Disney Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

Day 3 of our Disney World Experience was a hot one (like literally....it tied the 1st day we were there with miserable temps)! We spent the day at the super cool and fun Hollywood Studios. 

Photo Op Outside of Entrance
My Boys with Buzz Blasters

Sand Olaf - Too Cute!

After a bit of a circuitous route, we got to one of the far corners of the park to hit the thrill rides first. Now, Mike and I have been to DisneyWorld twice. Once the summer after we got married and once when Dylan was 18 months old. Both times, the Aerosmith Rock N Roll Roller Coaster was closed. Boo! However, this time it was actually open! Yay! The thrill seekers in the group (Mike, me, Mimaw and Bumpa) went to it. And....it was AWESOME! Riding a stretch limo roller coaster to Sweet Emotions was pretty, well, sweet. 

Then it was on to the ride next door - the Tower of Terror!! Dylan went on it at Disney but didn't care to try it again. So Pipaw and Nana stayed with Cade and Dylan while the rest of us went on that ride. We all loved it, of course. I wanted to take Dylan through the line since the spooky stuff was right up his alley, but the wait counter flipped over to 20 minutes the second I talked him into it and I promised to take him back later, which we never did. Mom promise fail but in my defense, one of the opportunities that we could have done that, he said he didn't want to go right then. Oh well.

Next up was heading over to make our fast pass time slot on Toy Story Mania. This ride always has a long wait and I just read this week that Disney is experimenting with having the ride a fast pass only ride (ie, no "general public" wait line). We waited longer than an hour for the ride at Disneyland last summer which was no fun. Waiting 10 was much better. It's a fun 3D experience ride where you get to play all kinds of Toy Story themed games in a fair\Midway fashion.

As our group gathered outside after that ride, we saw a building with a skull and crossbones on it for the Legends of Jack Sparrow attraction. We were first in line for the next show and the show coordinator asked the the boys if they wanted to be part of the show. Dylan declined but Cade was all for it. I, and the rest of the group, were his assistants for his duties - to hold the key and answer "Aye!" when prompted and hand over the key. Cade followed instructions very well and made a very cute little pirate and was enthralled watching Captain Jack Sparrow. This is called foreshadowing for Halloween (stayed tuned for that)....

Skeletons!

Cade With Key

We ran into an army guy on the street!

Also in this section of the park was an opportunity for pictures with Woody and Buzz. Cade wanted to wait to see his buddy Buzz again (and see Woody for the first time). Dylan was happy to go off with the grandparents. So Cade, Mike and I waited for a good while. Luckily the line had some fun photo ops to keep us occupied. Even though Cade doesn't look particular happy in any of these pictures, he was eager to do each and every one.

In Buzz's Box\Spaceship

The Claw!

With the brief appearance of Dylan

Strapped to a flying rocket!

Evil Emperor Zurg!

In the Prospector's Box

In the Luggage

After a very patient wait, Cade finally got to see his buddies! He got autographs and looked at them in awe. I think he was pretty pleased with the result of his long wait.

You've Got a Friend in Me

We rejoined the rest of the group and kept wandering.

I had to drag the boys into the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. I thought they would be excited about it since it's a movie they've seen and love but they weren't for some reason. Sure enough, once in, they loved it and didn't want to leave!

All of us shrunken under the grass

Cade riding the ant....Dylan under the oatmeal pie just behind

But we had to drag them out for our next fast pass at Star Tours. If we had been more diligent and checked wait times, we would have known that they could have played longer since there was absolutely no line. Oops. Dylan loved Star Tours and Cade hung outside eating popcorn with Nana.

Cheesy Hands and Face

Now we had been going pretty hard for a few days. At this point we had hit most of what we wanted to do at the park. My magical wishes for the week including having a date night with Mike (which we sort of got the previous night) and seeing fireworks (which just wasn't going to happen). The compromise was to try and make the Fantasmic Show that night at Hollywood Studios. It is one of the earliest night time performances. With naps, there was a bit of a chance it would work. So we headed back to the hotel to do just that.

While our family trip had lovely moments riding rides and experiencing the park, some of the most memorable moments were the times in waiting and in transport. That's when we got a chance to slow down, have conversations, and the kids got to just play with their grandparents.

