Disneyland

Disneyland was so much fun, at least for me.  Mom didn't have such a good time, and it was her Birthday!  The antibiotic the doctor gave her for strep throat hadn't had time to work yet, but she was determined to go with us so we could still enjoy our vacation.  Even without being sick taking six kids to Disneyland would be stressful, especially when Julie was only five and Sharon three, and the rest of us wanted to go three different places all at the same time.  But mom was a trooper, and she kept up. 

I enjoyed the rides, but my favorite part of Disneyland was the park itself.  It was like being in a different world!  I loved walking down the quaint main street with its different shops and hanging flower pots and colorful signs.  There was one shop that sold hats, and I just had to go inside. 

“Please,” I begged mom as the rest of the family kept walking.  “Can’t I go in here for just a minute?” 

Mom could tell I really wanted to look at the hats, so she finally asked dad to take the boys and the Sharon over to the candy shop next door while she and Linda and Julie went into the hat shop with me.  I was so excited!  After dressing up in old fashioned costumes for our road show the previous spring those hats thrilled me.  I found a huge baby blue hat covered with roses and netting, just like in the old movies, and had to buy it for myself with my babysitting money.  It meant I didn't have any money left for other souvenirs, but who cared?  That hat was wonderful!

Next to another shop we found a lady who was drawing pastel portraits of people.  We stood behind and watched for awhile, and she was good!  Mom usually didn't spend money, especially not on frivolous stuff, but she was enamored with those portraits.  Maybe it was because she was sick and her defenses were down, maybe it was because it was her birthday, I don't know, but she suddenly mom turned to dad and said, “Let’s get the kids portraits drawn.”

It was so cool!  The artist was fast, she spent less than five minutes on each of us, so we didn't have to sit still too long.  That was good because after all, we were in Disneyland and there were a lot of distractions.  The portraits turned out wonderful, and mom kept them hanging in our house until we all grew up.  I sure wished I could draw like that.

We spent the whole day at Disneyland and went on every ride, but left when it got dark.  Mom was exhausted, and so were the little girls.  We older kids wanted to stay until the park closed, but it was mom's birthday and she was sick, so we tried to be understanding.  Aunt Eloise had a birthday cake ready when we got back to her house, and she had candles for both mom and me, since my birthday was the next day.  I always loved having my birthday next to moms.  It made my day seem that much more special.  We ate cake and visited for a little, but it was already late and we were tired so we didn't stay up very long.  After all, we were still only at the beginning of our vacation.  Tomorrow we would travel up the coast to San Francisco, and have another adventure.