Sorry I haven't been updating- DH was gone all last week for a business trip and holding down the fort took up all my time!
Episode 22- the update with a sad goodbye
After our awesome lunch, our destination was Dinoland! I know that most Disers dislike the kitschy wonder that is Dinoland, but I love it! I love the backstory, and all the funny sight gags. In my previous life (before Everett or B.E.) I worked as an archaeologist, so I appreciate a lot of the jokes in Dinoland. Even though I didn’t work with dinosaurs (paleontologists= dinosaurs, archaeologists= people), a lot of the dig experience is universal, so I really understand the references to “dig culture” and the subtle rivalry between scientist and local.
Personally I think Chester and Hesters Dinosaur Treasures is one of the best themed shops in all of WDW. Have you ever really looked at all the vintage dinosaur toys that line the ceiling, or the awesome train that wraps around the store. It really is an under appreciated treasure.
Anyway, enough geeking out.
We headed over to Dinoland, not just because its my favorite, but because my mom had spied a Pluto and Goofy meet and greet while she was roaming around with Everett. Pluto is one of my favorite characters, and he is really growing on DS too! Since I didn’t want to revisit the scene of the crime at Camp Minnie Mickey, I thought this would be a great place for DS to visit with some characters.
The line was pretty short, but it unfortunately had the chain switchbacks (otherwise know as decapitation specials), commonly seen in the queue at Peter Pan’s Flight. DS thought that the chains WERE the attraction, and I was having a hard time getting him to stop touching them and swinging them back and forth. I ended up removing him from the line to preserve life and limb of our fellow guests, and I let DH and Brian stand in our place. This, I know, is another breach of WDW line etiquette, but I figured that everyone in line would rather have DH and Brian hold DS and I’s place than be smacked by swinging chains from a recalcitrant Everett.
I guess I don’t really know what to do in this situation, If I was a real stickler for line rules, I would just take Everett away and not let him meet the characters at all. Really, I don’t think that it too fair to Everett, who would enjoy the experience, but has a hard time with standing still and patiently in line. He is fine in other queues, but those chains are just too much of a temptation. I feel like we are at a tough age because he really needs to behave, but he isn’t the best listener and he is too young for time outs or other punishment, because he is not old enough to really understand or make the connection yet. I chose what I thought was the best compromise, having two proxies stand in line for us, and we switched places when we got to the front of the line. It was an even exchange of bodies, so the people behind us would not have to wait any additional time, and Everett did not disturb anyone waiting.
All that work was definitely worth it, because Everett just adored Pluto (or Tuto, in Everett-speak).
Pluto thought that Everett’s backpack was a riot, and he took hold of Everett’s “leash”. It was a really fun interaction!
Poor Goofy got the shaft , because Everett only had eyes for Pluto.
We did manage to get a photo with both characters before we headed over to our next destination- Triceratops Spin.
I was a bad mommy at the MK and didn’t take Everett on Dumbo, so I figured we needed to get in our allotted hub and spoke spinny ride time that is mandatory when you travel with toddlers. Everett didn’t seem to notice that the dinos were not elephants, so we were in the clear.
Luckily the wait was short and there wasn’t a dangerous swinging chain in sight, so we were good while waiting for our turn. Brian decided to join us, and my mom was the dedicated waver, and before long we were taking off for our spin over Dinoland.
Everett did seem to enjoy the ride, with his favorite part being the control stick for the dino. It’s a good think I’m not prone to motion sickness, because Everett took great pride in jerking us up and down as quickly as humanly possible, while squealing with glee. He is a real daredevil, I can’t wait until he hit the height requirements for some of the big rides!
I thought we might have some tears when it came time to get off his triceratops buddy, but I think Everett might have spied something even more appealing while aloft. We were headed to the boneyard next, and I think DS’s toddler playground internal GPS was alerting him to the fun ahead.
I hadn’t spent too much time at the boneyard previous to this trip, because this was DS’s first trip as a walker, and playgrounds really weren’t on my radar before Everett embraced running. I was interested to explore a little bit, and I thought we’d have the chance to see the whole playground. Well, I under-estimated the appeal of a water feature. When we entered the playground I let DS roam, and he immediately honed in on a waterfall feature behind the play jeep. I wasn’t intending on letting him get all wet, but DS had other plans. A waterfall, a cave, AND a jeep- well that’s about as close to little boy heaven as it gets. He had a blast running back and forth in the water, and we pretty much didn’t leave that spot for good 20 minutes.
Video of Everett at the boneyard
this picture just says it all!
When DS was fully saturated, we took him off to the bathroom to clean him up. If you were in Animal Kingdom that day and saw someone holding a little boy under a hand dryer, that was me! (it worked great, in case you were wondering!)
At that point our group really needed to get going. Brian had to head home, and my Mom had to get to the airport. Brian made plans to stop by the resort and have dinner with us and his wife the following night, so we knew we’d be able to see him one more time before our vacation ended, but this was our last day with my Mom.
We had such a wonderful time with my mother, and I was so sorry to see her go. I knew that she was sad to be leaving also but this is certainly not going to be our last trip to WDW. We definitely will all be returning on a big family trip with my brothers and their wives next summer, and Mom, Everett and I are taking about sneaking away on a trip for just the three of us next spring.
DH and I decided to leave the Animal Kingdom and head over to the Magic Kingdom to take in some rides that we had missed our first day and to maybe catch Wishes. My Mom drove us over to the Contemporary where she dropped us off before heading back to POR, and then on to the airport.
It was sad, but its tough to be too sad when you are steps away from the Magic Kingdom.
Up next- I accost Disney fans, and Everett interrupts a special moment.
Also, good news that you found your pin lanyard. 
). How gracious of your mom to go eat at Y&Y while baby slept and so you all could enjoy Tusker House! We ate there on our last trip for the first time and enjoyed it (mostly my DS28 who is a vegetarian - we always planned our meals around where he could eat and we were glad they had so many choices). And even super glad you got your lanyard back! I recall another TR last year where a boy had lost his and how hard the CM's worked at replacing all of his pins (his parents had taken previous pic of it so it made it easier to recall what pins were on it). It isn't the same getting a duplicate lanyard & pins when they hold such sentimental value - I lost one pin off of mine last trip and it was one that was hard to get.
and I love your sense of humor!!!! I especially enjoyed your comment that most of D.C. would not be taking part in the rapture. 
Going back to read!
I'm glad you're enjoying our adventures
I am so thankful that she is willing to join us on our Disney trips! 
But, thankfully your mom was there with her 500 lb purse to save the day! 
Don't feel like a bad mom, I didn't have any first aid supplies either! If it wasn't for Grammy, we would have been making a stop at first aid too! 
I especially love that video of him playing in the boneyard. Looks like he is having a blast!! And the pictures of him with Pluto are so cute!!
), which is actually really easy.