Mimaw and Dylan

Cade Just Loves His Papaw

All of us got a nap that afternoon. Then Mike, Dylan, Cade and I had dinner with Nana and Bumpa at the hotel. The food was really delicious there! We also took a little time at the look out spots to gaze at the animals.

Giraffe Grabbing a Leaf

We did make it back to the show. Mike did a lot of prep work and planning for this trip. One of the "little things" he did was get some glow sticks for the boys to wear for such an occasion. They loved them for that but they also came in very handy as nightlight in their room each night.

Pipaw Pushing the Boys to the Show
Did I mention that Cade would only let Papaw push the stroller most of the week?

Despite the naps, the boys were very tired at show time. It started at 8 which is usually when they're getting tucked into bed at home. Obviously, it being Disney, the professionals on catering to kids, it was a great show and it had them enthralled. However, they were also very clingy. Dylan wouldn't leave my lap and Cade wouldn't leave Mike's. So the above is the only picture from the night. After the show, we flooded out of the park with the rest of the crowd and we and got back to the hotel to get in the boys in bed at 10. That's a very late night for these little guys. All things considered, they did extremely well.

And that was the end of the trip with the grandparents. We said goodbye to Mimaw and Pipaw at the bus stop and Nana and Bumpa back at the hotel. They caught the Magic Express back to the airport the next morning. We had 1 more day with just our little family to enjoy at the park.

The Gift of Life

I'm going to take a little break in posting our cheerful Disney pictures for a post that's, well, less magic and laughter, but still has an uplifting message to it (at least I hope it comes across that way).

Yesterday was my birthday. And I know most of you already know that because I got lots of happy wishes via text, email, Facebook, phone calls and even a couple of old fashion cards in the mail (which I love getting). I took the day off so I could spend it with my boys. And while the boys were in preschool for the morning, I took some time to spoil myself by shopping for some additions to my wardrobe. It was a lovely day, good times with my little boys and my big one. Mike and I went out to breakfast and dinner - just the two of us. Always lovely to spend some time actually being able to have a conversation without little ones demanding our attention. The whole family had lunch together and had a fun outing for birthday ice cream. They all showered me with lots of hugs....really couldn't have asked for a nicer birthday day. But....

There was a sense of sadness underneath it all.

Recently...and I can't pinpoint any one event or time that it started....I've had a new understanding of mortality come over me. Despite being in great health, I have this unshakable feeling of how delicate life is and how quickly it can change. Now, I don't feel it in a doomsday it's all going to end kind of way, but in a way of appreciation. Realizing on a new level how everything in life is such a gift and truly needs to be appreciated for that. It's been a little overwhelming and made me much more emotional that I usually am.

Maybe it's just a result of aging and realizing not everyone gets the opportunity to do that. A girl I knew from church growing up and am still in connection with via Facebook has been battling cancer for years. A few months ago, she posted that it aggravates her for people to complain about getting older when seeing another birthday pass is the biggest thing she hopes for. I was really moved by her comment and it struck a chord. She's right! When you're young, you feel like life will just go on (seemingly) forever. Then you realize, through sickness, accidents and sometimes by their own measures, a lot of lives are cut short. Not everyone gets the opportunity to live to a ripe old age and a lot of that is completely out of our own control.

Sunday I reached out to an old friend that I've been out of touch with for several years. In the many years we were very close, we always celebrated our birthdays together and did it full out. My birthday made me think about her and decided it was time to reconnect. I found out she's been battling cancer as well. She's 5 months older than me. Wow! The news hit me like a ton of bricks. On top of that, Sunday night we found out Dylan's wonderful preschool teacher lost her home and three dogs to fire. The family was left with only the clothes on their backs. Wow. Wow! Devastating news that just shook me to the core.

Getting 2 such big shockers in a small time frame affected me deeply. I'm generally not what you'd call an emotional person (though that seems to be changing with age too). Maybe it's my inexperience with dealing with such intense emotions, but I was just "feeling" so deeply, I didn't really understand what I was feeling. The 2 big pieces of news I got made me intensely thankful for what I have around me. My health, my family, my home, my friends....it's a pretty amazing life I've got. It was all just a lot to process internally while also trying to enjoy a "light" day of celebration.

