Flash Back Friday Spring Break 2020 The Day Disneyland Closed for Covid

 We were at Disneyland i for Spring Break in March 2020 when it closed for Covid. Covid had become an issue that we started taking seriously a few weeks prior to our trip. My mom asked us not to go to Disneyland. It was my family, my sister, Ashley, her boyfriend (at the time, Daniel, who would propose to her on this trip) and Daniel’s daughter and niece. We debated whether or not to go, but decided to risk it. It was very strange. Disneyland usually has smells when you walk down Main Street, like cookies baking. But it smelled like hand sanitizer! It was so weird. Very un-Disney-like.

Many people canceled their trips because of Covid, so the park was empty. We went on the train that goes around Disneyland and we were practically the only ones. 

There were no lines for anything. It should have been great, but in reality it was unsettling because you knew it was because a deadly virus and fear were keeping people away. It made me wonder if I should be scared. I recall that I was concerned, but I didn’t feel scared.  . . Yet.

All the Disney cast members were wearing gloves. Even though they were white and looked innocent, it was unnerving. 

They were installing signs in the bathrooms while we were there: “Wash hands for twenty seconds.”

We tried to have fun, but it was all so un-Disney-like. The water in the water rides like Pirates and Splash Mountain smelled like chlorine. We still had a good time, but I think inside we were all becoming very worried. 

Only Miriam’s hands. Haha. She’s a thrill seeker!

It rained on our second day. We bought four day tickets, but if I recall correctly we only planned to go for three. I got some kind of deal and getting the four day ended up being cheaper than three day.

Joshua finally rode Space Mountain! He doesn’t like these types of rides. 

We got to experience Star Wars Land for the first time. It was very well done! Oddly enough we ran into Joshua’s friend from school (Kayden). So Josh and I went with Kayden and his grandmother on the “rogue” ride (I forget what it’s called). I think they was nice for him to get to experience that with a friend who shared a similar “like” of such things. Then we went on the other new Star Wars ride together as a family. They were both incredible! Well done!

Josh doesn’t like Splash Mountain. So I went with Miriam, then Garren went with Miriam, then Ashley went with Miriam. Haha!

I got Cinnamon this cute Minnie Mouse collar. She wore it until she died. 

I can only ride one fast ride a day because it make my joints hurt. So I rode Space Mountain. Miriam really wanted to do the one that goes upside down in DCA. So Garren, Ashley, and Daniel went with her. 

Josh loves the Autopia. I think he and I did that one about 6 times! When The others went to DCA to do the rollercoaster, Josh and I went on Autopia. Those were the last rides we did at Disneyland. They had announced earlier in the day that they would be closing Disneyland due to Covid concerns. So we knew it was our last day. We only used 2 of our 4 days. 

These pictures were from earlier in the day, but we rode it for the last time at night. The others were on that ride in DCA and it shut down while they were on it!!! Like, way up high!! So they all had to exit the ride by going down those sketchy looking stairs! In the dark! And it had been raining all day!! I was glad I wasn’t there. I probably would have peed my pants. 

This was Disneyland as it was closing. They had to cancel the fireworks show because of wind. But they still did the show they do where they put up video projections on the buildings on Main Street. It was very sad and emotional. All the characters, and I mean ALL the characters came out and lines Main Street and were blowing kisses to everyone as they left the park. I’m even crying right now writing this. It was so sad! And scary! 

The next morning, Disneyland was a ghost town. So strange to see it “sleeping.” We walked around for a bit, I think because we just didn’t know what to think, how to feel, or what was to come. 

We drove home that day. Since I booked through Disneyland we got a refund for the hotel. I opened to keep the tickets though because we thought we’d use them later. They anticipated being closed for two weeks. They ended up closing for a year. We didn’t know that at the time. We thought Covid would die out over the summer and we’d go back over fall break and use our remaining two days on our tickets. Little did we know. . . . 

I think for our family this is where our Covid experience began: The Day Disneyland Closed. 

Sunday, March 12, 2023

 This past week was uneventful, until last night. . . when Grandpa died. . . . 

