Babies to Baby Boomers- 9 WDW days filled w/ blunders, boo-boos & bliss. update 08-24

[Charlefours]

In honor of Charlefours lovely questions on her PTR- i thought i'd ask one myself.

What is your favorite time of year to visit WDW and why? you can be very specific- even down to the week if you want to be. and what is your favorite discount associated with that time of year?

And what is your least favorite time of year to visit? and why?

for me, i don't have enough expierience to answer this really, but I will say that I loved late October when we went last year. Warm, very little rain, and great crowd levels.

I love asking questions and reading the responses.

Well, this is a toughie for me. I have only been to Disney one other time. We went in mid-May which was great. We had lovely weather and the F&G Festival was still happening which I just loved since I love flowers (always) and gardening (now).

With our second trip, it will be fall. For me, it will be interesting comparing the opposite times of the year.

 

[Charlefours]

I have a feeling mornings are going to be rough for us too. Unless I can change DD's habits before we go (which we may because of preschool), mornings are not our strongest time of day.

AK: I hear it is the hotest park of them all but I do not remember. I remember talking the others into KRR so it must have been pretty hot! What an outfit! What was he thinking?

 

[lbuzz52]

I love asking questions and reading the responses.

Well, this is a toughie for me. I have only been to Disney one other time. We went in mid-May which was great. We had lovely weather and the F&G Festival was still happening which I just loved since I love flowers (always) and gardening (now).

With our second trip, it will be fall. For me, it will be interesting comparing the opposite times of the year.

I loved October, because I felt like I was expieriencing summer without the crowds. Bring on the sun!

I'd like to go other times of the year too, but the rain scares me. Any idea what the best months are in late winter or spring to avoid the crowds AND the rain?

I have a feeling mornings are going to be rough for us too. Unless I can change DD's habits before we go (which we may because of preschool), mornings are not our strongest time of day.

AK: I hear it is the hotest park of them all but I do not remember. I remember talking the others into KRR so it must have been pretty hot! What an outfit! What was he thinking?

The kids weren't too bad in the mornings- i'd say they were a little bit easier than preschool mornings. it was mostly the stuff we had to get together and that everyone was trying to squeeze into the same place to do it. I'd normally get that sort of stuff around at night, but it just never happened. We'd get home from the parks exhausted, work on getting the kids settled, and before we knew it the kids were asleep and we were trying to stay quiet. I guess when you think about it, i'd rather give up a half an hour of park time and let them get their sleep than spend park time having to punish the kids for some horrible behavior brought on by over-tiredness.

I'm sure Lillian will do just fine. Its amazing how fast you can pop out of bad when you''ve got something like Dumbo to get to!

 

[lbuzz52]

We were a couple minutes early, but were sat quickly anyway.

And i actually remembered to take a few pics of the food!. I didn't get up from my seat though- i was getting laughed at enough at my own table- so there are some interesting camera angles here at times.
(the really large pictures were borrowed from wdwinfo and allears)


We were sat upstairs near a pretty window. I really liked the look of this building, but for some reason this is the only picture i snapped.

This was our first Sit-down together, and we weren't in a hurry. So we decided to get some appetizers.

We got the lettuce cups- Minced chicken breast, chopped veggies, maple tamarind sauce, and crisp lettuce cups. - $12.99
These reminded me of the lettuce wraps at PF Changs, if you are familiar with those.

TIIY



We also got the Ahi Tuna- Chilled, sesame-encrusted ahi tuna, wasabi aioli, and sweet chili slaw. - $10.99

Both were enjoyable.


The kids choices had a decent variety of things- glad to see something different from the standard kids options we had all week so far in counter-service
Kids Entrees - For ages 9 and under. A choice of a mini burger, chicken bites, vegetable lo mein, or an egg roll. All items served with choice of carrot sticks, applesauce cup, fruit punch gelatin or chicken fried rice. Add a kid-sized portion of milk or apple juice in a souvenir cup. Soft drinks or French fries available upon request. Ice cream sundae for dessert $1.49 extra. - $7.49


Maya chose the Egg Roll, Jello, and Chicken fried rice.

With apple juice. 2 cups. yet another treat this day

I have no idea what Cayden had.

James noshed on some biter biscuits.

Chris had the Kobe burger. He wasn't impressed with it. I don't it on the menu anymore so maybe he wasn't the only one.

