They say it never rains in Southern California...

Well, they lied!  Nearly 3 weeks ago, we made the trek to Anaheim from our home in Northern Nevada.  After an 8 hour car ride, we were thrilled to get there and get out of the car.  Little did we know what was in store for us.

We live in the desert, so rain is a rarity.  For someone who lived in Florida for 24 years, moving somewhere where the average rainfall is 5.3 inches per year is a bit of an adjustment (by comparison, my hometown of Tampa, FL experiences an annual average rainfall of 44.7 inches).  On the day of our departure, we woke to the unmistakable sounds of rain.  Rain!  How exciting.  Until it wasn't.

Apparently, like Charlie Brown and his rain cloud, the rain decided to follow us to Southern California.  It rained the entire 3 days we were there. It rained, on and off, but mostly on, for the two days we spent at Disneyland.  It rained so much that we were forced to buy rain ponchos.  Ponchos.  I have never in my life worn a rain poncho, not under any circumstance.  As a kid, when we would visit the Florida theme parks during the summer we would make fun of the tourists in their neon yellow rain ponchos.  What - did they think they were going to melt?  Well, we became those tourists - wandering around the park in our neon yellow ponchos, trying to stay dry.

Despite the rain, the little dude was in high spirits (which kept us in high spirits), mostly because all he cared about was finding Mickey Mouse.  More on that later.  Luckily, no photographic evidence exists of the dreaded rain ponchos.  Not that it matters - the image of those ponchos is seared into my memory.  An auspicious start to an entertaining trip.

What we're watching

I'm back after a bit of a break!  Two weeks ago we traveled to Anaheim to visit, as the little dude calls it, "Mickey Mouse's Park".  It was quite a trip, filled with a few comical missteps and some big triumphs.  I had planned to blog about it last week, but I mismanaged my time and couldn't seem to find the time or inspiration to blog.  As of now, the ideas are still percolating, so check back later this week for more on our trip.


For now, I'll fill you in on what seems to be on permanent rotation in our house these days: Clifford the Big Red Dog.  I was only generally familiar with Clifford when one day I found his big movie for the little dude to watch.  Soon after I found the show on PBS Kids, and the DVR is now set to record every episode.  We both know the name of every dog and human on the show, and often discuss what the characters are up to.  I appreciate that every episode teaches a lesson - "Clifford Big Idea" teaches young viewers to do things like ask permission before playing with someone's toys.


As with anything, I am sure that his obsession with Clifford is fleeting, and before long he'll be on to something else.  But for now I'll enjoy his little voice calling to me: "Momma, I want to watch another new Clifford".  I'll also enjoy the way is captures his imagination - the other day in the car he told me that we had to go pick up Emily Elizabeth (Clifford's owner).  Like the song says, we love Clifford the Big Red Dog!