This was the last school week of Labs. We had our final practicum which was catheter insertion. I practiced on Joshua’s monkey stuffed animal. Poor monkey. . . 

I passed the practicum even though I had the hardest evaluator. And I kept making stupid mistakes. But I’d catch myself and correct it. I kept saying, “I broke sterile field, so I would get a new kit and start over.” I probably went through 18 “imaginary” kits. I just didn’t want to fail over something like sterile field. Glad it’s over with.

I did have the teacher evaluating me who is notoriously hard on students. She was very nice and I didn’t find it difficult to perform in front of her. Well, aside from the jitters I would have had with any evaluator. The students in my class are hard on this teacher. They often complain about her teaching style and methods, but I don’t have a problem with it. She gives us all the information we need to prepare for her lectures before class starts. But the other students act like they are walking in blind and leaving completely uninformed. That just isn’t the case. Maybe she needs to make it more clear that she gives us the class preparation guide before class begins. They all prefer our other teacher’s teaching style, but I don’t. The teacher they are hard on isn’t the most ‘lively’ or entertaining teacher, but she knows her stuff and has many years of experience. When she tells me something I know I can take that for the “gospel truth.” Our other teacher is fun, young, and energetic. She shares a lot of experiences and stories. That’s what the other students like about her. Honestly, it takes up a lot of class time and she doesn’t finish her lectures. She ends up having to go home and record more lecture for us to watch later. But I can’t ever watch them because the time I have for lecture is just the time that I am in lecture! So, I appreciate that the other teacher is able to stick to that schedule and get all the information in. I do like both teachers. Their methods and styles are different. 

Our bathroom remodel is coming along. Here’s where we stand currently. Our remodel guy is very slow. I knew that going into it as he did our kitchen backsplash. We made a schedule when we started this for progress payments to give along the way. We finished those progress payments a week ago and the next payment due was scheduled for when the project was complete. We are no where even close to complete because he is so slow and only works 4 or so hours a day. So on Thursday he was getting ready to leave and said, “Smaller progress payment tomorrow. Maybe $2,000?” I said, “Not according to our agreement. We don’t owe you anything else until the project is complete.” He gave me a look and said, “I’ve gotta have something.” I said, “So do I. I need a bathroom.” Then I said I’d talk to Garren and see where we’re at and get back to him. On Friday he worked a little faster and even had some things in progress on Saturday with the plumber and electrician. So I guess he’ll work a little faster now that he knows he doesn’t get paid again until he’s done. He’s probably about 3 weeks out! That’s my guess.

Last night we went to my dad’s office for our yearly tax meeting. We buy him dinner and have a meal together then we do our taxes. While we were there my Uncle Mark called Dad and told him that my grandpa had died. My dad said they were expecting it and he had gone over the day before to give him a blessing. He didn’t think it would be so soon though. I was glad we were with him when he got the call. We stayed for an extra thirty or so minutes to just chat and try to comfort him. 

This is a picture of me and Josh with my grandpa and Dad and Uncle Mark. I took my kids over a few times to do puzzles and games with him so they could get to know him a little bit. I’m glad we had that time together. I am very grateful for my Aunt JoAnn and Uncle Mark who had Grandpa living with them for the past few years until he went to a group home. It is challenging mentally, physically, and emotionally to be a caregiver. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have many memories with my grandpa. He lived in Hawaii and California and didn’t visit often. But from what I experiences I did have with him I know he had a strong testimony of the church and he was great at family history. When he would come visit he would always show us what progress he’s made on the family tree. Dad said he had made comments recently that if he wasn’t useful he didn’t want to linger. So now he can go and be useful in the Kingdom of God. As Grandma Joyce said, “On to new vistas.”

Joshua gave a talk in church today. The subject was “Love Thy Neighbor.” I recorded it for my parents. Ones of these days I’ll be smart enough to upload it on here. He did such a good job. He made eye contact, he spoke clearly and confidently. . . most of the time, and his talk was focused and concise. It was very good. Until I figure out how to upload it, here’s a picture of he and I. 

