November 16, 2008
Our traveling companions are leaving today. Don got up early to have breakfast with an old friend he knew from long ago who lives here in California. I got woke up when he called this morning to ask Alex if she wanted to go to church and said he would be back to pick her up. I am ashamed to admit that we tend to skip going to church while we are on vacation. It is just so much harder to get up and at em early when you are somewhere besides home. (not that we do that great at home) Don apparently hasn’t got any problem waking up early. He has been up every morning at about 5 am. Guess he is still stuck on Texas time. Poor guy has been leaving the room every morning (and slamming the door) and wasting time down in the lobby while DH sleeps. (The girls are all bunking in one room and the guys in the other. I cannot sleep with DH on vacation because he snores like a bear. Then I lose sleep and we’re all miserable!)
Anyway, having company on our trip has been fun but honestly I will be glad when it is just the four of us so we can get back in our groove. I am pretty sure they will be glad to get out of here too! While they seem to have enjoyed the time here, I don’t think they are in any danger of becoming Disney nuts like we are. My DD will sure miss Savannah but she will get over it pretty quickly. We’ll just have to see how DS takes the separation from Alex. I’m not expecting it to be good. He is such a fine young man. He would love for them to be more than friends but I overheard her dad telling his friend on the phone that Alex had told him in the beginning that all they are is friends and that they really do not have much in common, which is true. I just don’t think he sees it that way. (Ya’ll feel free to send up a prayer for him that the RIGHT girl comes along. I’m pretty sure she is not the one.) Anyway, after they leave, it should be a slight relief for him, though I doubt he will admit it, because he will be able to relax and be himself instead of trying to impress someone the entire time. I know he should at least be glad about taking over Don’s bed and not having to sleep on the fold out couch and not being woke up every morning by the slam of the door.
This morning started out very crazy! I was sitting up taking down notes about our trip when DH finally woke up and asked me where DS was. Well, I thought he had moved into the bedroom or went down stairs but it never entered my mind that he was no where in the room! DH went into a full blown panic to the point of making himself physically sick. Me, being the more logical and calmer of the two of us, began rationalizing what had happened and where he could be. This is what I came up with. He is much too big for someone to drag out the door and no one hear anything. He has never done anything like this before so he must be down stairs at the convenience store or must have went to church with the Thibeauxs. I have to admit I did have a slight panic thinking of us being so far from home and him gone. Savannah had stayed a the hotel with us so eventually she got a call through to Alex and confirmed that he was with them.
A short time passed and in came the Thibeauxs with DS in tow. I calmly said to DS “You do know you are in some big trouble, don’t you?” to which he responded, while he hung his head low, “Yeah, I know, I’m dead meat! I don’t know what came over me. Alex came in and I got up, followed her down stairs and the next thing I know I was getting in a car.” He obviously had not been very awake and things happened pretty fast. He did say he had tried to call but without his phone he had dialed the wrong number and did not end up reaching us. I didn’t see how I could be mad at him for going to church. Besides that I figured he was gonna really catch it from dad so I said no more. I guess this was just a reminder to me that even my level headed child may lose his good common sense when a pretty face comes along. UGH! I did ask him later if DH had talked to him and he said “Oh Yeah!” Anyway, enough of the family drama. Now on with the report!
Now, where were we?….oh yeah, they were leaving this morning and their flight was scheduled to leave at 1:30pm so it looked like a whirlwind was sweeping through our room. They apparently do a lot of last minute packing because when they left they had done a thorough job of gathering all their stuff which was no easy chore. I had been living with a pair of messy teenagers for a week and their stuff had been scattered everywhere! We got in lots of hugs and said our farewells and they were on their way and we were left with just the four of us and a second week all to ourselves at
Disneyland. Emma will be verbally grieving her lose for the next week but DS will be stoically hiding how much he misses them. He did voice it once and that will probably be the only time he mentions it. Me…. well, it was good while they were here but I am thinking now it is gonna be even better!
Since it was so close to lunch time and we had not even made it to the park I decided it would be a perfect time for us to try out Bubba Gump. I had an idea of how to get to the restaurant but decided to stop in at the front desk just to be sure. I was glad I did because the desk clerk gave me a coupon for a free appetizer! So… off we went! The day was starting out to be a really hot one so we were very thankful that the walk was fairly short and glad to get back into the air conditioning. The décor in this place is really fun if you are a fan of the movie. Heck, it’s a fun place even if you aren’t, you just miss out on some of the inside jokes.
Our waiter was great! He gave us a Forest Gump quiz to which the family only missed 2 answers. Then he brought out our drinks and our free appetizer, the Bubba’s Far Out Dip, which was some pretty good stuff. We didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive. I had the fried shrimp, DH and DS had the “I’m Stuffed Shrimp” and DD had the Fish n Chips which came out in this nifty little cardboard boat that she was able to take home.
We all thought the food was very good. Another of the waiters noticed DS’s shirt and came over to talk Jiu-Jitsu with him so the deal was sealed. DS was even able to have some fun and give us his Forrest Gump impression. It was decided unanimously to add Bubba Gump’s to our annual must-do-list.
As we headed back to the park, we saw that the skies had filled with smoke again and it was so hot that we decided to stop in at the movie and go to the park later when it cooled for the evening. We strolled through the Garden Walk which some how doesn’t seem to live up to the name. Not as much garden as I would imagine.
I hope for the mall’s sake that their business picks up. I bet we didn’t see 2 dozen people in the whole complex. We checked the theater but no movies were about to start so we headed back to our room, dropped off the boat and called to check the theater schedule in DTD. As luck would have it, we had enough time for a 15 minute break until the next showing of Madagascar 2, AGAIN. Can you tell we really liked this movie?
After the movie we hopped on the monorail and headed into the park. From there we hopped on the train and headed to the NOS station and went our separate ways. The guys headed to Splash while DD and I headed to Pirates again! I have really been enjoying being able to study all the different character faces. Afterwards we were going to hop back on the train and head to Toontown but along the way DD asked to have her portrait done. Since it was on my to-do-list I couldn’t resist. It was really amazing to watch the drawing turn into my DD. Our artist was Gil. He is a wonderful artist who has been doing portraits at DL for 2 years. He just came from Korea 4 years ago. DD did a great job of sitting still for him. He even drew the little kitty she had been carrying around with her.
Here's a shot I took the next morning of them side by side. What do you think? Not bad, huh?
When our portrait was complete I checked with the guys and they just happened to be heading back to the room so we met them and let them carry the picture back to the room for me.
DD decided we might as well do HM since we were already there. I think she is finally catching on that it’s better to save yourself a few steps rather than picking a ride that is totally on the opposite side of the park. After another ride with Jack and Sally, we took the train to Toontown.
Roger Rabbit was still closed so we headed to Mickey’s house. We caught him in a different costume and he was also in a much different mood than last time, not nearly so friendly. He must have had a long day.
to your son
I am flipping between tabs and your trip report just happens to be one I am trying to catch up on right now! Thanks for sticking with me. I know it's long but I am hoping it is keeping some Disney lovers out there entertained. 
I hope you are feeling better. I can't wait for you Photopass pics! 
But that does have to really stink living that close to the park and not be able to go whenever you like. 
Next year... I'm buckin up and fighting my way through that crowd! 
Good luck!
It was scary! He just better be glad he showed up pretty quick or it would have been even scarier if DH had given himself a heart attack! I think he did work himself up into some sort of panic attack.
