Over the coming year, I plan to do occasional entries on the various types of special needs that are most often seen in waiting children, particularly those in international settings. It is my hope that other families will open their minds and hearts to children who have such needs, and that hearing other families’ stories will help them envision special children in their families. I’ve chosen to start with albinism since we have personal experience with it, and I hope to touch on heart problems next (also one we have personal experience with). And just a note... more

We're home from our trip and I thought I'd sum up our little travelog with some of the experiences we had with people's perceptions of our family. And just for fun, enjoy a photo of us with my paternal grandmother, taken at my in-laws' house. She's the proud grandma to 20 and great-grandma to 53, not counting any "on-the-way" kids. Amazing.

The Good:

Several times during our trip, people stopped us to tell us how impressed they were with our children and how well behaved they were. Our kids certainly aren’t perfect and... more

The park closed shortly thereafter (at 6:00 – I don’t know why!) so we decided to head back over to Disneyland for the remainder of the night. We had grand ideas of finishing out the evening over there, but by the time we got there, hit the Matterhorn and had dinner, we were completely pooped and decided to close the curtains on our Disney experience. We watched a little bit of the parade from afar and did some quick last-minute souvenir shopping. I took Joshua and Zoe to buy some things Joshua had seen earlier over in Tomorrow Land and sent Curtis and the rest of the kids with the B family to wait for the shuttle. We hurried as fast as we could, but just as we were leaving the Disney... more

Since we couldn’t go on the roller coaster, the B family opted to go see a couple of shows in the Bug’s Life area, and we headed off to go on a few rides. The older kids and I went on a smaller roller coaster I can’t remember the name of (something about the streets of London and similar to the Wild Mouse at Lagoon) and it scared the heck out of me. I didn’t like being whipped out over the edge of the track and jerked from side to side, and Zoe hated it as much as I did. We gave Curtis and the boys the rest of our Fast Passes and Zoe, Maizie, Sofie and I decided... more

Today was our one and only day in California Adventure. I know some people recommend two day there, but I honestly don’t think we could have taken another day. Both sets of kids (and parents!) had been reasonably happy and easy-going for the first two days, but on the third day of “amusement,” we could all sense that everyone’s patience was wearing just a tad thinner. We didn’t have any major blow-ups, but we were definitely approaching the limits of what two large families can do in three days! ;)

We started with an early morning ride on Grizzly... more

Later we went to see “Honey I Shrunk the Audience,” which is a 3-D show that includes all sorts of tactile and smell effects during the movie. Sofiie got scared at quite a few parts, but most of the kids really enjoyed it and if nothing else, it was great to get off our feet for a while. My feet were screaming at me! Wendy came prepared with a bag of Advil, so we both popped several over the course of the day to keep ourselves upright. I don’t think I could have made it otherwise!

Later that afternoon and into the evening, we got Fast Passes for Rides we’d missed the day before and wanted to redo. We got Passes for Indiana Jones and then went to see the requisite Tiki Room show,... more

We used our early entry today and started out the morning with a couple of rounds on Space Mountain. I was feeling exhausted when we got to the park, but a little adrenaline rush did wonders for me. While our husbands were on Space Mountain, we took the kids on the rocket ride and then ventured over to the nearby restaurant for our “Minnie and Friends” character breakfast. It was a little overwhelming to manage 13 kids for the 10 minutes or so until our husbands arrived, but it would have been easier if the people seating us would have realized they were not... more

We ate regular snacks and meals and this seemed to help keep the kids in good spirits. If the prices at the Wild Animal Park were shocking, Disney’s prices were downright scary, but we found most of the food was pretty good and kid friendly. The B family was equipped with lots of treats, too, so everyone was well fed throughout the day. The weather was a little chilly at times – in the low 60’s at the warmest part of the day, but we’d dressed in layers and managed to stay warm even well into the evening. Having a large family definitely forces you to prepare for any eventuality!

Toward the end of the night, Wendy’s husband, her older kids, Jonah, Ethan, Lulu and Zoe and I all finally... more

While at Disneyland, I noticed several multiracial families like ours, but we didn’t get a single question or comment about our family. It was wonderfully refreshing to be able to blend into the crowd as I hoped we’d be able to. Even so, I found myself feeling a real sense of pride and satisfaction about my family and our friends’ family. It was awesome to stand back and see them all together, and to see how they all took to each other like moths to a flame. Within an hour they were holding hands and planning who would sit by whom on each ride. It was great... more

Today started out with breakfast at the hotel and hooking up with Wendy and her family. It’s been about two years since we saw them last, so it was fun to get to see them again. Their kids looked lots bigger than when I saw them last – especially Ezra and Claire!

We caught the shuttle from our hotel to Disneyland and I thought our kids would nearly burst with excitement. Everyone was talking about what rides they would go on and what they wanted to see and do while there. This was when I realized it might have been nice to come up with something of... more