I think this post is sounding like more of a downer than I meant it to. After having another day of figuring out what's stewing in my head in regards to all this, the message I want to give is....thanks! Thank you to all of you for being a part of my amazing little world. Thanks to the world for giving me reminders from time to time to hold on and give adoration to the things that make me happy and truly\deeply appreciate them while I have them.  Life is wonderful. Full of ups and downs and twists and turns. It's quite a ride. Buckle your seat belt and enjoy it!

Magic Kingdom - Disney Day 2 Part 2

After our quick tour of Epcot, we headed over to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. But before I get to that, I kind of glossed over our time there on day one. That's because we pretty much didn't take any pictures. My blog posts are very much driven by the pictures as they help tell the story. However, a pat on the back for me, I took notes about our days! So, referring back to that, I realized I definitely had a few quick stories to tell about our first jaunt to Magic Kingdom.

The main reason we wanted to go there is because, since we booked this trip 6 months ago, Dylan has talked of nothing but the Haunted Mansion. How excited he was to go on it. We even watched a video on youtube that someone had taken of the entire ride experience. He referred to points in the video over and over about things we would see. Since Magic Kingdom is all about, well, magic, we wanted him to get his #1 wish granted. So we headed to that ride first. 

When we got into the initial "room" where the spooky story begins, he hid in my leg. When we were ushered out of the room to the ride, he said "I don't want to go on it....I'm too scared!" I was shocked. Those words have never come out of my spooky lovin' boy's mouth! I told him it would be ok, he's ridden it before and he knows what to expect...he's been waiting so long for the opportunity to go on it, he shouldn't miss it (we talk to him a lot about not missing opportunities since he tends to be a wallflower to activities very often). Well, he did go on it, but he hid his face in his hands and his lovey the whole time. Go figure.

Then we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride which is too cute. The boys loved it too. Not long after, the rain came in. While the grandparents hid under the roofline, we went on the tea cups. The rain ended about the same time as the ride and we continued on to the Buzz Lightyear ride to let our other sweet boy get his #1 wish...Cade. Cade, as you may remember from his 2nd birthday, LOVES Buzz Lightyear. His love since his party has only grown. It's not often that you don't find him with some sort of Buzz Lightyear figurine in his hand. And the times that he cooperates with you the most is when changing into clothes or pj's when Buzz is a part of the clothing. There's a really cool Buzz Lightyear you encounter in the line for the ride which he stared at with open jaw and he was wide eyed and took in every bit of the ride\game. He was in awe and pretty impressed with the whole experience.

After Buzz, we headed towards the entrance\exit of the park. On the way, we encountered the adorable "Rainy Day Parade" and then did a little shopping on Main Street. It had been a very full first day so then it was back to the hotel for dinner and well deserved night's sleep.

Ok, on to day 2's experience at Magic Kingdom, which we headed to after our morning at Epcot.

Bumpa Pushing Dylan and Snoozing Cade

It being September 1st, Halloween festivities were in full swing, of course.

First ride of the day was Peter Pan. Both of the kids LOVED it (we had to go back to it again on our last day at their request). Thank goodness for fast pass with that one...the lines are always around an hour long. Then we got some grub in a nice cool building.

After lunch we split ways. Mike and his Dad hit Thunder Mountain while the rest of us enjoyed It's a Small World. I thought it was too bad that Mike missed out on that ride with the boys because they loved it. Mike abhors that happy land inside the ride and didn't feel like he missed a thing. Then we headed over to the new section of the park - Fantasyland. We rode Goofy's Barnstormer (Dylan reiterated that he does not like roller coasters after trying that ride), then me and my buddy Cade went on the classic Dumbo ride.

Next it was all the way across the park to go to another crowd pleaser (for the boys at least) - Pirates of the Caribbean! Except when we got there, it was closed for technical difficulties. Bummer. At that point, our fast pass for the new roller coaster, Dwarves Mine Train was starting so we trekked across the park to go back to that. It was a really cute ride. And, even though Dylan does not like roller coasters, he enjoyed the few parts that were a slower pace. Cade had to sit that one because he didn't make the height restriction.

After the ride was over, we checked the iPhone app and saw that Pirates was back up and running. Mike declared we should head back over, my Mom almost killed him and by the time we got back there, Nana was grumpy too. It was one of those occasions where the pace of the day and the heat was getting to us a bit. But, after a cool ride on the Pirates (which the boys LOVED) and some ice cream after, we were all in great spirits again.

