

…And then everything turned AWESOME.

Our promised “ten minute walk” to Disneyland from our hotel turned out to ACTUALLY be a ten minute walk, not the half hour journey we had assumed.

The weather was beautiful (though too sunny for Owl’s Vancouver tastes).

When we arrived, Owl saw the gates and suddenly leaped out of his stroller saying “OH! DISNEYLAND THERE!” and took off running joyfully and with no signs of illness, albeit towards California Adventureland. We redirected him and he bounded joyfully in the correct direction, as though running to his long lost love.

“Disneyland! WAAAAAIT FOR MEEEEE!”

He LOVED the old fashioned fire house, one of the first things we saw when we arrived.

He saw Goofy and Minnie instantly.

There were NO lines for the carousel.

The line to get on the flying Dumbos was only about a 10 minute wait.

“Mickey.. Mickey… HAVE A NOSE.”

We just happened to arrive at Mickey’s Toon Town moments before it opened and were consequently among the first to get in line to see Mickey.

Owl nodded off in his stroller on the walk back to the Hotel at noon and went back to sleep without trouble when placed in bed, and actually napped for two hours, the longest nap he has taken in at least a week.

CONKED. OUT.

Muppet Vision 3D, which was Jim Henson’s last project before he died, was originally scheduled to be closed for refurbishment during our entire stay (to my intense disappointment). But it turned out that it was open today after all, and there was NO LINE to get in.

In fact, we practically had the theatre to ourselves, which is good because Owl kept a running commentary throughout. AND IT FEATURED A LIVE SWEETUMS AND ORIGINAL MUPPET SCENES WITH THE ORIGINAL CAST.

We just happened to walk into Carsland just as Mater and Lightning McQueen were trading off photo sessions, so Owl got to see and be photographed with both.

The longest line we waited in was 20 minutes, in the shade, for the tractor ride in Carsland. Owl played on the fence and didn’t mind the wait in the least.

We just happened to leave Carsland just as the parade was about to begin but in time enough to get prime seats.

Owl happily sat in his stroller staring while we explored California Adventureland in the dark, chatting and pointing in a relaxed and leisurely manner.

Owl didn’t poop at all all day, and says he feels better.

On our walk back to our hotel, PH and I agreed – save for some idyllic days in Paris on our honeymoon, we haven’t had such an awesomely perfect day in YEARS.

Who shoved the horseshoes up our anuses?

Now, Perfect Husband and I are believers in what we call “Karmic Realignment”, which means that when something goes right, something else has to go wrong, to balance things out. Nothing can ever be COMPLETELY perfect.

That’s why I got a cold the week I flew out to hook up with PH many years ago, the week he told me that he loved me. That’s why a pillar fell on my head at our wedding. That’s why Zoom airlines folded, leaving us stranded in Gatwick airport on our return from our wonderful honeymoon.

SO, the question is, did we pay our dues with the vomiting, poop-shooting toddler while flying? Or is something else REALLY BAD going to happen?

Well, if bad things do happen, at least we had this perfect day.