We joined the Galants over Labor Day weekend to cheer on Grandpa Daniel in the Disney half-marathon and visit with Grandma PJ. Arden, Gilly and Penn set out on Friday morning for a biodiesel-powered road trip to Anaheim. Things were fine until we came down the grapevine and hit 3 hours of L.A. traffic! Arden was an angel and handled the miserable stop-and-go traffic much better than the adults in the car!

We stayed at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, which was beautiful and had convenient direct access to Disney’s California Adventure park. Arden loved playing in the lobby with Auntie Kayla and spending lots of quality time sleeping in the stroller with Grandma PJ while we snuck onto a few grown-up rides.

We didn’t run into The Mouse but we did get some one-on-one with Mary Poppins and Grandma got to buy Arden her first pair of ears.

Arden really enjoyed the hotel pools and was finally motivated to start taking some official steps on her own. HALLELUJAH! We’ll try to post some video of her walking if we can catch her in the act. It was extra special that Grandma, Grandpa and Kayla were there to see it.

The road trip home was filled with lots of Elizabeth Mitchell music and a few rest stops, but fun was definitely had by all.

Thanks to the Galants for making the trip possible!

**Check out some Disney photos under the Arden by Month – September 2008 section in the gallery.