Jenny had the honey chicken. With no broccoli or carrots. (we always joke- just order her anything with chicken and cheese. She's not an adventurous eater)

I wrote that mom had bourbon chicken. I can't find any description of it. I have no idea what dad had.
But one of the two had this- whatever it was

I had the Crispy Mahi- Filet of mahi mahi, Japanese bread crumbs, Cantonese sweet and sour sauce, jasmine rice and stir-fried veggies. - $20.99 .
the vegetable were decent; I could have totally passed on the Jasmine rice. But that fish. That moist and panko crispy mahi. With that ever so slightly sweet sauce. Uuuuuummmmm. I could eat that every day. It was my favorite entree of the week I think.

For our desserts, we decided to share a couple between the group. we got the Chocolate Brownie Sundae for 2 - Chunks of brownie, vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauces, and fresh whipped cream - $9.99

TIIY


and the Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons with vanilla ice cream and honey vanilla drizzle. - $7.99.

TIIY

i'm not even sure i tried the wontons, but i dug into that sundae- it was huge!!!! and extremely tasty!!
I think we just got cookies for the rest of them. The kids had already had ice cream once that day, but we let them try these too.


We all took a bathroom break, and we tried to make a bottle for James- but we couldn't find either of the bottles. Anywhere. We tried to just give him his milk in the sippy cup. But he wasn't having that (at that point, he was only used to nursing and bottles. We were still working on cup training) So the rest of the group walked towards Kali and Everest. I trecked over to baby care for a bottle. They had one choice- Gerber basic 8 ounces. It was only a couple bucks. I made my way over to Kali to meet the group.



I think that Jenny, Dad, Mom, and the kids went first with their fastpasses. Chris had done the baby swap. I walk up to Kali and they are already off the ride. And mom was DRENCHED. I'm not over exaggerating, she was soaked. And she was not one bit happy about it. It turns out, she was sitting in between the two kids, so she was on the light end of the raft. Jenny wanted to go again, and I had yet to go, so we decided to do it again while we were right there. so we jumped back in the fastpass line using our baby swap for the remainder of us. This time, the CM stopped Cayden to measure him. He was just over the mark. It was the only time anyone measured him all week. Luckily, we didn't get too wet this time.


After that, we headed to

Everest to use our fast passes. I think Jenny, Mom, and Chris went first. Dad and I stayed with the kids. Maya played on the rocks while Cayden and I went inside the shop. He picked out an explorer set (think plastic binoculars, plastic compass, etc. We picked out a plastic car for James- it was Mickey riding in a jeep trying to escape the Yeti.


Then I think mom, Jenny and I rode with our fast passes. Dad chose to sit this one out. I Loved it! I wish Maya could have done it.

When I came back, Chris and Maya both had this look of "get me away from this person- I'm done with him/her". Remember those two cups of juice at lunch- well, Maya never drinks straight juice. It just doesn’t' set well in her tummy. Turns out this day was no exception. And they didn't make it to the bathroom in time before her stomach tore up. I guess Chris let her know he was not happy. And of course, we had no clean underwear- I couldn't tell you the last time Maya had an accident so we didn't think to pack any.

I decided since we had the babyswap left, that Chris and I needed to ride again and give him a minute to cool off.


We then decided to make our way towards Folk. Along the way, we got stopped by the parade blockades, so we stood under the mister while we watched the last couple minutes. We then headed along with everyone else (at least it seemed that way) to FOLK.

continued...

 

[Mombits]

Really nice pics of the animals! Can't wait to get there.

 

[lbuzz52]

Really nice pics of the animals! Can't wait to get there.

thanks! i can't imagine how interesting it would be on a cool morning. so much better than teh zoo- and we've got a great zoo!

 

[that's nice]

Great updates!

Juliana is always up early and we are yet to see a RD!

Loved the food pics. We have only eaten at Y&Y CS. I want to try the TS.

Those desserts look yummy!!!!!

I feel bad about Maya's accident.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I just got caught up on your TR. I am loving it. I laughed a bunch of times. Reading your feelings toward the family slowing you down and the I dont Know moments reminds me why I wouldnt let my parents come along. I had high hopes for our first family trip and knew having extra members would make the experience different. I dont know if you plan to go with just the dh and kids next time but you will see it truly is a different experience. I on the other hand will be going back with my parents and although I am excited for them to share in the experience this time I now am convinced after reading your tr that it will not be the same. I guess I should say thank you because I now have come to terms with that. Either way its disney and the joy on the kids face is all that matters. Keep on updating I cant wait to hear more.

 

[lbuzz52]

Great updates!

Juliana is always up early and we are yet to see a RD!

Loved the food pics. We have only eaten at Y&Y CS. I want to try the TS.

