January DL and Universal 30th Birthday Trip + using a wheelchair! LOTS of pics!

[Echie]

Welcome to my first ever trip report I hope you enjoy!

Here's who came on our trip:
Me - love trip planning and creating schedules!
DH - turned 30 on this trip!
Mom - my mom! First time at disneyland, and doing disney in her wheelchair! (she has MS)

Unlike most of our trips, we only actually decided to go about 2 weeks ahead which is not the kind of planning I like to do - usually I like way more time to research and create schedules, but I had to make do with a short planning period! It still went really well and a wonderful time was had by all!

Since it was my mom's first trip and it was our first time (DH and I had been to disneyland together before) going to disneyland with my mom who is in a wheelchair it was a whole new experience for us and of course much different! But definitely a memorable trip! And my mom is excited to go again - so we must have done something right

We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel from Jan 16 to Jan 19, 2009 and visited Disneyland and Universal Studios!

Here's our first day:

Friday January 16th, 2009:

1:30pm - Arrive at LAX. Decided to fly into LAX as it was cheaper for us than flying into any of the other airports nearby.

Go pick up a rental car. Ended up booking a rental car rate through Expedia - found a pretty good rate for an SUV. Ended up going with an SUV so that we'd have enough space for my mom's wheelchair, walker and lots of luggage! Mom had a bit of a climb up to get into the SUV, but we were allowed to go down the line and choose any SUV out of about 10 (rented from Dollar), and found one that had handles at the top and front of the passenger front seat side, so my mom was able to nicely hoist herself up! It was a Toyota 4Runner.

The car:

We decided to rent a car because we wanted to do a day at Universal Studios.

Using the rental car bus was no problem in a wheelchair - the bus was low and they let down the ramp and we wheeled mom in.

2:30pm - leave rental car place

4:00pm - FINALLY arrived at Disney's Grand Californian - yikes, traffic was slow!

Check in went smoothly and we were thrilled to find that we had received the room requests that we had made.
I phoned my room requests in and the cast member I spoke with didn't seem very pleased in putting in my requests and begrudgingly told me that he doesn't think I will get them.
2 days prior to arriving I sent the Grand Californian a fax with my room requests again and it was no problem Wheelchair room, low beds, 2 queen beds and DTD view (those were the requests).

Waiting for us in our room was the gift basket that I had ordered to kick off DH's birthday weekend - I went with the California Cooler Pack! He loved it!

6:00pm - Ate dinner at Whitewater snacks
The food was ok... Mom had the grilled chicken sandwhich which was the best of our 3 meals for sure! She chose it with fruit instead of fries. The fruit ended up being 5 strawberries... hmmm ok. They were DELICIOUS, just a few too few! DH had the cheeseburger and it was just ok. I had the beef dip. The meat was pretty good, but the bun was a lot of bread and the dipping sauce far too salty for my taste.

After dinner we hit Disneyland! And it was crowded - wow! Friday night I guess...

Pirates of the Carribean. Loaded through the exit - a bit tricky to find in the back lane, but we found it. Loading was immediate, they didn't make us wait. Mom didn't really like the ride and found the few drops to be too much for her brain.

Winnie the Pooh. We all enjoyed this ride! The wheelchair just went through the regular line (it wasn't busy, we just walked right up).
The up and down motions were a bit much for mom but they weren't very long so it was ok.

Mom was tired after this and the crowds were too much for her, so we took her back to the room and DH and I returned to ride Indiana Jones, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds! We left the park when it closed at 10:00pm.

Tomorrow: DL in the am and Universal in the pm!

 

[albertamommyof4]

wow awsome pictures , thanks fo sharing. I love the basket, may i ask where you ordered it from ?
thanks

 

[Echie]

wow awsome pictures , thanks fo sharing. I love the basket, may i ask where you ordered it from ?
thanks

I ordered it through Disneyland, by phoning the Vacation Planning number.
It was overpriced of course ($48), but hey you only turn 30 once

Thanks for checking out my trip report

 

[Echie]

Oh I also wanted to add that if you are taking a car to the grand californian and have a handicap sticker for the car do the self parking (save the valet cost and time), as the handicap parking lot is like right there by the entrance.

I'd always do the self park anyway, but we saw people wait a long time for their valet cars, and we were just able to wheel mom over about a 30 second walk to where we parked the car which was way more convenient.

