Getting ready to go to Disneyland with the family…

Monday started out to be a really miserable day. I decided on Sunday evenings to do the program and bath so I can get up earlier on Mondays and have more time to run around with Dude while Robby is at a day camp with the Woofpack, the last three or four Sundays didn't work out very good and it just left me exhausted and frustrated. Karen came in on Monday and I was a mess, at some point during the night I remember waking up with a headache and soaked with sweat, I was going to wait for my mom to come down to see if there was a problem but I eventually fell asleep and woke up at 5 AM. We ended up doing more personal care and another bath and I felt a lot better. My stomach has been really bloated and I've just been uncomfortable for too long. Before I left for Santa Rosa Dr. Jett, my spinal cord injury Dr. gave me the name of the doctor that took care of her when she got stomach cancer… She speaks really highly of him. After she got me dressed and up in my chair Dude and I took off for a cruise, we were headed towards the lagoon but all entrances were pretty much blocked off so we cruised through Depot Park where we stopped to watch what looked like four-year-olds learning to play soccer… It was adorable! We cruise down to the end of the wharf and of course, Dude stopped and pooped, I was so embarrassed and there was nobody around to pick it up for me so I just moved on… I really hate doing that. I'm starting to be really nervous pretty much the whole time I'm cruising around with Dude, watching him constantly to see if he's going to poop in public. Part of the reason I have these dogs is because of my social anxiety and pooping in public does not help!  Usually, the dogs take the focus off of me and that helps a lot but not in this case. I give him the opportunity every 10 to 20 minutes to go to the bathroom in an appropriate place but he almost always passes it up and goes in an inappropriate place. I hope this doesn't go on for much longer, I talked to the trainers at CCI and they're giving me some good advice and we will keep trying. We cruise to the end of the wharf and back and then over to the boardwalk, he did really good at the boardwalk and it's a little bit nicer because there aren't so many people. We cruised back over to the wharf again and then down Westcliff Drive. I always know it's time to turn around and go home when it's too hot on Westcliff Drive and the wharf, there's usually a nice cool breeze. We cruised home and waited for Robby and then we just hung out in the driveway for a while until Rosa came in. Karen was just finishing up decorating the inside of the house for Halloween, finishing up for the day that is… There's still a lot more to be done. She fed the gang and then put me to bed and I was so exhausted I just passed out.

Tuesday was another miserable day. I'm still really bloated it is hard to breathe, I have two braces on and a stomach spandex so it was a pretty uncomfortable day. Cindy came in and got me up and I went outside to talk to Omar for a while, he was back to do some more decorating. I took Robby for a cruise through the lagoon, down to the wharf and then to the boardwalk and then home where I exchanged him for Dude and we went around again. I was a little bit more relaxed because I got Dude to poop on the grass at the Salvation Army. We saw a seeing-eye dog on the wharf, dude is so much better than Robby because he might look but probably will jump up and bark sometimes… I never know what's going to happen with Robby anymore. He actually pooped on the path as were walking through the Bay St., Park, he hasn't done that for a really long time. I ran into Wes, I ran into him all the time. He had a standard schnauzer named train that passed away and now he has an older one… I forgot the name. We cruised back home because it was freezing, it was really warm when I left so I didn't think I would need a sweatshirt but I wish I would've put one on because then I wouldn't have to come back for a while… Next time I go with my instincts. Rosa came in and put me to bed after she fed the gang and she made me a bison burger with a soft pretzel as a bun, it was really good. I watched TV for a while and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Wednesday was a pretty good day. Susan didn't come in because she had to fly to Baltimore to take care of her son who is away at school and sick, I hope he feels better soon. Karen came in and we get some personal care and of course a nice long hot bath and then got me dressed up in my chair. I took Robby out for a cruise through the lagoon, up through Bay St., Park, down to the wharf, down to the boardwalk where I ran into Russell and Sparky talk to Russell for a while… He is such a nice man. I came back I dropped off Robby and got Dude and took him on the same route except with Dude we cruised down to the end of the wharf and took pictures and cruised through the boardwalk and took more pictures, there was nobody around so was really nice. We cruised home and hung out with Stanley for a while, he came down to spend the night and tomorrow morning he's driving us to Disneyland spend the weekend with Stanley, David, and their families… I'm so excited! Of course, my bed started making a really now buzzing noise, I had to try to sleep through it because tomorrow is going to be an early morning. Rosa came in and put me to bed and I was out.

