Tai @ Disneyland

Tai's first ride at California Adventures was Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (from "A Bug's Life").

Tai enjoyed the ride so much we rode it a second time.

He enjoyed the part where the catepillar burped and said "Excuse me."

We needed a Mickey Mouse ice cream break.

Friday evening we went to Goofy's Kitchen, an all-you-can eat buffet known for its character dining.

Character dining is where Goofy and all the other Disney characters go around taking pictures with the diners. Earlier in the dinner, Tai wanted to know who the man in the background of this photo was. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the gentleman. (That was Juan, a man busing tables. We told him afterward that our son thought he was a Disney character and he chuckled.)

After his birthday song, Tai blows out the candle.

The Mickey cupcake.

Dale with the grandparents.

Dale and Daddy.

Yum!

In reality, these characters, Goofy, Dale, all of them, even the friendly Mulan, scared the bejeezus out of Tai.

Minnie and Mommy.

Minnie was very friendly and funny.

Even though Tai was crying, that didn't stop Minnie from trying to take a picture with us. In a strange way, this dinner ended up being a fun time, thanks in part to Minnie.

One of Tai's favorite rides was the Disneyland Railroad, the train that goes around the perimeter of the park.

Me and Tai in front of It's A Small World, still a great ride after all these years.

We hung out with Gary and his family the second night. Here's Tai watching a video with Bryan.

We spent two nights at the Grand Californian and went park hopping both days. One might say it was a holiday full of marvel and meltdowns. Tai probably has to be a little older to really enjoy the rides, or even to take pictures with his favorite characters, like Lightning McQueen or Buzz Lightyear. We took home some good memories, though. And it sure is cute to hear Tai yell his favorite line, "To infinity and beyond!"

Sonoma Train Town

Here we are at Sonoma Train Town to show Tai a new train ride.

The train ride went over a little lake to a petting zoo, where the train stopped so that we could get off and feed a llama and some other animals.

Train Town includes a couple small roller coaster rides. Tai said he wanted to ride the dragon roller coaster, so I got in one of the cars with him.

But Tai said he was afraid of "falling," so we had to get out of the car before it started, leaving Mommy to ride the roller coaster herself!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day Walk

We started Mother's Day with a little walk on the Emeryville Pier before settling down at Chevy's and eating quesadillas and a salad, or in Tai's case, a cheeseburger. Then it was on to more food. . . .

Tickle after dinner.

. . . We enjoyed another party at our friend's tofu factory. We ate way more than we could handle, as usual. Not a bad way to end the weekend, though.

Going back to last month, the end of April was a busy time. Thu was gone for a week at a conference in Taiwan, where she presented her findings. And right after that, she jetted to North Carolina for a few days to do more work.

Grandma and Papa flew up from Torrance to help out with Tai during that time. Of course, he had fun, and so did they. The grandparents got to experience the joy of picking Tai up from preschool, entering the gates and having Tai run up to greet them with a big hug every day.

As fun and adventurous a time as we all had, I think we were very tired after those 10 days for various reasons (jet lag, time change, lack of sleep, constant movement, take your pick).

Anyway, here are some shots from a few playful moments.

After Tai gets a "hit," he throws the bat and takes off running.

Papa chases down Tai around the "basepaths."

Tai watering the backyard garden.

A funny game at Sebastien's 3rd birthday party with his preschool classmates. As Tai rocks the teeter totter, Chase, Will, and Sebastien all fall off!

Trying to fly the dolphin kite.

Yeah! Mommy's home. And she brought gifts! A Thomas the Tank Engine helmet, Winnie the Pooh sandals, and a "movie Cars" backpack and watch. Tai now rides his tricycle around the house wearing his helmet.