Those desserts look yummy!!!!!

I feel bad about Maya's accident.

I have a feeling there won't be many rope drops in future trips either. But at least we do okay with later evenings.

I had to post the food pics- they were practically the only ones I remembered

I should have known better about the juice. I found out she didn't handle it well first at her second birthday party at a local spray park. Luckily everyone else had left by the time she got - to put it politely - an upset tummy. I should have watered her juice down. Or at least brought her a change of panties. Luckily she forgot about it quickly.

 

[lbuzz52]

I just got caught up on your TR. I am loving it. I laughed a bunch of times. Reading your feelings toward the family slowing you down and the I dont Know moments reminds me why I wouldnt let my parents come along. I had high hopes for our first family trip and knew having extra members would make the experience different. I dont know if you plan to go with just the dh and kids next time but you will see it truly is a different experience. I on the other hand will be going back with my parents and although I am excited for them to share in the experience this time I now am convinced after reading your tr that it will not be the same. I guess I should say thank you because I now have come to terms with that. Either way its disney and the joy on the kids face is all that matters. Keep on updating I cant wait to hear more.

Welcome!!!

We had always thought our first trip to Disney would be just us. It just didn't work out that way. But how can you say no to doting grandparents who go out of their way to help you and love on your kids every chance they get?
There definetely were pluses to having them around- like dh and I getting to ride big rides together. That never would have happened otherwise. It was just hard trying to plan (and stick to a plan), trying to keep everyone happy when I was just learning myself.
Dh and I have decided that if we do a family trip again we will stagger the dates a bit so that we have a couple dates on one end or the other that are just us. We really wish we'd taken more time to be just our immediate family.

 

[lbuzz52]

So we trekked towards FOLK along with most of the other people in the park. We waited a few minutes and then were let into the area. I'm not sure why but they had some of the bleachers blocked off. They packed it in pretty well for what was open. It was the last show of the day. I didn't take very good notes in here- so I don't remember what section we were in. But judging from this camera angle i'd bet we were giraffe.





But I do know that James LOVED this. I have about 50 pictures of me trying to hold my camera out in the air and capture his enjoyment. Let's just say my aim wasn’t' exactly accurate. Here's the best I got- and it doesn't even show his excitement




A CM saw me and offered to take a photo for us. For some reason, i thought she was understood that i just wanted James, so none of the rest us were actually looking at the camera. How dare her not read my mind!




Maya loved it too- but I felt bad for her. She wanted so badly to be picked for everything all week. It just wasn’t' happening. All it took though was a reminder of how many parade characters had picked her so far this week, and she was high spirited again.


I didn't take too many pictures of this- they just weren't turning out well on my camera. i do know that i loved these guys though.






After that, we had done most of what we wanted, so we decided to play a while in Dinoland. (we had late EMH this day).

On the way there, we met Lilo and Stitch. They were cute! And they distracted the kids from noticing the boneyard- yeah! I wasn't in the mood for sand.


here's Cayden


and Maya







Only a few more steps until we were greeted by this gal...






The kids begged pawpaw to take them on Dino Dumbo, which he happily did. There were only a handful of people on the ride. Chris and I took turns taking a break. (yeah!)

Mom decided that she wanted to get each of the "big" kids a pin. (in case you don’t' remember- cause it was months ago when I posted this LOL- I had bought the kids some pins and a lanyard off of ebay prior to our trip. At this point in the week, neither of them had traded yet but still we had carried them with us everywhere.) How convienient- there was a stand right there. Maya picked out an Ariel, and Cayden picked Stitch.

Pawpaw then took the kids to play the whack a mole game. Each of the kids one a seahorse. Its now one of the 47,434,567,345 animals maya sleeps with on her bed.



The original plan after dinoland was to head over to Flame Tree for dinner and along the way, check out the tree of life. We would then hit Everest again and be on the way out.

Well, no one was really hungry yet, so we decided we would wing it and go back to the resort and figure it out from there.

Maya still had not spent a dime of her Disney Dollars, so we stopped in Chester and Hester's first. She wandered for quite a while before deciding she wanted a Pink Princess baseball cap. She also picked out some Ariel figures- I bought those for her, because she didn't get anything from the EE shop like the boys did. I also bought James a Mickey shape sorter to put up for Christmas time. Its really but, but I didn't think that one through very well- wasn't the best shaped thing to try to pack in a suitcase.

p.s.- eventually, i will do a picture post of our souvineers. i took pictures of them all once i got home, i just don't have them on this computer. and maybe i'll do a post of mom's pics too.



