family trip in May (done!)

[daisy_77]

Sounds like a great day! I am glad you all were able to make it to Sea World.

Have a safe trip to Anaheim!

 

[bumbershoot]

Well here it is, 11am and we're still in San Diego. Nothin' wrong with that, but hubby is upstairs sleeping with a massive headache and not feeling well (I think he's allergic to something, but he's "not allergic" so that idea has been nixed, just like he "can't sunburn" is always stated).

Brother and SIL are off for a run. Eamon is playing in the big huge TV room (half the size of the enormous living room!) with his new playmobil pirate set that we got when we realized we couldn't go to seaworld that first day. I thought the days would be full of getting out and about, but didn't take the weather or sneezes into account!

He just asked if he would have presents tomorrow. Ruh-roh! Didn't think about wrapped presents! Well he will just have to deal with it. Or I'll figure something out. I always do, and he seems pleased with it, even if I'm usually disappointed in my lack of total planning.


Yesterday he fell asleep on the way home from seaworld (5ish), I put him to bed, and he woke up only after 10pm, gave him some of the pizza we had ordered for him from a yummy Italian restaurant around here, he ate two pieces and drank some water, and fell back to sleep. All the while hubby and brother were in the jacuzzi, talking about geeky stuff I'm sure.

When they saw me carrying E back upstairs Robert finally got a bit guilty (not totally necessary, since he does take the morning shifts when DS wakes up way too early) and came in, and E slept until around 7. Big sleep!


Totally freaked out about the drive to Anaheim, since I think I'll be the one doing it. I don't like driving BIG TALL cars, and that's what we will have, and I'm not looking forward to the freeway we'll be on, etc etc etc.

 

[TiggerandTink]

I'm so glad that you made it to SeaWorld and had a good time. Sounds like you were able to do quite a lot in the 5 hours you were there! We are planning on going there in a few weeks and I am hoping that it won't be too busy.

Hopefully your drive up to Anaheim will be quiet and uneventful but I know that feeling you speak of. I totally dread driving in big cities and traffic, coming from a very small town I don't usually have to deal with too much of it but whenever we go on trips I tend to have to drive. One, because my husband gets even more stressed out driving in traffic which tends to stress us all and two because he is better at navigating than I am and figuring out what direction I need to be heading in while looking at the map or directions.
I have to admit I can be rather directionally challenged.
I bet Eamon will have a great day tomorrow and won't be bothered at all by the lack of "wrapped" presents, especially if your planning some great "unwrapped" presents and activities. And I am sure he will absolutely love the build your own light saber!! Happy Birthday E!!!

 

[Cinderlala]

I'm glad you've had at least one nice day so far!

Good luck with the drive. I don't like to drive big cars either, but at least the tall part will help with visibility on the CA freeways.

[How's the new Volo working out?]

Hope your son has a great birthday!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

TiggerandTink, we did indeed do a lot there, with the short time we were there! I hadn't thought of it like that. My brother was amazed, you've just reminded me...he said that some days they will look online at the seaworld schedule and try to work things out perfectly, but they'll get there and will have missed the show they were trying to get to and it all tumbles from there. But we seemed to have some serious luck!

I did forget to mention that it was only me and Robert that went to see Shamu: Believe...the brother and SIL whisked Eamon away to have fun! They were supposed to go over to the dolphins in the low pool, where you can touch them, but I guess since it wasn't a feeding time they weren't coming near the humans, and it was disappointing. Therefore, SIL just "drove" E in the Volo around "drunkenly"...which seemed appropriate for a Budweiser park.


Cinderlala, the Volo is working out well! It's nice and bright so we can spot it easily, and it's already a little dirty so I'm not as protective of it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Going along with my new title, here's what not to do.


While getting ready to do a "thing to do", namely, meet with some Dis'ers while going to a DVC presentation, do NOT decide "the walk from HoJo to Paradise Pier Hotel isn't that far, I think I'll wear those cute 2 inch mary janes I got from Payless and haven't worn yet!"

not not not.

I have ruined the foot aspect of this trip, and I did it before I even stepped foot (ouch) into the parks! You would not believe the blisters, you just wouldn't! And I don't think I'll take pictures (at least not to post) b/c they would be so horrifying, and I just know the tag fairy would take over my avatar and put them up for all to see. It's horrible.

And no, califgirl, I haven't gotten moleskin for them yet. I'm just limping along with my two pairs of socks and my crocs! Poor tootsies.

 

[daisy_77]

Oh, Molly! You poor thing!
I have had horrendous blisters at Disney and it is just awful. I hope that you have a better day tomorrow.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, Daisy.



You all will be SO proud of me! After our small meal at Blue Bayou (I'll write more later about the whole day) we actually did make it back to the hotel, and the boys are napping right now!

I'm not a napper by nature so I'm not sleeping (hope not, at least!) but I figure sitting in a bed with my warm boy next to me, typing away is *rest*, if not sleep.




The question right now is...did I pack the camera-to-computer cable, and if I did, where is it?

 

[amyamya]

And you had such a good shoe plan, switching mid-day, keeping the tootsies happy? Hope you can wrap your feet in bubble-wrap and still have a great time!

 

[Hedy]

Ow! Ow! Ow!

 

[bumbershoot]

And you had such a good shoe plan, switching mid-day, keeping the tootsies happy?

I know! And then I ruined it.

I told hubby last night that I must have subconsciously hobbled myself, to keep myself Zen for the parks. And it's worked!