She liked it better as well, as she didn't feel pressured to have to get in and out of the car quickly as she would have if we were pulled up to the main entrance where it's always so busy!

 

[albertamommyof4]

I ordered it through Disneyland, by phoning the Vacation Planning number.
It was overpriced of course ($48), but hey you only turn 30 once

Thanks for checking out my trip report

Thank you
I can wait to hear more about your trip

 

[Echie]

Day 2: Saturday January 17, 2009

While DH was in the shower the night before I put up some balloons to decorate the bed for his birthday weekend!

8:30am - Mom and I got up and had room service breakfast in the room, while DH slept

Mom had the fitness breakfast (oatmeal, she requested it with ginger and they brought a little dish of it, 2 drink selections - chose orange juice and cranberry juice, bran muffin and fruit and yoghurt) and I had the mickey shaped waffle with the banana foster (yummy!) which comes with a beverage of your choice (I chose orange juice). DH had the leftovers from my mom's breakfast when he got up (muffin, yoghurt and juice).

9:30am - DH and I entered California Adventure Park since you can go in 30 min early and ride Soarin'. We only had to wait 5 min - it was awesome! We rode it twice! It's our favorite ride at this park!

Then we did some photo pass photos around California Adventure - it was fun! Here are some of the photos:

10:45am - Left for Universal Studios

12:00pm - Finally arrived - why oh why is traffic still so bad on a Saturday...

Parking at Universal: Paid for regular parking $12, but followed the preferred parking signs to the handicap lot which is right next to the entrance of the park, you can't get any closer!

Overall, I must say too that for someone in a wheelchair Universal Studios really did treat us very well and really make it a joy to come and visit their park! My mom absolutely loved Universal Studios and how wonderful everyone and everything was. Also the park just isn't as busy!

First we headed to the Backlot via a shuttle. You take an elevator down (by where all the escalators are down to the backlot) one level and a shuttle bus takes you from there to the backlot. It was really cool actually as the shuttle takes you past all the stage buildings so you get a little scenic tour as well

View from the shuttle bus

Mom ate some cinnamon popcorn (delicious) while waiting on a bench as DH and I rode the Mummy Ride (only a 5 minute wait). We rode it twice. It's my favorite ride here!

DH at the exit of the mummy ride:

Then we all went to Backdraft, which we really enjoyed! It was great, they saw us approaching with the wheelchair and ushered us right to the front.
Mom loved it - especially the videos in the first two rooms about firefighters and how the movie was made, etc.

After that we took the shuttle back to the upper lot where we went to see the Animal Actors show. Again we were shown right to the wheelchair spots in the front row. The show was really great if you like animals! It was mostly dogs and birds, but they did have a chimp as well! It was a fun show! Mom said it was her favorite thing at the park today!

We at lunch at Flinstones BBQ because I really wanted to have a turkey leg. Mom and I shared the turkey leg combo (came with cole slaw - which was suprisingly delicious and bbq chips) and was plenty for the two of us. DH had the cheeseburger combo.

Attractive, I know

Studio Tour was after lunch. Despite all the warnings the tour has (which made my mom nervous to even do it), she was 100% fine and thoroughly enjoyed it! The earthquake part was the only part that we were worried about, but she said she was prepared for the tram moving, so she was ready for it and had no problems.

Again getting onto the studio trams was wonderful. They had us actually load before everyone else, at the spot where everyone exits the tram. So when the tram pulled up to where everyone else loads, we were already all settled in.
We all loved the studio tour - mom and I especially loved going down Wisteria Lane, being the Desperate Housewives fans we are

Photos from the Studio Tour:

Jaws:

War of the Worlds Movie Scene:

Wisteria Lane:

Can't remember this was from: some motel movie horror set with a live actor running after our tram with a knife!

After getting off the tram this little set is here, we had to wait a bit as lots of people want to stand amidst the cutouts for a photo:

Next we went to Shrek 4D which was pretty good. Mom stayed in her wheelchair and was parked in the wheelchair spots front row and centre. DH and I sat in the seats beside her. We liked 4D effects, and thought the 3D movie was ok. But we aren't giant Shrek fans so...