We stopped to take these outside the shop. Its not everyday you get the chance to take a photo with a dinosaur!









We headed back to the buses at about 6:30.

P.S.- mom was still wet!!


cont.

 

[lbuzz52]

We relaxed a few minutes once we got back to the resort.

Here are the kids relaxing on the couch.


Isn't this a sweet picture!!






Too bad i almost wet my pants when they both got up and yelled we're just pretending!


We all guzzled some water and discussed the dinner options. We decided that we would try out the Turf Club at the resort. We had extra TS credits because of the Ohana's fiasco, so it worked out okay.
I didn't take my camera with us. i was going to borrow a couple of pictures from allears, but apparently my computer has decided that i'm not allowed to right click- which is a must to get the picture properties. but at any rate, its a nice place.


I think it was about 8 pm when we got there. The kids were getting hungry, so we ordered them this to munch on-
Baked Goat Cheese and Tomato - Tomato Bisque served with Goat Cheese and Croutons $5.49
They were like, oohh, what fancy tomato soup! But they loved it.

I think all of the adults ordered the following. (I think my sister modified hers to plain probably) Grilled New York Strip - topped with blue cheese, portobello mushrooms, and balsamic-port glaze served with Turf Club Potatoes $27.99


I wasn't served the best cut of meat but I didn't say anything about it. At the end of the meal, my dh asked why I was just picking at it. I showed him this fat in the middle of it. He said, honey, that's not fat- that's a seed nerve- its not edible. Whoops- apparently I should have said something about it, most places don’t serve that part of the strip. I didn't know- I usually let him cook all my steaks- the advantages of marrying a chef I just thought strip = fattier piece of meat.

However, the others LOVED their meal. And my dh said it was his favorite meal of the week.

Maya got macaroni and cheese, fruit, and chicken noodle soup. Cayden got Chicken tenders, fruit, and a side salad. I think Maya just orders macaroni and cheese because she likes the color? She always orders it, and never eats it!

We still had desserts to get, and we decided to get one of everything for each of us to try a bit of.

A Sweet Ending to Your Celebration... New York style Cheesecake - with seasonal berries $5.49
Individual Apple Pie - served warm with vanilla bean ice cream $6.49
Chocolate Espresso Torte - with raspberry sauce and ice cream $6.99

Well, not everything, we didn't try these two.
Mixed Berries $4.99
No Sugar Added Lemon Pound Cake - with seasonal berries $5.49


The cheesecake and pie were very good! The torte was good too- but it was served with expresso ice cream. I love love love coffee, but this was well..... I imagine that I made the same face that Beverly brings out. Yuck!

We really enjoyed this meal. It was a nice atmosphere, and very relaxing. Just a nice cap to a good day.

So we went back to our room. I have this thing where when I get really tired, I just get plain silly. Like I start laughing at things that arent funny, that sort of thing.

About once a week DH and I have this conversation:
Me: hahahahahahah!!!! Hahahahahaha!!!
Me: (inside my head) I want to tell DH what I am laughing at but I won't because even I know its not funny so surely he won't think it is yet I can't stop laughing about it
DH: just go to bed already


Well, Maya does this too, so while the plan of action at this point was baths and bed, it was interrupted by a bit of foolishness.


It started out with some simple- "look mom, i'm wearing the wrong shoes"




but soon it progressed to this...


i wanted to know what in the world they were doing.


you want to know too, right????




(i know its hard to read, so i'll translate- pretending to be the monkeys from the lion king)


For some reason, every time I thought something was funny, I wrote it down on a piece of paper and then took a picture of it with my camera. And then I laughed outloud about doing it. Wasn't funny then, isnt' funny now, who knows what I was thinking! sure, maybe the things the kids were doing were funny- but i wasn't laughing at that, i was laughing at my pictures. i know, i've got issues


Baths were also delayed by a bit of wrestling with Nonni.






Finally, my sister was laughing so hard she was crying.



What put her over the edge? it was when Cayden told Nonni

(i'm trying to jump over you but her {nonni} is too big)


Next thing i knew, i heard Chris come back inside and say...

(why is my shoe in the sink)


uh, hello, don't you know that monkeys from the lion king don't wear flip flops.... when she kicked her legs up, she kicked her shoes up too. one landed next to her, the other landed... well, you already know.


Maya was starting to have a bit of a meltdown. She was really worn out plus I think she was ready to have some space from her cousin. He picked on her all this week by getting up in her face so close she could feel him breathing, just because he knows she hates it. Wouldn’t you hate it too?
so we hurried with her bath and set her in bed with Raven on the Disney Channel. I think it took about 3 minutes for her to fall asleep. We had already put James down.