We got there before rope drop this morning (they let us in around 8:30) and we went on Dumbo (Eamon refused to go along with common knowledge of Peter Pan first, insisting he HATES PP and needed Dumbo instead) for its first round-n-round of the day, the Carrousel, saw the new Indy show with Toocherie and Califgirl (and her husband, and Stacerita was near the group but not right with us), had food at River Belle (smuggled in organic pure maple syrup for the Mickey pancake), went to Star Tours (remind me to tell you about those little cards they give kids when they are too little to ride on a visit), got E a build-your-own light saber (and since hubby is Han Solo, he got a blaster), went on Buzz (E did only 1000 points less than me! hubby blew the two of us out of the water), then over to Pirates, had a bite at Blue Bayou, and then back to the hotel.

OK that's a lot*. But not as much as I would have tried to do if I could do more than limp around on the few bits of my feet without torture-bubbles on them! ha ha, torture bubbles....ouch.


Hum dee dum, it's not 6. Should I wake them up?



* or is it? park opened at 9, we left at 3ish. so maybe not a lot, but it was two meals (taking notes for how long meals take for future WDW trip) and the line for the lightsaber taking up time...eh, it was fun for all of us, and that's important.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Molly, your poor poor piggies! So very sad, but perhaps this is the Disney Gods' way of making SURE you slow down this time!

And I am so very proud of you - you ARE keeping to your promise to slow down and not drive your boys so hard....I hope you have a much better experience with the whole family than last time.

I'll have to get your tips on SW - I am really working hard on Dh for a trip in Dec, and SW might be part of it!

Have a great time today!!

 

[Cinderlala]

I'm glad to hear that your Volo is working out so well & I'm very sorry to hear that your feet are so damaged!!

It's so fun to read your report while you are still at Disneyland!!!! It's a great way for me to live vicariously & pretend I'm in Disneyland too!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thing not to do:

...lose track, in a matter of moments, of DS's 2 day old "build your own" lightsaber, and lose the ding dang thing!!!!!!



No one turned it in, over 3 lost and found visits, so I think some parent is having a big surprise while unpacking little Johnny's suitcase....





I'm trying to be OK with it, trying to pretend I lost a $20 bill (sad, makes a budget trip more budgety, but not something I would cry over for too long), but it's hard. Showing DH and DS the build your own area was THE coolest moment, they were so excited, DS loved it so much...and now it's gone, and even if it's found and mailed to us, we'll still remember losing it.


Star Tours, by the way, according to my new 4 year old, is not only the bestest ride on the earth, but is also the coolest ride on the planet!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

My feet are still horrid. The blisters have become more defined as the days have gone on, and while they aren't getting truly worse, you can see the damage more clearly, and it's awful.

Luckily the damage was done with shoes I didn't have to wear again, unlike if your touring shoes give you a blister. So my plan of swapping shoes out every day or during the day still worked, for the non-blistered parts of my feet, but the blisters were still pretty nasty.

 

[bumbershoot]

Eamon wants to go on Grizzly (1/2 inch too short) and Screamin' (6.5 inches too short), but he absolutely REFUSES to set foot in the Soarin' building.




(this is the part I had to separate from the previous post)

As usual my reports before I get home and comfy are going to be scattered, so right now I would like to say that the White Water Snacks breakfast (even without meat) is absolutely totally incredibly delicious. I highly recommend it.

 

[Cinderlala]

I am so, so sorry that your son's brand new build-your-own lightsaber has been lost!! That is just terrible---and for his birthday, too!!

I was going to ask how you liked the build-your-own lightsaber & whether you'd recommend it, but now it is just a sore spot for all of you.

Thanks for the update!

 

[bumbershoot]

While folding clothes in preparation for packing them for our flight home today, and before my computer battery poops out...


I wish we'd just bought the $10 light sabers from the start. The build your own are HUGE and they don't fold all the way down into the hilt. Eamon couldn't carry his all day, which is why it ended up in the hands of me or Robert at the moment of loss. And with the clear plastic (for the non-red ones) you don't want the plastic to get scratched up, and my 4 year old boy likes to drag things on the ground or bang things on fences, etc (fence banging isn't allowed, but he does do it before being stopped).

It just wasn't appropriate for him. And really, it was more for my husband, but then he didn't end up getting one! His "role" is Han Solo in their games, and HS doesn't have a lightsaber, so Robert got a Han blaster anyway...so half of the point of the build your owns was gone anyway, since hubby didn't get one.

Once Robert and I figured out that it was OUR fault (we can't remember who had it, but we're fairly sure it was one of us), and even if it wasn't our fault, we were so distracted in those moments that we SHOULD have been paying attention to if HE had it...a new 4 year old losing something without parents noticing isn't 100% the 4 year old's fault, more like 5%, in our opinion.... Anyway, once we realized it was on OUR heads, we got guilty, so the kid ended up with TWO of the $10, no light-up no noise light sabers that retract all the way and have a belt-clip, and that's what we should have gotten to begin with!!!

 

[audrabolster]

aw! I was just there about a week ago and two different families were talking to a cast member about missing light sabers, so I suspect you aren't the only ones that have done it

 

[Cinderlala]

While folding clothes in preparation for packing them for our flight home today, and before my computer battery poops out...

...

I wish we'd just bought the $10 light sabers from the start. The build your own are HUGE and they don't fold all the way down into the hilt. Eamon couldn't carry his all day,

...

Anyway, once we realized it was on OUR heads, we got guilty, so the kid ended up with TWO of the $10, no light-up no noise light sabers that retract all the way and have a belt-clip, and that's what we should have gotten to begin with!!!

This is good information to have....we already have several of the regular light sabers & now we can plan accordingly. Thanks!

You are probably home by now & I hope your trip was enjoyable!