After that mom rested at a table with some snacks while DH and I went on the Simpson's ride. We had to wait 30 minutes for the ride (that was the longest we waited for a ride), but it was worth it! It was DH's favorite ride!!

Then we sent DH into the Haunted House of Horrors first as I am terrified of haunted houses! DH said it was great and wanted mom and I to go too. I tried so hard to not go, but DH and mom made me and I hated it! DH said it was hilarious to watch me - ha ha very funny! I just can't stand people jumping out at you. Of course they don't touch you, but I hated all the corners and things jumping out and scaring you! Augh! And I was even sandwiched between my mom (I was pushing her chair) and DH was behind me...

I love pressed pennies!! I made several around universal studios today, so DH thought I should have my photo taken with a pressed penny machine:

7:00pm - We left universal studios and drove back - it took us about an hour this time to drive back. We stopped to pick some some dinner at El Pollo Loco - the one that's just down the street from Disneyland. And took it back to our hotel room to eat. You can't beat 3 people eating dinner for $12!

Then we watched the fireworks from our balcony - we had a great view!
Too bad I didn't know about being able to turn on the tv and hear the music as well at the time (I just read that here somewhere), but it was still awesome! We headed to bed shortly after the fireworks were over.

Tomorrow: DH's birthday day - full day in DL and DCA and dinner at Goofy's Kitchen!

 

[albertamommyof4]

great pictures. so you liked universal, are the rides good fro kids/ i have a 11,9,6 and 2 year old and when we go they will be 12,9,7 and 3 . we are torn between getting the city pass or just get 4 days at dinsey and 1 day at sea world and 1 day at the zoo and no universal . Thanks for sharing

 

[Echie]

great pictures. so you liked universal, are the rides good fro kids/ i have a 11,9,6 and 2 year old and when we go they will be 12,9,7 and 3 . we are torn between getting the city pass or just get 4 days at dinsey and 1 day at sea world and 1 day at the zoo and no universal . Thanks for sharing

Oh yes, as adults we absolutely LOVED Universal!
Hmmm that is a tough decision... I think your then 12 and 9 year old would definitely love it, but seeing as you have the younger ones too... There were definitely less kids at universal than at disneyland or california adventure park and I do think it's geared more towards older kids (not that of course you can't go with younger kids too).
I do think there are enough things that your whole family would enjoy though that if you wanted to do it and getting a city pass would be a better deal, I'd go for it.
Everyone would like the Shrek 4D, Animal Actors and there are other shows that we didn't see that everyone could enjoy. Plus there was a shrek band playing music from the movies and we saw younger kids having a blast dancing around to the music Your older kids would probably love the Simpsons and Mummy rides too. And if you guys are into haunted houses it's a good haunted house...

 

[albertamommyof4]

Oh yes, as adults we absolutely LOVED Universal!
Hmmm that is a tough decision... I think your then 12 and 9 year old would definitely love it, but seeing as you have the younger ones too... There were definitely less kids at universal than at disneyland or california adventure park and I do think it's geared more towards older kids (not that of course you can't go with younger kids too).
I do think there are enough things that your whole family would enjoy though that if you wanted to do it and getting a city pass would be a better deal, I'd go for it.
Everyone would like the Shrek 4D, Animal Actors and there are other shows that we didn't see that everyone could enjoy. Plus there was a shrek band playing music from the movies and we saw younger kids having a blast dancing around to the music Your older kids would probably love the Simpsons and Mummy rides too. And if you guys are into haunted houses it's a good haunted house...

Thank you , i will have to look into universal a little more.

 

[DLR29]

I really like your photos and TR. Good work!

 

[Echie]

Day 3: Sunday January 18, 2009: DH's 30th Birthday!!!

PART 1: Morning and Afternoon

The hotel had given DH a birthday button when we checked in, so he proudly wore it today and loved everyone wishing him a happy birthday! He was surprised that even other people visiting the park were saying "happy birthday" to him!

Also waiting for us under our door this morning was an envelope addressed to DH with another birthday button on it (so now he had 2!), and inside an autographed photo of Mickey Mouse!

7:00am - IN Disneyland park for magic mornings early entry! Which was 100% worth getting up early for! We did 10 rides in 2 hours! Mom decided that she wasn't up for an early morning, so it was just DH and I! It was super, we either walked onto every ride - no waits at all - or the max we waited was 5 min!!