Shocked that both of our kids were asleep so early, and with most everyone else wanting to do the same, Chris and I headed down to the pool and hot tub. It was practically empty (which I in my make-shift pajama bathing suit really appreciated.) It was so nice to have a few minutes of just-us time! Yeah!!!


Animal Kingdom favorites:
Maya- the elephants in the safari and FOLK
James- I didn't write it down
Cayden- I must not have asked him, or didn't get an answer?

Up next:

It's Halloween!!!!

 

[shelbys mommy]

That is the sweetest pic!

I love those crazy giggling nights! Nothing funny at all, never will be funny again, but at that moment you have tears streaming down your cheeks, holding your sides, can't catch your breath laughing. Best thing ever!!!

 

[lbuzz52]

That is the sweetest pic!

I love those crazy giggling nights! Nothing funny at all, never will be funny again, but at that moment you have tears streaming down your cheeks, holding your sides, can't catch your breath laughing. Best thing ever!!!

you're right, they are the best. i consider myself very lucky, becuase Maya gets silly instead of cranky when she's really tired. i'd much rather deal with that emotion!
my favorite times are when DH gets into it though. Its just much harder to crack him up, so it always gets me going when he does.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

love the updates. We had a bunch of those moments too. I think back to what we thought was so funny and now I dont quite find the humor but at the time it had me laughing so hard I couldnt breath.

 

[reyasmommy]

Great Updates!!!!!!!!

I love that both of our baby boys LOVED the Lion King! I really wished I would have recorded it so Jayden could watch it whenever he wanted, but I had NO idea he would react to it the way he did.

I know I've said it before but your kids are so adorable.

 

[junderwood99]

i can't wait to hear about it- 2 year olds sure can be interesting... when my dd was two, i remember going back and forth between oh, its so neat how she is learning this and that and someone get me away from this kid!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is how our trip will be. My biggest concern is napping. She is so used to her own room/quiet time for napping. If we head back to CBR - I'm not sure she'll actually lay down in the room with me in there - what do I do - wait outside??? LOL If we stay at the parks, I'm not sure she'll give into a nap - between the heat and the excitement. Pray for me!! LOL It should be interesting - but I AM so excited anyways!!!

 

[lbuzz52]

love the updates. We had a bunch of those moments too. I think back to what we thought was so funny and now I dont quite find the humor but at the time it had me laughing so hard I couldnt breath.

I love that I documented them, even if it was in an ignorant way
those sort of moments are the ones you want to keep in the front of your mind.
Here's to many more for all reading this.

 

[lbuzz52]

Great Updates!!!!!!!!

I love that both of our baby boys LOVED the Lion King! I really wished I would have recorded it so Jayden could watch it whenever he wanted, but I had NO idea he would react to it the way he did.

I know I've said it before but your kids are so adorable.

I don't mind hearing it again lol! So thanks!

I felt the same way about taping James. I really wish I had gotten that and iasw more than anything. Maybe sometime I'll learn to just keep the flip in my hand always. Even when I could get to it quickly, the behavior always ended right before I clicked on.

I've been amazed by the number if parallels we've had with our little guys.
ITs one reason I'm glad I'm just getting around to mine- it's just neat to watch the babies journeys together. I just think it really helps to prove that Disney really is for all age

dud I mention this- everytime I see reya, especially with her hair pulled back so her face really shows- I think she looks a lot like Martha plimpton. Especially in the goonies- she was all cute and super spunkie in that movie.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is how our trip will be. My biggest concern is napping. She is so used to her own room/quiet time for napping. If we head back to CBR - I'm not sure she'll actually lay down in the room with me in there - what do I do - wait outside??? LOL If we stay at the parks, I'm not sure she'll give into a nap - between the heat and the excitement. Pray for me!! LOL It should be interesting - but I AM so excited anyways!!!

the good thing is that the parks wear you out so that naps come easy. Your dd may just surprise you and crash suddenly while you are pushing the stroller. Both my kids and my nephew did, thank goodness. And those catnaps really made a difference. If you choose to go back to the room, you may find yourself napping along with her.
We chose only to go back to the room on days we knew we would have late nights. It just took too long to get back and forth on the buses. We also scheduled late mornings after late nights and lighter days after heavier ones. All that just to say she will probably nap easier than you think.

 

[Charlefours]

that is the most adorable picture of the two kiddos sleeping! Please do post the pics of your souvies--I am a sucker for those type of things. :