Against all odds, I had put in for vacation, been approved, and actually gotten outof town before FBI Director Burns or his people came up with a half-dozen reasons why Icouldn't go away at this time. The kids' first choice had been Disneyworld and EpcotVillage in Florida. For my own reasons, and also since it was hurricane season downSouth, I steered us to Disneyland and their newest park, Disney's California Adventure.

“California, indeed.” Nana Mama shaded her eyes fromthe sun glare. “I haven't seen a naturally occurring thing since we arrived here, Alex. Have you?”

She pursed her lips and pulled down the corners of her mouth, but then she couldn't helplaughing, putting herself in stitches. That's Nana. She almost never laughs at other people - shelaughs with them.

"You can't fool me, old woman. You just love to see us all together. Anywhere anyhow, anytime.

We could be in Siberia for all you'd care."

She brightened. “Now, Siberia. That's somewhere I would like to see. A trip on theTrans-Siberian Railroad, the Sayany Mountains, Lake Baikal. You know, it wouldn't killAmerican children to take a vacation once in a while where they actually learnedsomething about another culture.”

I rolled my eyes in Damon and Jannie's direction. "Once a teacher . .

“Always a teacher,” Jannie said.

“Always a tee-cha,” repeated Little Alex. He was three years old, and our own little mynabird. We got to see him too infrequently, and I was partially amazed by everything hedid. His mother had taken him back to Seattle more than a year ago. The painful custodystruggles between Christine and me were still dragging on.

Nana's voice cut through my thoughts. “Where do we go fir -”

“Soarin' Over California!” Jannie had it out before Nana was even finished asking thequestion.