And, finally, here’s a picture from this week of Sugar thinking she’s a lap dog. 

Flashback Friday! Flashback to March 2019BC (Before Covid)

 I have a hard time with memories and pictures. My struggle isn’t in remembering, it’s in the feelings that accompany the pictures or events. Sometimes it’s the feelings that come with acknowledging all that has happened since. . ..and all that hasn’t. Sometimes I feel regret when I look back at old pictures and think about things from the past. One day my children will find this and I want them to know that I did cherish every moment with them. So I thought I’d start doing Flashback Friday and be accountable to my memories. . .  acknowledge all the goodness in my life.  As I’m starting now in March, I think I will move forward doing the current month, but a different year in the past. For this post I will catch up a little and start in January. So here is January -March of 2019BC (Before Covid)!

January 2019 

January started with a trip to the zoo while the kids were still on Christmas break. I remember having Seamus over a lot because Cyndie was being an absolute dud. This was ten months before she died. She was in a really terrible place. I think the month prior was when she lost custody of Seamus because she overdosed and he called my mom, his dad, and eventually his dad (Tim) called the police. It was awful (this is one of the moments where I look at these pictures and see that I provided a day for Seamus where he felt loved by his family, but what I feel when I see these pictures is what I felt at the time when Cyndie was at her worst).

February 2019

Joshua was in a hiking club and we hiked Piestewa Peak in Scottsdale. I remember that it was challenging and I didn’t make it all the way to the top. But, I also remember it being one of my favorite hikes! The trails wrap around the peak so that you see Scottsdale from different points. Absolutely beautiful! To be honest, though. . .  I didn’t actually make it to the top. :) I only have pictures of Miriam and I because Josh and Garren were so far ahead of us.

Josh also went hiking often with his scout group. This is a hike in the Superstition Mountains. 

I’m glad I wasn’t here for this one. This picture freaks me out. 

Then at some point in February we went to the Biosphere 2 in Tucson. It was fascinating and unhinging all at once. We learned that we are all doomed because of global warming. Well, that’s the short version of what we learned. The took us into this room where I took this picture. They told us it was used on an experiment to see how much CO2 plants could actually process and turn back into breathable air. They pumped this room full of CO2 and observed the plants over time. The plants got to a point where they basically quit and started also producing CO2. So. . . .  That is our future. Yea!

Then we went home and played and tried to forget that we’re all doomed to die a terrible death.

March

Miriam had a birthday party the first weekend in March. I hired a lady to do balloon animals. She called me a half hour after the party started to say she was sick. I was so furious. She did finally show up after an hour, so I gave her $20 instead of the agreed $100. I was so mad. I remember trying to make up games with red cups! At the time there was a game show on Netflix where they had a bunch of games with red cups. So luckily all the kids were familiar with it and were on board for playing cup games. 

Then over the kids spring break I took them to the Hoover Dam where I discovered that Joshua talks in his sleep. The funny thing is, I remember what he talked about: Airplanes! This is funny because he was 12 at the time and now he is an aspiring pilot. We stayed at a hotel in Boulder City. It’s kind of sad to look at these pictures now because we are currently in a water crisis. The water levels are so low in Lake Mead that they will start cutting water to one state at a time over the next few years. The first state to be cut off will be New Mexico. We had no idea then. . . 

Since we were only about a half hour from Vegas, I decided to drive them there to see some of the sites they see in movies, etc. I took them to the Belagio to see the ceiling. We saw the Mirage Volcano (which is going to be demolished soon). We saw the flamingos and Koi fish at the Flamingo. We also saw the Venetian waterways and gondolas. We shopped at the M&M store and got ice cream. It was a fun trip. Simple and memorable. I do wonder what the Hoover Dam tour is like now during the water crisis. Maybe we’ll go.

And last but not least, remembering our dog Cinnamon. She was such a good mommy dog. She was so good and playful with our cats. At the time we watched dogs for extra money through Rover.com. She was always so good with the dogs and would let the little guys win at tug-of-war. She was just the best!