Summer of Heroes

Summer of Heroes, SS's Mecca, one of the reasons why we still have season passes. We try to avoid Disneyland during summer, but we really needed fun family time. We woke up SS earlier than she would ever allow, but she was all smiles. She would gladly forgo some beauty sleep in a Sunday if super heroes are involved. Our must do list was simple, sign up SS for the interactive show, wait for Black Widow to make an appearance, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Dance Off. SS loves to bust a move, and we knew she'd be joining the crowd.Yesterday was going to be an easy day.

We arrived at the Hollywood back lot at California Adventure, ready to sign up SS to participate in one of the Avenger Training Initiative show. She followed the instructions the cast member gave her, and was able to perform the moves required. SS met the age requirement, 6-12 years old. The last question was if she would be OK on stage for approximately twenty minutes, with her parents mere yards away from her. SS FROZE, she could not answer. Are you kidding me? P made a face plant Friday and Saturday afternoon after arriving home from work. He's been working way too hard, and giving up days off. But he wanted to make Sunday special for SS. And this is when our super hero obsessed daughter decides to draw the line?

SS said she was scared, and to be honest P and I were not exactly immediately understanding.  SS has met so many super hero characters and has interacted with them, hammed it up, and had a blast. What was so different about this experience? The tears began to flow, and we did not want to suck the joy out of a Disney visit. We were both just flabbergasted. At the end of the day if we are right by her SS is just fine. The thought of being on stage while we were very close in the audience (later we realized mere feet away) was too much for her to handle.
 

SS then went to some station where she was asked questions to determine her "personality," and what super hero it matched. SS was a match with Iron Man, and any other day she would have been ecstatic. Not so yesterday, because yesterday she felt Black Panther was her personality soul mate. SIGH

SS put her disappointment aside and gladly posed for a picture.

SS met Black Widow but I have no idea what they were discussing. Most likely top secret, super hero collusion.

She's small, she's delicate, she's beautiful, but she can make a face that will make your blood curdle.

We then went on Soarin' because it never gets old. Along with The Little Mermaid it's my favorite ride at California Adventure. This is our first selfie on this ride.

We went through the trouble of bringing a dry backpack, and a wet backpack, in case SS wanted to play in the splash pad at Bug's Land. After Soarin' P suggested going on the Grizzly Bear Run. Our SS is indeed a grizzly bear when uncomfortable, so we had her change into her bathing suit and flip flops. We had two towels in case she ended up soaked. P and I roughed it with what we were wearing. The people on our opposite side took the brunt of the rapids, they were soaked, wearing jeans and sneakers. Our daughter came out with a few drops of water on her bathing suit. I bet if we were not prepared, that would have been us.

 On our way to The Little Mermaid SS ran into The Incredibles and was able to get a hi, and a picture.

I was last on the Hollywood Tower of Terror in 2005, and have not cared to try again. It is now Guardians of the Galaxy, but it's the same darn ride.  I do know P likes the ride, so I asked him to go on the single rider line, while I stayed with SS under the shade. We found a bench by the ride, shaded, and one towel became SS's pillow, while the other was under her. Sadly the ride does not have a single rider line, and P did not want to wait over an hour for the pleasure of vomiting his lunch.  We researched to find where the dance off was taking place, next on our agenda. Darn lucky us, it was a few feet from our bench. We talked, SS rested, and we reached the front just in time for the show to begin.

That is when SS surprised us for the second time in one day. She did not want to go to the front and dance with all the other kids. SS has been dancing since the day we met her. We will never forget her stamina at P's cousin's wedding. Our three year old out danced everyone at the reception. Nope, her situational shyness returned. P said he would go up and dance when they asked others to join. We kept urging SS to go up and dance without succeeding. Just as I asked P to give me the camera so he could go and show his moves, a cast member held my hands and pull me up front. Ut oh, is this what SS was fearing? Because I love dancing at home, in public is not so comfortable.  Talking about dancing a mile in somebody else's shoes.

It is not fair to encourage SS to be adventurous if we are not willing to do the same. So I sucked it up and danced like no one was watching. Except there were SO MANY PEOPLE WATCHING, and filming with their cell phones. I am sure there a many videos up on YouTube right now of that fat, old lady trying to dance. Oh well, it was fun. The young man dancing his heart out is the cast member who pulled me to dance. That guy has moves, they should put him in one of their stage shows.

Once the dance off was over SS found her dancing spirit, and danced to the last of the music. That girl is one funky chicken. The video is at the end of the post.

Then SS met Groot! She was really in awe of him, not only because of his height, but because of the selfless thing he did in Guardians of the Galaxy.

We could not resist and joined SS in the Groot love fest.

We only had one more item on our must do list, the Avenger Training Initiative. Although SS declined to be on stage, she still wanted to watch the show. Even after resting her bones before the dance off, SS was rather tired. P came to the rescue with shave ice so sweet it was certain to hype SS into the next day.

SS had her own shave ice, ate the whole thing, and still fell asleep while waiting for the show to begin. The picture is blurry but the best I could do with one hand.

Once SS saw how close we would have been to her, and all the cool stuff on stage, she wished she had done it. The Summer of Heroes runs until mid September, maybe Baba will feel like going through all of it again.

Before we departed SS made sure to pose at various Summer of Heroes landmarks.

I like this picture because of P's reflection on the poster, he truly indulges his girl.

By the time we arrived at the restaurant to pick up our dinner, SS was out in her carseat. She napped for a while, recharged, ate, and watched Shark Week, then the Spartan finals. The girl went to bed at 11;00 p.m., a big no no here, when she has so much to do the next day.

SS had one more surprise for us this morning, because while she was very unhappy to be awaken, she did AMAZING at swimming class. her strokes have improved, and she is stronger. SS did not swim like a kid who had done the amount of walking she did yesterday, or showed the effect of standing under the sun, and going to sleep late. 

We have had a series of setbacks during the past eighteen months that have really tested us as a family. Being an island of three is not easy, and there have been times when the pain is just too much, we have felt like drowning is not only imminent, but a welcomed relief. Yesterday reminded us that we have each other, so what if no else cares? Yes it hurts, especially when it comes to SS, it cuts deep. But we are slowly coming out of the fog, and pray that if there is indeed a higher power, that it looks kindly upon our daughter. We are blessed to have SS, to watch her grow, to have her love.