My 2020 Thanksgiving…..

Welcome back to my, Miss Kayla’s blog… Wow, I can’t believe we are already into December. Time has flown by so fast this year, which in many ways is good as I can’t wait to get back to my Adult Day Program and Weekend Camp,,,, I miss my friends, peers and staff – my life as I knew it… I don’t understand why I have to stay home 24/7, wear a mask anytime we leave our home and can’t go to my favorite places, etc so I, Miss Kayla am trying my best to just go with the flow as that is all I can do… 🙂 And mom says she is so proud of how well I am handling it all… 🙂 Anyway, since it’s been getting harder for me to handle the stay-at-home ordeal, mom has been trying to think of safe adventures for me from time to time. A friend of ours gave us the idea of going to Knotts Merry Farm for their 2020 food event and Christmas lights after she had a wonderful experience at the Halloween one. After mom spent several days contemplating the idea, looking at videos of people’s visits especially after the first two nights it opened for the Christmas one, knowing we would be outdoors, less than 25% capacity with strict protocols in place, and so on mom decided we could go as it would be safe and would do us a world of good mentally. We were supposed to go the same day as our friend but that didn’t work out so mom decided to change our tickets to Thanksgiving Day. A plus for us with Thanksgiving day is that tickets didn’t sell out so even fewer people going. 🙂

The day we were supposed to go with our friend mom decided to go to Knotts Marketplace that morning instead as she found out there was a Build A Bear Store there and thought I, Miss Kayla would love that. We could get there when they open (website said 11am) and just quickly go in, grab Cubby a new outfit, and then leave. So that Tuesday morning we had a nice morning drive there and headed straight to Build a Bear.

Mom was surprised at how many people were in other stores already and lines for food places which made her a tad nervous and second-guessing her decision, but we continued on. We got there a few minutes before 11am which is when the website said everything opened. Luckily we didn’t want to go to any of those places. We found Build a Bear but the sign on the door said it didn’t open till noon – ugh. So we strolled around to see if we could find this other store Mom wanted to go to and quickly found it across from Build a Bear :)…….

Mom saw on a video of some of the items in this one store and wanted to get us matching Snoopy semi-Christmas shirts and thought now since we aren’t going to Knotts until Thursday we could wear them to Knotts Merry Farm event. We went to that store as it just opened, strolled through it so I, Miss Kayla could see everything and get what I want and head out. It was nice that they had all the doors open… Key to good ventilation.. 🙂

I, Miss Kayla and mom got matching shirts and I got a Snoopy necklace to wear with it.

Mom and I strolled back to the car to hang out there for a little bit while waiting for noon to roll around to go to Build a Bear. Then we strolled around a while heading back to Build a Bear. We saw that two other families (mom with 3 kids, mom with 2 kids) waiting to get in as well which made mom nervous especially since the kids didn’t have facemasks. The store was small and mom was hoping they keep the doors open once they open.  Well they finally opened, the other two families went in then we did. It was a very small store so mom quickly took me over to the clothes for Cubby. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anything in Knotts theme for Cubby so I, Miss Kayla got Cubby a new Christmas dress which she needed anyway. Ya know, I, Miss Kayla just don’t like shopping anymore since I have to wear a mask. Well, I don’t like doing anything with a mask on as I just go into blah mode still every single time. I didn’t tolerate it the entire time in either store, but mom immediately made me put it back on.  🙁 I, Miss Kayla have only ONCE laughed, vocalize, play with a mask on, otherwise I literally just freeze… I get so excited when mom lets me take it off when its safe…. Mom tries to tell me I can still laugh, vocalize, play with it on but NOPE…

Here is the dress I, Miss Kayla got Cubby.. Mom says it has to self disinfect for a week or two before I put it on Cubby…

So Thanksgiving day arrived mom and I, Miss Kayla got ready to head out. Mom put a braid on each side of my head… Its been a while since mom has done this, well since I, Miss Kayla has let her do it. 🙂 You can see my Snoopy necklace that I got in the middle photo. Mom and I have matching shirts.. 🙂

We were wanting to be out the door no later than 10am to be able to go into Knotts as soon as they opened at noon, but that didn’t quite happen which was okay. It was a nice drive and I was so excited to go somewhere even though I really had no idea where we were going. Mom didn’t want to say too much in case she backed out and we didn’t go.

