More Disneyland, and then Thanksgiving in Ojai.

Flat Stanley spent two and a half days at Disneyland with Bob and April. In fact, they went to almost every Land at Disneyland. They went to Main Street USA, where they shopped for souvenirs and ate snacks and watched beautiful parades go by. They went to Adventureland, where they took a jungle cruise where elephants waved their trunks from the shore and hippos rose up from the water with their huge hippo mouths wide open. They went to New Orleans Square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean five times! Flat Stanley liked watching the pirates singing 'Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!" and he watched for glimpses of Captain Jack Sparrow and thrilled at the pirates' warnings about Davey Jones. They went through the Haunted Mansion three times, because they couldn't stop looking at all the Nightmare Before Christmas scenery that was there for the holidays.

When it was time for calmer fun, they decided to go to Fantasyland, and ride a little boat through one of the most famous rides at Disnelyand: It's a Small World. The line is always long for It's a Small World, because there's so much to see! The face of the castle outside is like a huge cuckoo clock, with little mechanical people coming out of quaint little doors and parading around to the rhythm of tinkling music. The wide lawns in front are trimmed with topiary in the shape of bears, deer, and other big leafy animals. Soon they were climbing into their little boat. They got to be in the front! And then they were sailing slowly through the tunnel and under the castle and into a small, small world of enchanting characters singing in many languages the message that no matter where we live, what language we speak, what we look like and how we dress, we're all, deep down, the same and "it's a small world, after all."

After they had ridden the last ride, and seen the last nighttime fireworks show, and tasted the last caramel apple, it was time to pack their bags again and drive north to Ojai (which is pronounced "OH-hi"), where April's sister Christine lives with her husband, Jeremiah, and their two little girls and three friendly dogs. It was time to think about Thanksgiving! They arrived with their Disneyland gifts in tow, and watched the little girls frolic with their fairy wings and Tinkerbell doll. Flat Stanley was happy to meet everybody, but he was afraid of the dogs, who were very big to him, and he knew the little girls would not know to treat him gently. And so Flat Stanley was content to sit on a high shelf and watch everything that happened. He watched while April, Bob and Christine cooked turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans, gravy and cranberries and pie. He watched while others came over and joined the throng, hungry for the feast to come. He watched them give thanks and enjoy their dinner. And he watched as they discovered a kitchen sink in need of repair and as they all pitched in to wash the dishes in the bathtub! Whew, what a holiday.

Before their trip back to San Francisco, Flat Stanley went with April and Bob to their favorite candy store, The Chocolate Gallery, in Santa Barbara. The Chocolate Gallery is where April got one of her first jobs, learning how to make and sell chocolate candies. It was a really fun job, and even though she doesn't work there anymore, April still makes chocolates for her friends and family every Christmas season, and she loves to go visit her friends at the Gallery. April and Bob bought 30 pounds of semisweet and milk chocolate to take home. That's a lot of chocolate! Flat Stanley had never seen so much chocolate all in one place, and he couldn't help doing a little browsing of his own. He liked the Christmas tree lollypops the best.