Friday Continued...
We were doing things a bit differently tonight. A friend of Brittany’s family lives close to WDW (lucky duck) and they were coming for a weekend of camping at Fort Wilderness. Brittany was going to meet up with them and spend the evening with them. Caitlin was invited along but, here’s the shocker, asked if she could spend the evening with Alex and I. Imagine that! It was so sweet. She missed us while she was away at school.
So Brittany’s friend came to pick her up and we headed off to Epcot again. We were having dinner in Alex’s homeland at the Rose & Crown pub. For a man who doesn’t drink, he sure loves his pubs. I, on the other hand, do enjoy a drink so I promptly ordered a Harp. Caitlin asked if we could get the cheese plate for an appetizer. I was surprised because this is one of my favorites and she’s never taken an interest in it.
Thank heavens, they have gotten rid of those weird Stilton puffs and gone back to regular cheese. We divvied it up—I got the Stilton and Cait and Alex shared the cheddar. Oddly, Caitlin loves blue cheese but was not impressed when she tried the Stilton.
For dinner, I had the bangers and mash, Alex got shepherd’s pie, and Caitlin—after much debate—got the fish & chips. All the meals were delicious.
Now, let the shopping commence! Caitlin had dilly dallied over choosing gifts for friends so we had our last minute shopping spree to contend with. Since we were right there in the UK, we started with the shops there.
The UK is all set for a Nazi invasion a la Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Treguna Mekoides Trecorum Satis Dee. Substitutiary locomotion, don’t cha know.
Dancing couples on the way to France. It’s so festive in France, don’t you think? I tried to get Alex to dance but there were too many people.
We had skipped dessert in the UK and I had told enticed Caitlin with tales of crepes in France. Actually, first I had beguiled her with tales of pastries at the Boulangerie Patisserie but the line was pretty scary.
Yoda enjoying a crepe. Jedi have such international palates.
Now the last time I was here, I swear that they MADE me a crepe. The woman with the thick French accent had taken my order and hadn’t winced at my schoolgirl pronounciation. She’d poured the batter onto the crepe maker and voila! A nice, fresh, hot crepe drizzled with chocolate sauce had appeared.
Not this time. She still had a French accent but she was more a surly Madame Defarge kind of person. Thank heavens there was no room for knitting needles in that tiny little kiosk but I’m quite certain she may have hidden them under a stray baguette. She took my order, rolled her eyes at my accent, and plopped an already made crepe down onto the griddle—swirled it around a couple of times and slapped it on a plate. Sacre bleu!
Caitlin was still excited since she and Alex and Yoda had been impatiently waiting at the table for me. Look at her face. She looks so excited to try her first crepe.
She suddenly grimaced and I could tell she was really considering spitting it out. Good manners prevailed and she swallowed and pushed the plate over to me, saying, “You can have it.”
I tried a bite and she was right. Ick. It was cold and rubbery and just blech. Okay, lesson learned. Do not buy a crepe from Madame Defarge. And if you do, make sure Yoda is there to eat your leftovers.
We found some more topiaries:
The view across the lake:
Japan:
We hit the department store in Japan but Caitie was still dithering.
As we were heading toward Germany (which is where all the drinking accoutrements were—prime gifts for college students), we heard a Flower Power concert. Caitie kind of stuck her nose up at first. I can totally understand that since they were playing a Starship song. Then White Rabbit came on. Caitlin has been fascinated with Woodstock. She turned and gave me a look of astonishment.
Caitlin: “Is THAT Jefferson Airplane?”
Me: Well…it’s like people who sang with other people who were in Jefferson Airplane..
Caitlin: Cool! Wait until I tell my History of Rock & Roll class that I got to hear Jefferson Airplane.
Alex: They’ll probably wonder where you keep your time machine, then.
We had to get photographic evidence for class:
When Caitlin was 5 years old, we went to
Disneyland. As parents are wont to do, we took her to see the characters and she met a really lovely Aladdin who declared that Caitlin was his new girlfriend. A couple of hours later, we saw the same Aladdin in the parade. He and Jasmine were in a car. He saw Caitlin and immediately threw her kisses and touched his heart. Jasmine pouted and looked upset. It was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen at Disneyland. I’ve teased her about her boyfriend, Aladdin, ever since.
So when we saw the topiary version of Caitlin’s boyfriend, we had to get a photo. Okay, I had to get a picture.
Another topiary in Italy:
And, apparently, this is where the globe from Illuminations hangs out in his off hours. Close to the liquor in World Showcase, you’ll notice. It helps with stage fright.
We went through Germany and were unable to find a small boot glass that met Caitlin’s stringent financial requirements. I, however, found some fabulous German cookies and got Caitlin some gummy something or other.
Next stop—Norway!
Alex is convinced he comes from Viking stock because he was born in Yorkshire. Doesn’t he look like a Viking in this hat?
Caitlin and the troll
Okay, all that shopping and we still hadn’t purchased anything except cookies and gummy worms. Or frogs. Or bears. We decided to try Mouse Gears and if she couldn’t find something, then she’d just have to go back empty handed.
On our way over there, Caitlin had to stop to use the restroom. We were on those bridges just past Mexico that connect with FW. Alex and I found a bench to rest on and we were able to see the bathroom exit. Once again, there were big crowds of teens around the WS. As Caitlin exited the bathroom, one teenage boy broke off from his group and came up to her and said something. She made a short reply and turned around to walk to us and the boy headed back to his friends who were laughing at him.
Me: What was that all about?
Caitlin: (laughing) He asked me if he could have my phone number.
Me: What did you tell him?
Cait: I said no.
Me: That’s it? You just said no and walked away?
Cait: High school boys.
In prior years, Caitlin would have been mortified that her parents had seen this. It really showed me how grown up she’d become that she just laughed it off and continued on her way.
In Mouse Gears, Caitlin finally found a few shot glasses and I got some more scrapbook stuff. By this time, Alex was totally over Epcot. All the shopping had worn him down. I took pity on him and let him go back to the room.
As we were leaving the store, I mentioned idly that I’d seen the Prince Naveen cutout near here. Cait insisted on dragging me over to take her picture with her new boyfriend. Sorry, Aladdin, I think you’ve been replaced.
So, now, we were just footloose and fancy free and back over by some rides again. It was EMH at Epcot tonight so it was crowded but Caitlin wanted to do some little stuff. We went on Spaceship Earth, and Finding Nemo, and Figment.
Brittany had called during this time and told Caitlin that she was there with her friends. And, get this. Caitlin told her she’d meet up later because she still wanted to hang out with her mom!! I heart College Caitlin.
I still had the two Soarin’ fast passes from earlier in the day. The park had just closed so I was a little surprised when they asked for our room cards to enter but we were allowed to use them with no issues. We had a fairly short wait.
By this time, it was 10:00—way past my bedtime. Caitlin saw I was pretty tired and it was chilly so she volunteered to walk back with me to get something warmer to wear and then she’d meet up with Brittany. I fussed a bit about her walking back in the dark by herself and she only rolled her eyes a little bit when she told me that she walks around campus by herself at night—surely she could handle the Boardwalk with tons of people around. She volunteered to call me when she got back to the park.
It was just such a wonderful way to end the trip--spending the evening with my adorable girl. I’m just so proud of the way she’s grown up. I wasn’t sure for awhile that it would turn out this way—the teenage years really did a number on me—but she’s grown up good and that makes me really happy.
And here's my favorite picture from the evening:
I think we can all probably say "been there, done that!"
Well, that's Alex. I can hardly drag him away from the mirror.
If you have a Disney dream and we're there at the same time, I'll change my plans to help you out.