These are the rides we did: Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds (twice),
Peter Pan (DH's favorite of the fantasy land kids rides), Carousel (MY favorite of the fantasy land rides), Pinnochio, Big Thunder Mtn (twice), Indiana Jones (we really like this ride as it's different every time),
pirates of the carribean (another of DH's favorite rides)!

Main Street as we endered at 7am:

Dh in fantasy land, not busy at all:

I practically had the whole carousel to myself!

Exiting the park at 9am (busier)!

9:00am - we left to go back to the hotel to pick up mom!

10:00am - Finally made it into California Adventure Park! We really wanted to be there at 9:30am or 9:45am so that we could already ride Soarin' before the lines started, but we just weren't all ready yet. So when we saw that at 10:00am Soarin' already had a 45 min wait time, we grabbed fastpasses and went somewhere else first!

Toy Story Midway Mania - we ended up waiting 35 minutes for this ride but since it was new we really wanted to give it a try. This ride was awesome for wheelchairs! We waited in the regular line and then when we got to the front they pulled us aside to a separate wheelchair area. Turns out they have 2 "cars" that they can pull to the side out on a separate track to give people in wheelchairs lots of time to load. One of these cars was even set up so that people could stay in their wheelchairs. But mom transferred. It was nice not to be rushed to get in or out.

The ride itself wasn't good for mom - she didn't like the spinning and said it made her dizzy afterwards. So no more of those kinds of rides for her (we're learning)

DH and I of course loved the ride!

Waiting in line with our 3D glasses:

DH on the ride:

While mom recovered in a quiet shady place, DH and I rode Mullholland Maddness (twice). The wait was 25 min long, but we did the single rider line and it was just a walk on - noone was in the single rider line so that was nice! I didn't go on this last time I was here because I thought it would be scary, but it's actually super tame! A little jerky at the top, but the two dips are fun and all in all a neat ride. DH wasn't as much of a fan because he doesn't really like heights and didn't like that it was jerking around up high!

Next we went to It's Tough to be a Bug which everyone enjoyed! Mom loved it and said she'd see it again! Mom ended up transferring out of the chair here, although she could have stayed in it. We went to the designated wheelchair spot, parked the chair there and then mom switched to the benches as it was easy to just slide out of the chair and over onto the bench beside. Awesome 3D and 4D effects! It was a great show!

"Famous" bug glasses shot everyone does

On our way to the Hollywood Backlot we ran into Pluto and since there was no line:

Then we headed to Monsters Inc and rode it twice. The cast member there was super. We waited in the regular line (only a 10 min wait) and when we got to the front the cast member asked if mom could transfer out, she could, and he brought us over to the wheelchair loading area where it's higher up so it's just a level walk into the car (no steps). This is so great, all these separate loading areas where wheelchair people can take their time! Anyway when we came back from the ride, he asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride it again, so we did! It's a fun ride and we like the movie Mom also liked how smooth the ride was!

By that time we could use our Soarin' fastpasses which made it only a 10 min wait. We all loved the ride. Mom thought it was awesome and didn't feel any dizziness or motion sickness or anything! She said it was her favorite ride! And can't wait to go again!

Loading worked well with the wheelchair, you just wheel it off to the side after loading. Although unloading is a bit of a rush, as the new people are already standing there waiting to get on, and we're still working on getting off.

After that we had lunch (1:30pm) at Pilot's right next door, which I knew I wanted to go to as they have THE BEST ribs ever! I love them so much! I had to wait 35 min in line and mom and DH waited equally long before finally being able to snag a table! It was crazy busy!

Also a tip for the lines, come in through the side doors and then pick one of the outside lines (I didn't remember this from before) and just lined up through the main door which everyone did and made for 2 very long middle lines, where the end lines were totally short! Oh well next time

I had the ribs of course, DH had the chili burger (also very good) and Mom had the supersonic Salad, which she also loved! Delicious food all round! Plus we love the toppings bar here too - you can practically make your own little side salad with the lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, olives, etc etc etc!

We then headed to the ticket windows to pick up DH's birthday fun card. We ended up choosing that as opposed to the fast passes and were happy with our choice as we were able to use the fun card to purchase our splash mtn photos and put the rest towards the photopass CD
They asked to see DH's id, and park hopper ticket and then they gave him the fun card!

