California, Here We Come!

Unintentional "thumbs-up" after eye surgery.

Will started June 2012 with a hospital visit.  No, not an injury or sickness, but rather one of his lenses showed some regrowth of cataract cells and so he needed a cleaning.  He did very well and the other eye was fine, though the doctor will continue to monitor both.  No time out of school and less than two weeks later, he had a nice time at the school's annual carnival.

Making a silly face at the Easter Seals carnival.

Will, Maggie, & Wendi at the Pacific Ocean.

The second half of the month was spent on a big trip to California.  First we went to San Diego for Maggie's annual bariatric conference.  We had nice weather, enjoyed walks and dining, and even had excellent pizza at a place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives.  At the end of the week we rented a car and drove north to Anaheim for my annual library conference.  We dined with Christina the first night, lunched with the Fairfield University crew on Sunday, and visited Maggie's friend Wendi (and her family) that afternoon in Redondo Beach.  We relaxed in the hotel pool before putting Will to bed.  He would laugh hysterically every time the gate clanged shut.  It's always a pleasure when we find the noise that makes him laugh; it's difficult since it changes all the time.

Cute Mommy.

Silly Daddy.

Where's Will?

The final day of the conference we shopped at the exhibits until they closed, then walked across the street to the adventure that is Disneyland.  We got tickets thanks to my friend Margaret in Florida who works for the Mouse.  Will's first visit to the park was a success.  We all tried on hats and Will met Cinderella before the parade, plus fellow redhead Peter Pan stopped during it to greet him.  Next was "It's a Small World," riding his own private boat!  The staff even asked if we wanted to go again since no one else needed the boat, but we had a dinner date awaiting us and untold minutes of the endlessly-repeating theme song was enough (I still hear it in my head sometimes!).  We dined with Tom, another friend employed by Disney, and recounted our lives since last we met (quite a few years ago).

Will meets Cinderella.

Peter Pan meets Will.

Floating in a Small World.

Watching the Small World go by.

Posing with Tom after dinner.

Will singing with Mickey.

After the meal, Tom had to return to work and we were off to meet Mickey himself.  He was a most gracious host in his house and Will led a group of visitors in.  Mickey posed for a number of photos with us, then we headed to try "Peter Pan's Flight."  Will didn't seem to notice anything in the dark ride, but he wasn't upset as he rode between us.  By then it was getting dark outside, too, so we headed back to the hotel with the nightly fireworks booming in the background.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle before the fireworks.

Tuesday morning we headed home via John Wayne airport, where the TSA security staff and the United Airlines gate staff were incompetent.  They deserve to retrained and reprimanded.  The flight crew even commented on how badly the gate agent acted, trying to call for the first passengers to board while ignoring Will in his bright red wheelchair and us with all his accoutrements (diaper pack, feeding pump pack, medicine bag, wheelchair tray, car seat, etc.), not to mention our carry-on baggage as we waited for preboarding directly in front of her.  To add insult to injury, our flight arrived late and after waiting 15 minutes for Will's wheelchair to be brought to the gate, we found that no one had called our connecting flight to tell them and it left without us.  We were delayed for around three hours and we requested they book us on a US Air flight.  Of course, that meant changing terminals and we insisted that the United staff get us to the flight without leaving the secure zone to avoid an additional TSA screen.  We also got food vouchers worth $30, but that was small compensation for all we'd been through.

An unpleasant end to an otherwise excellent trip.