 Thursday Karen came in early and got me up and ready to go, she already had everything packed so we could leave as early as possible. Everything fit in the van and we headed out to Anaheim California. We stopped in Bakersfield to get something to eat at the black bear restaurant, I have seen them around but had never eaten at one but Stanley said it was really good so we decided to give it a try. I got the pecan crusted trout with red mashed potatoes and spinach, it was really good! We got a peach cobbler and a chocolate cream pie to eat later on for dessert because we were so full. We made to the hotel and checked in, they were just finishing up remodeling the accessible rooms and they were really nice… Not really accessible but comfortable, there was no roll in shower so we were going to have to make do somehow. We got settled in and Karen put me to bed before Janet and their kids and their kid's significant others showed up, needless to say, everybody was excited. We visited for a while and then everybody went to sleep.

I just graduated Team Training, I'm going to Disneyland!!

Friday we did some personal care and the shower before Karen got me up and dressed. We ordered breakfast from room service and it was really good, I got poached eggs, sausage, potatoes and wheat toast… Karen ate my potatoes and one of the pieces of toast. Stanley got coffee from Starbucks. Everybody took off to go to Disneyland and I waited for David, JohnPatrick, and Ethan and we went to downtown Disney because David, JohnPatrick, and Ethan didn't have hopper passes until Saturday. We got some shopping then and met everybody for lunch at an Italian restaurant in downtown Disney, the food was excellent! I had a kale, pumpkin and Gorgonzola salad. We visited the Lego factory, did some more shopping and went back to the hotel and Karen put me to bed… I was exhausted! Everybody was in the room and I must've fallen asleep because the fireworks outside woke me out and everybody was gone, I can't believe there were fireworks and I missed it… I love fireworks!

Saturday Was a really awesome day! Karen came in and got me up early and my mom, David and I went to spend our first day in Disneyland… Rest of the family went over earlier. It was really warm and we didn't get very far the first day but we did get to the Lincoln Museum and do a little shopping, it was really crowded so we kind of stayed at the entrance and took some pictures with Dude and some of the characters… The characters are so cute when they see a service dog!  We watched a parade and then we all met up and went to the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney, everything looks really good and I ended up getting fish with prawns on top, kale and mashed potatoes, for dessert we got the volcano which was chocolate filled chocolate and cheesecake. The day went by really fast and it was so hot that we came back to the hotel to cool down and rest for a bit, I was exhausted but couldn't sleep in my chair. Everybody else took a nap and then we headed back to Disneyland at 5 PM, it was a lot cooler by then. we headed back to the hotel, I wanted to make sure I didn't miss the fireworks tonight. We ended up watching him from the balcony of the hotel and it was awesome but there were some trees in the way, tomorrow I'm going to make sure I'm down by the pool so I can see everything. After the fireworks, we went back to the motel and Karen put me to bed, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep and didn't say goodnight to anyone or even see Karen leave.

 Sunday was another awesome day! Karen came in and got up again and I have another one of the hotels killer breakfast, two poached eggs, two pieces of bacon, two sausage links, roasted red potatoes and wheat toast. Karen ate the bacon, the potatoes and one piece of toast and I ate the rest. Everybody else had taken off to the park again so is just David and I, we hit the Italian restaurant again from downtown Disney and again it was pretty awesome… I had braised short ribs over polenta and David had chicken Parmesan and spaghetti, they both looked really good! Before we left to go back to the motel Dave and I looked up our last visit, we were there in 2001 when California adventure first opened and I bought a tile to commemorate the visit… I wanted to get another one for this visit but they don't do it anymore. We hung out in David's room for a while because mine was being cleaned.  We cruised back and met everybody and went to the Tiki room to see that show, it was as funny and cute as I remembered it when we were there before. We decided to go back and meet everyone else for dinner at the Mexican resort in downtown Disney, the food and the staff was really awesome! I had Carnitas tacos and then noticed that Melissa and McKenzie got Flauas… I looked all over the menu for those, I used to order them a long time ago and I love them. I tried one of Melissa's and it was awesome. We noticed the table next to us for an important moment so they brought this whole guacamole making station over to their table and we were instantly jealous, it was a whole production and the guacamole looked amazing! After dinner, we decided to head back because it was getting dark and we wanted to watch the fireworks one last time. Well decided to go down by the pool and I noticed that both the pool and a hot tub had a chairlift so I could have been swimming or sitting in the hot this whole time. It started getting later and later and the firework slip starting, Robert came down and said that he overheard they were going to help the fireworks if the wind doesn't calm down… There were no fireworks that evening. I said goodbye and thank you to everyone because they were leaving really early the next morning. I went back up to the room and Karen put me to bed, again I instantly falsely and didn't wake up until morning.