We ended up talking to someone later (when we were on grizzley river run ), whose birthday was also today and he went with the fastpasses and said that he didn't end up using all of them as it was some rides that they weren't really into - like California Screaming. He was really nice and offered to give them to us, but we said we aren't into that either

After that we headed back to the room for a rest and for DH's birthday surprise! I ordered a cake through vacation planning as well and asked for it to be delivered at 3:00pm. Well it came at 3:30pm, but close enough. It was delicious! I went with chocolate cake, chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache. I said no sugar figurines (didn't want to pay $10 extra per figurine), but we were surprised to find a figurine on it anyway! So that was neat! And perhaps a little odd to put a snow white figurine on a cake for a 30 year old man but whatever! It actually ended up working perfectly and DH thought I'd planned it that way as I usually dress up for halloween as snow white and DH always says I make the prettiest snow white ever The cake was $25. And came on a nice tray with candles and matches as well and of course plates and utensils and napkins! Super!

DH was actually sleeping when his cake arrived but he was thrilled to see it when he woke up! We ended up taking it home because we only had a tiny little bit. We just called room service and told them we'd ordered a 6" cake through vacation planning and can't finish it all and would like to take it home. They send up a cake box immediately and we were able to successfully take it home

While DH and mom napped, I headed to the pool for an hour (3:30pm) which was crazy busy with kids and people sun tanning as the weather was super!
But it was still fun!

Next: Part 2 of this day including Goofy's Kitchen Dinner and more time in the theme parks!

 

[Echie]

I really like your photos and TR. Good work!

Thank you very much! And thank you for taking a look at it

 

[albertamommyof4]

wow disney is sure slow early in the morning. The cake is very nice and loved the pictures.
We did take a look at universal site and my oldest who is 11 said he wouldn't go on much so we decided we will buy the tickets seperatly and do 4 dl days .

 

[Echie]

wow disney is sure slow early in the morning. The cake is very nice and loved the pictures.
We did take a look at universal site and my oldest who is 11 said he wouldn't go on much so we decided we will buy the tickets seperatly and do 4 dl days .

That's a good choice! I'm sure you guys will have a fun time - that way you can take it nice and easy! You can always do universal in a few years when your kids are older!

When is your trip?

 

[albertamommyof4]

thanks, we are trying for July and we will probably be driving (31 hours) long but cheaper then flying. oldest son turns 12 the end of July so maybe for that , not sure yet

 

[Echie]

Part 2 of Day 3: January 18, 2009

5:45pm - left the hotel and walked over to the Disneyland Hotel for our 6:10pm dinner priority seating at Goofy's Kitchen. We were there at 5:55pm, lined up in a long line up and finally were able to be checked in at about 6:05pm!

It was insane! Crazy busy! Some local people who were there waiting too and were talking to us told us it is never like this and that we shouldn't judge it based on today. (it's true, I've been before and it wasn't AS crazy as today, although we did have to wait about 15 min last time as well even with our priority seating) I guess the MLK weekend busyness was shown in Goofy's Kitchen on the Sunday Anyway we waited until 6:45pm when we were finally seated! Yikes!

Next time I've decided to do a priority seating for like 5pm, right when the restaurant opens, then at least the wait time can't be as long as you aren't waiting for anyone to finish, you just have to wait to be seated!

Oh and just a note - they do a photo with Pluto as you enter the restaurant but you can NOT put it on photopass. You have to purchase the photo package and then later at the photo centre if you wanted it also put on photo pass they could do it there. But you have to buy the photo package (not so fair really). Anyway we opted not to - we knew we'd get character photo opportunities inside and besides we already saw pluto in the park

Anyway the food was delicious! It really is very good food there! We enjoyed it all!

And the character interaction was great as well. The characters that stopped by our table were: Belle (we didn't do a photo with her), Pinnochio, Dale and Goofy.

After dinner we went back to California Adventure Park:

We road Soarin' again with a fastpass that we'd picked up earlier again. Everyone loved the ride again!