And I can't remember what part of the day this was, but we went back to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride again (because it's awesome) and Cade finally got to get a big ol' hug from his favorite guy:

Space Cadet Fist Bump

Aren't those the 3 cutest Buzz's you've ever seen?
(If you can't tell from the picture, Mike and Cade had matching Buzz Lightyear shirts.)

It had been a long day covering 2 parks. But it was not quite over for us...Mike and I that is. We took the boys back, got them dinner and in their pj's at which point Nana and Bumpa took over while Mike and I had a "date night." It was more like a date 45 minutes where we went down to the hotel restaurant, had drinks and an appetizer then got some food to take up to our room and enjoy. Since Nana and Bumpa had gotten the boys to bed while we were out, we sat down, enjoyed our delicious African food and watched a movie. It was lovely.

Whew! Ok, still more to come of our Disney adventure (if you can believe it). I love that we take tons of pictures, but it sure does make keeping up with the blog challenging. While the writing takes some time, obviously, a lot of time also goes to parsing through our pictures for the best ones. I'm glad I do it but it's hard for this working momma to keep up. Plus, this week is filled with Halloween costume prep since we've got a party this weekend. I really hope to fit in some more picture organization because I've got even more than our Disney trip in the queue to post. So, keep checking back. More to come soon!

Disney Day 2 - Part 1: Epcot

On day 2 of our Disney trip, we took advantage of one of the many perks of staying on a Disney property - extended hours of the park. Epcot opened early and we were there very soon after opening. I think Epcot is pretty cool but a lot of the stuff there just isn't that interesting to young kids. So our plan was the hit the little kid friendly highlights and take off to another park. 

First up was Soarin' and The Land. Cade is too small to ride Soarin' so I let all the other big "kids" go ride that while Cade and I had a nice leisurely ride on The Land. His favorite part of the ride was the bubbles in the water under our boat. Obviously doesn't take much to impress him so I don't think he felt like he missed out.

Next up was Nemo. The ride was fun and then we walked around looking at the aquariums, posed for photos with Bruce and then went and did turtle talk with Crush.

This was Cade's "scared" face.

Seems the boys taking these photos were just not cooperating with the scared memo.

Next up was a quick trip to the next building in Epcot, the ride with Figment. From our first trip with Dylan to Disney when he was 18 months old, we got a Figment stuffed animal. Dylan was excited to go on that ride and it did not disappoint him.

The other thing we wanted to do at Epcot was the character stop. One line, get to see 4 of the "main" Disney characters. Good bang for the buck, or bang for time as it is. Did I mention our Magic Photo Pass that we got? Also another good bang for the buck in my opinion. We paid an upfront fee and then got digital access to all the photos that the parks took of us while we were there. That included random stops around the parks, character stops and even the shots during the rides. And since our magic bands were also linked with the grandparents, we got all theirs too. Pretty cool. We got a lot of great shots from that and I'm very glad we went for that option.

Everyone at Epcot!

This boy is a hugger!

So Seriously Sweet!

He was pretty stoked to see Mickey again!

It's Us!

It's Everyone!

Goofy was hiding. Minnie came over to
help Cade find him.

And then he got hugs.

The Goof-sters!

The Goofster Grandparents

Sweet Minnie

From Our Camera
(One of the few instances where I think we may have got a better shot than the pros.)

But their's was pretty good too.

See that smile? And that run? He was ready to go give someone else a hug....

Duffy!

He has a Duffy stuffed animal, complete with Buzz costume,
 that snuggles with Cade every night.

Dylan was pretty excited to meet him too!

He even gave him a hug!

After hanging out with Duffy, I wanted to do one last ride before we left. The last time we were there, the Maelstrom ride had too long of a line to wait in. I wasn't going to miss it this time. And no line...right on the nice cool ride. I'm really glad we made the trek over to Norway for the ride since it was the last time to ride it. I read after getting back from our trip that Maelstrom is closing this month to be revamped into a Frozen ride.

We also saw Pluto on the way out.

And that was it. After a couple of short hours, we were done with Epcot. We jumped on the monorail for our next park of the day.