The world of Mickey and Minnie!
It’s not my first time in LA. I have been here before as a still in college, ‘not a girl, not yet a woman’- not a teenager but a new adult strolling through the celebrity sprinkled streets of Hollywood walk of fame. I have been here before as a working woman, jet setting in and out in 24 hours. This trip was different because I was in LA as a mother of two, one ten whose birthday gift included a day in Disneyland and another two years old, who was excited about Mickey and Minnie until she saw them in flesh and she self admitted that they scared her.
We began our LA adventures walking in through LAX at 11 pm, tired with two groggy kids. The next day began with a walk through Venice Beach, sprawling with colors and people, food and music, heckling and some basketball. It was my first time at Venice Beach and yet felt so familiar. Maybe it was the movies I’d watched. Maybe it was reminiscent of the hustle and bustle of beaches in India. Maybe it was exactly want my soul needed in the chaos brewing within as I struggled with adulting. I don’t know what it was but Venice beach calmed the storm within as the ocean beach swept through my wavy hair and as I watched my kids run circles around each other. We then walked down the sneakily shaded path in a sort of residential alleys of Venice Beach to the Venice Canal walkway. I have never been to Venice but it is on my bucket list. Walking through the pathways as birds chilled, boats stayed docked, people paddled and colorful ( and probably very expensive) houses flanked the pathway, we were transported to what Venice might look like when we visit. We then visited the magnificent Santa Monica beach where everyday feels like a party and ended our day with an almost sleepy toddler.
What does a day at Disneyland look like? Two kids shrieking with excitement, dressed in Disney characters bouncing with every step as we entered the world of Disney! My little one’s excitement died immediately when she noticed the crowds around the entrance. My older one was still bouncing with excitement. The next few hours blurred running from one ride to the next. My older one shrieked with excitement while the two year old wondered what in the world was happening! Her baffled looks deserves its own blogpost. She perked up when she saw Mickey in the parade, her eyes twinkling and smile grazing her face. Maybe she’d be happy to meet Mickey, I thought. Well I was wrong. We walked through the maze of his house and stood in line when she said she didn’t want to meet him. She was scared. The day ended with the Fantasmic show and the fireworks, each an ode to all things Disney, awakening the little girl in me who’d watched Beauty and Beast in awe!
Day 3 was meant to be chill! We visited the famous Magnolia Bakery for their famous and creamy banana pudding, drove through Beverly Hills reminding ourselves of our poverty and decided to have an early dinner/ late lunch at Santa Monica. That’s where our train derailed. We were having fun, chitchatting, feeding the little one when we realized we’d lost track of time. As we put our car rental address in our navigation, we knew we were going to miss our flight. We got to stay another night in LA, and the next day we missed our other flight too. Third times a charm! We made a third flight and finally yanked ourselves out of LA.
LA as a mother was very different from the LA I’d visited on the cusp of adulthood. I have gray hairs from adulting. I used to have mostly black hair when I first visited LA. Yet, as Britney sang, her blonde hair swinging in the wind, ‘not a girl- not yet a woman’, this woman was reminded of being a girl once while strolling through the streets of LA, two year old in tow and a ten year old walking in front of her.