Then DH and I went ton Grizzley River Run. Despite it being evening we REALLY wanted to go on this ride on our trip here. The ride was packed, like 50 min wait all day long as it was so sunny and warm, but in the evening as soon as it gets darks it was down to just walking right on. Way better as we were just going to go back to our room and change after anyway. We did bring our dollar store ponchos to keep us a little more dry and were glad that we had them. Although we still managed to get wet on our shirts - I guess the water came through the arms or something! Oh well, the ponchos did keep us dryer than without them.

I think they must turn some of the gysers or something off because this ride was noone near as drenching as it has been when we came in April last time! Anyway we were happy we went on it

After a quick stop at the room to change shirts we headed to disneyland!

We did some shopping on main street, as mom wanted to do that before it got too late and she was too tired.

Then we went on the Nemo Submarine Ride. Well because of the wheelchair you don't actually go into the subs, you go to the MOO (marine observation outstation?). When you go to the start of the 45 min long (that was the wait time) ride and ask where to go for wheelchairs, the cast member tells you to go up the ramp and ask for the MOO, so we did. There there is another cast member who ushers us into the room. There you watch it on a big screen. They set the room up well too - so you feel like you're still part of the ride and stuff. And best of all 0 wait time
Anyway all in all we as 3 adults found it a little boring. And DH and I really love the Nemo movie and fish/aquariums in general. But yeah, unless I had children with me who loved Nemo, I wouldn't go again. Of course perhaps being in the actual sub is cooler, but the show that you watch itself isn't anything special. Rather long too...

Then because we hadn't had one yet we stopped at the stand in Adventureland (by the Tiki room) for a Dole Whip! Mmmmmmmm! These are the best ever!!!

While mom enjoyed a Dole whip too, DH and I rode Indiana Jones again, we had fastpasses and only waited 10 min. We really love this ride!

Then as it was already 11:30pm we went over to Splash Mountain and FINALLY got to ride it! It's one of my favorite rides but every time this weekend we tried to ride it, it was either closed or broke down. Once we were actually ON the ride when they stopped it and had to get everyone to exit their logs. We did get a special fastpass ticket for any other ride in the park on that day. And then when we tried again the next day, it was closed and not scheduled to open for an hour or two. So anyway FINALLY we were going to ride it! Yay! No waits of course, 30 min to closing on a water ride. So we rode it twice! Once we even got our very own log! Mom didn't go, she watched us from the bridge where you can see the drop

DH being funny when we had our own log:

DH in his new splash mtn t-shirt

Shortly after midnight we left the park! We sure packed in a full last day at the park! And enjoyed every minute of it!!

Tomorrow: one last entry - departure day

 

[Echie]

Departure Day, Day 4: Monday January 19, 2009

8:00am - I got up and phoned in our room service breakfast

8:30am - Breakfast arrived (that was pretty quick!) and mom got up. I had the french toast today (the waffle was better) and picked hot chocolate as my drink (it came in a whole container full and even came with marshmallows!), and mom had granola which she really enjoyed!! DH shared with us afterwards when he got up. We still had juice leftover from mom's breakfast yesterday (just kept it in the fridge) that she had so we finished that today as well

Butter in the shape of a mickey:

After breakfast I walked around downtown disney a bit, getting in one last disney fix Took some photos and just relaxed.

View from the balcony towards disneyland (see space mtn and the disneyland railway) - I actually took the photo yesterday evening:

Our room was up here , above the World of Disney store!

Cool banners in downtown disney:

10:30am - We checked out of the hotel and drove to the airport!

And oh my goodness there was NO traffic! I couldn't believe it! We made it to the airport in 45 min! I guess driving on a holiday Monday morning is good

So we were of course REALLY early to the airport as we had anticipated traffic, but that's ok as we shopped and relaxed an then boarded our 2:30pm flight home.

And that's our trip!

I hope you enjoyed my trip report! Feel free to ask any questions, I'd be happy to help

 

[DLR29]

YAY! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. Your pics make me want to go back (even though i was only there a month ago)

 

[Echie]

YAY! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. Your pics make me want to go back (even though i was only there a month ago)

Thanks so much for reading it It makes me want to go back really soon too!

 

[Tasscrapper]

Just read it and I loved your trip report. My mom passed away this past Novemeber but we spent the summer taking trips to our local amusement park with her in a wheelchair but forgot to take pictures somehow. Seeing your mom in all those pictures smiling and so happy just reminded me of my mom and how much fun she was able to have in her last months. What a beautiful little family you have.