We arrived at Knotts about 20 minutes after they opened. We had to walk through the Marketplace to reach the entrance, but mom and I, Miss Kayla took the back way through the parking lot, behind the buildings passing the police car and to the entrance that way bypassing as many people as possible. 🙂 The castmember questioned us about COVID exposure/symptoms which our answers were no, then we had to walk through this building (strange and we were planning to avoid all indoors) passing through security then back outside to the entrance where we showed our tickets.

Once inside we grabbed a quick photo (selfie) in front of the decorations.. Oh, mom bought us a small selfie stick last January after our wonderful December cruise for our next cruise that was scheduled for this past April so it would be easier to take selfie pics of us. Well, it had been in the cupboard ever since January so mom pulled it out the night before Thanksgiving to try it out and bring it with us today. 🙂 Guess what??? It is NOT easy to use. Lol.. Mom didn’t use it on this photo but probably should have so the soldiers didn’t get their heads chopped off.. 🙂

Mom heard that there were characters out for meet n greets with social distancing and strict protocols in place so mom really wanted us to meet Snoopy. Any others would just be a bonus, but not important. Since I, Miss Kayla not a fan of characters it didn’t matter to me. 🙂 So we headed into Snoopy Camp, to the right of the entrance as it seem like everyone was going straight or to the left into the park. And to the right just happened to be Snoopy camp. 🙂 We were passing this Snoopy store that just opened and no one else was in there so we quickly strolled through it so see if there was anything for me (nope).

Mom asked a few employees what time Snoopy comes out and each of the three said, “1:15pm” and then mentioned where Snoopy would be located. On our way we came across where Linus was meeting people. No one was in line so we could just walk/stroll right down to the stage to say hello so mom said, “lets go”.
Linus waved at me, Miss Kayla as I approached the stage. Mom struggled with the selfie stick to get us a group photo (I am telling you, this selfie stick is NOT easy to use) but she ended up just taking pics of Linus and I.

Then we said goodbye to Linus and continued on towards Snoopys greeting location.
On our way we took a couple of photos.

We came across a food stand that had the Elf Frosty that mom wanted to get me. Since no one was in line and it looked safe to quickly get one at mom got me, Miss Kayla an Elf Frosty. It is so big that mom asked just for a little bit of each ingredient and still got way more than needed. 🙂 We found a quiet spot in a corner behind a picnic table away from the main pathway and others.

This was our lovely view and you could hear the music they were playing which I, Miss Kayla loved.

I, Miss Kayla just LOVES having my mask off and can be myself… I know, mom says I can with it on, but I just don’t think so.

We were just around the corner from Snoopy and it was 1:10pm so we headed over to his location.

Only two people were in line (yay) so it was easy to get in line, provide extra distance between us and the two ladies in front of us and stay far enough from the kids that would randomly come into Snoopys area to play for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes of waiting and no Snoopy, I, Miss Kayla went to sleep.. Well, at about 1:35pm an employee looked into where Snoopy was and said he is on his way and apologized for the lateness. A few people came in line after us, but kept their distance seeing how we were further from the people in front of us, they took the same measure with us. 🙂 Same employee returned at about 1:50pm and said that Snoopy doesn’t start til 2:15pm today as there was a mistake in everyone’s program. Since I, Miss Kayla was still asleep and we were safe, mom decided we would just wait to see Snoopy and get it over with. One of the persons in front of us and both groups behind us left. Just one lady and us stayed to wait. She moved further forward and we just stayed where we were. I, Miss Kayla woke up about 2:10pm so mom took some pics while waiting and practiced with the selfie stick. She was getting better with it, but still not easy to use. She also let me take off my mask off for just a few minutes since employees were keeping people and kids from wandering into Snoopy area and the lady in front of us and people behind us were a good 30 feet away. We also moved forward into the more interesting part of the line as you can see in these pics. 🙂

Yay, Snoopy finally arrived….

