Seeing Disneyland for the first time again

I was looking forward to this trip to southern California because of my son Grover's three youngest sons. His oldest had gone with us before.

But it was their mother, my daughter-in-law Laura, who got my attention. She was truly in awe of everything she saw at Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios, Legoland and SeaWorld.

I have these aging legs that were sore by mid-day each and every day, but watching Laura was worth the discomfort. Evening at Disneyland was probably the best.

We finally got Laura and three-year-old Amadeus to the Enchanted Tiki Garden and Small, Small World. Pat and I watched them watch the show. They twisted their necks in more ways than I thought possible.

Our first day was at SeaWorld. I tried to get in front of Grover's kids as we walked to Shamu Stadium.

I was walking just behind Laura when she spotted the first whale in a holding tank. She started smiling as big as she could and yelling at her boys to catch up.

"Look at the whales, look at the whales," She shrieked several times.

It seemed a bit over the top at first, for a 33-year-old, but I had the good sense to ask the obvious.

"I've never seen a whale before," she said.

Laura was so excited that she directed her eager family right into the splash zone. There was a crowd when we arrived, but Laura and Grover managed to find the best seats. They were doused several times and spent the next couple of hours in soaked clothing.

Walking to the Polar Express 4-D presentation, I caught up with Laura and asked if she'd ever been to SeaWorld.

"I've never been on a vacation," she said.

That caught me totally by surprise.

"Oh, we've been on three-day trips to see family, but never a real vacation," she added.

That nearly brought tears to my eyes. I was extremely pleased that Pat and I had scheduled an entire week with Grover and Laura and the grandkids.

I almost couldn't believe what Laura told me, but then I remembered my own upbringing. The couple of times I traveled with my family were to pick strawberries in Burlington or grapes in California. Otherwise we visited someone briefly.

My first real vacation was to Disneyland when I was 27. I was unmarried and had no one with whom to share the experience, but I loved it just the same. I marveled at what the human imagination could accomplish.

Pat and I married in 1974, when I was 29. One of the first things we did, that December, was go to Disneyland. A veteran, I was able to show her around. That was part of the fun for me.

Then in 1988 Pat and I took our five kids for the first time. It was a blast, even carrying three-year-old Teddy out of the park at midnight with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"No more parade," he said.

In 2007 we took Grover and Laura's son Manuel. His eyes were as big as saucers all day.

So now I've seen Disneyland through new eyes five times.

It is just about the greatest pleasure in the world.