We are currently in Florida with Craig's family. The unusually cool, rainy weather has kept us indoors more often than we expected, but we have taken advantage of the nice days to go to the park and zoo. However, taking Sofia to Disney World has definitely been the highlight of the trip for me. My experiences with Disney have been as a child (a little younger than Sofia is now), a college student, and now as a parent. I got such a high from the pure joy that radiated from her all day. And it was a LONG day! We got a late start, drove 1.5 hours to get to the parking lot, then began our day of waiting in long lines. But she was happy and cooperative throughout (even during the 2 HOURS it took to spend 5 minutes with Rapunzel), eventually falling asleep on the way home.
Toward the end of the day, we were making our way through Fantasyland and I decided we had to experience the "it's a small world" ride. It's one of the few rides I remember from my childhood trip to Disney (that and the Haunted Mansion, which Sofia was very enthusiastic to try!) As we waited in line (again!), Sofia asked me what the name of the ride meant. I started describing how, although the Earth is an enormous place with billions of people, we have more in common than we might think. It then occurred to me that this would be a great way to help ease some anxiety she may be feeling about moving to Ecuador. "Even though Ecuador is a long, long way away from our home in Portland and may seem very different, you're going to find that the kids there are just like you in many ways. They go to school, play with their friends, have birthday parties… that's how 'it's a small world!'" By this time, we had moved up far enough in line for her to see the splashy entrance and she exclaimed, "It's not small… it's HUGE!" Oh well, so much for the small world metaphor. See you in Ecuador in 4 DAYS!!!!!
-- Ileana
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