I, Miss Kayla really like this new way to see the characters. They don’t touch me and they still interact with me by waving as I approach them and then we wave goodbye. 🙂 It really is great, well except for having to wear a mask.
After Snoopy we strolled around trying to find our way through the rest of the park. Let me tell ya, not easy… A couple of pics… 🙂

Mom let me quickly check out a cute little store that no one else but the nice lady working there was in…

We saw quite a bit of food places in this one area (probably like 10) and there we came across a few tables here and there that were off the beaten path in quiet areas not populated by many at all so mom thought maybe we could get something. We came across this food stand that had mac’n’cheese. I love mac’n’cheese, well the cheese anyway. What grabbed our attention was that there were only two people in line and easy to keep our distance from them so mom got me, Miss Kayla some mac’n’cheese without all the other stuff that came with it. Our tickets are good for 5 food items each, but we don’t plan on using them as it’s not the safest part of this whole experience so we are being very selective. Mom had a difficult time getting the cheese off for me, but I enjoyed whatever she gave me.

After I was done with my mac’n’cheese we headed towards the exit to go out to the car for a break and to get me changed into layers for the cooler temps/hours ahead of us but we came across Linus again which he shared the stage with Charlie Brown. We asked how much longer before Charlie Brown would be out and they said 10 minutes so mom decided to wait for CB to come out since we kept missing him every time we strolled by. He wasn’t an easy one to see that day and when trying to stroll around the park earlier we kept ending up in his area just missing him.

Off to the car we went… However, I, Miss Kayla wasn’t keen on the idea of taking a break at the car so we didn’t stay long. Mom planned like an hour in a half to get a break from people, my mask and me out of my chair, but nope, just not going to happen for that long. It was more like 45 minutes. Lol.. Although the mask break was the only one I was interested in. Not sure what she was thinking as I can take a break all I want at home on all other days so… 🙂

Got my layers, mom got her sweatshirt and off we went back into the park deciding to go through Ghost Town since we hadn’t been to that side yet…

We came across “Merry Christmas”…

Definitely more people arrive the later it gets. It was almost dark now and definitely more people in certain areas. We were still able to maneuver through the areas safely but a little more nerve-wracking for mom. And the wind had picked up. Strange as there was like no wind and then all of a sudden gusty winds off and on. But that is what the forecast predicted so it was spot on. One good thing about my mask, mom says, is that my mask helps protect me from the wind… Certain winds can make me sick.

We were trying to figure out where the light show was going to occur we heard that happens every 15 mintues starting at 5:30pm so we were strolling around looking for that and seeing what all was here. I, Miss Kayla, well mom too hadn’t been to Knotts Berry Farm since the year 2000 so it was pretty much a new place for us. We never did figure out where the light show was even after asking a few times so we just gave up and kept walking/strolling around looking at other lights and such. 🙂

Mom and I, Miss Kayla came upon their Christmas tree. So big and beautiful…

While strolling around just after dark we came upon the food place that had street tacos with guacamole on them – I, Miss Kayla LOVES guacamole… There was only one person in line, surprisingly as earlier there were a lot of people in line and from what my friend was telling me, the lines get worse the later it gets. So we got in line, safely and got two street tacos, found a table up against these rides that were far from any people sitting at tables. I love the guacamole and unfortunately only got 3 bites of it because the wind took the rest of our taco/guacamole away. 🙁 I was bummed and mom was going to get me some more but the line was long again so that is all I was able to have. Then we had issues with our masks, so had to pull out our backup ones, and as we did they fell on the ground, but luckily the outside of them was the only part that touched the ground so we could still wear them – had no choice.  It was kind of a disastrous few minutes between the wind blowing our tacos/guacamole away and the masks hitting the ground.. Oh and no pics of the tacos with guacamole – mom forgot. Opps.. That was all the food we got… It just wasn’t safe to do but that is okay, well with mom, but I, Miss Kayla wants to do this again when it’s safer to do the food part so I can try EVERYTHING! I love eating real food, good real food.. 🙂

We just walked/strolled around through most of the park and

then just kept going through Snoopy Camp as that was where there was the least amount of people (still a lot) and the best lights. 🙂

After a few strolls through, we decided it was time to leave (6:30pm). The wind was picking up and we were pretty much done.. 🙂

Good night Snoopy….

I, Miss Kayla and mom are soooooo glad we went as it was well worth it and did us a world of good. Gotta get used to this new way of living as COVID will always be around… Glad mom also got some good advice from one of my wonderful doctors before going…. THANK YOU…
Until next time….
Love,
Miss Kayla