November 18, 2008
This morning we had a little side trip to take. We were taking DS for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class to help ease his withdrawals from not having attended his 4 day a week classes. I would have preferred for DD and I to go to DL while DH took him but DH had other plans and requested that we go. I really think that DS liked us going with them too. We did end up enjoying going. DD woke up with a minor sore throat again and did not really want to go but DH bribed her by promising to buy her a new toy went we got back to DL later in the day so she agreed. She is such a push over.
We called Sunday, a driver we have used in the past, and requested he pick us up in time to get us to the class that started at 10:30 in Torrance. He arrived and got us to the Gracie Academy right on time. This is a really cool place because the Gracies are basically the founders of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They even have a small museum which covers the Gracie family over the years. The family member who get the most for developing the specifics is in his 90s and still rolls.
They have a super huge and nice gym full of a bunch of nice guys, and a few gals. We actually remembered Victor from last year. DS started out rolling with a female black belt. He is a blue belt so he did not beat her but he gave her a really good fight and she did not submit him either before their time ran out. She made sure to put the next blue belt out ASAP. From there he rolled with one white belt, several blue belts and a few brown and purple belts. Right before class ended the instructor came over and rolled with him to check out his skills. He was pretty tired by the end of class but at least he got to get some of his pent up energy out.
For anyone who doesn't know a thing about Jiu-Jitsu it is a form of martial art and a combative sport that focuses on grappling and ground fighting. They teach a lot of very affective techniques involving locks and chokes which lead to an end result of the opponent's submission. I or my DH never imagined that our lives would ever include, much less basically revolve around such a sport. It has been a positive journey for us. We were lucky to have found an excellent instructor with a school full of a bunch of great guys. The classes themselves not only have improved his game but they are excellent for promoting self discipline and improving self esteem. Our DS has a passion for the sport so we a have been more than happy that he has found something he has a skill for and loves so much. Not only does he take classes but he also currently assists teaching children's classes. He plans to achieve the rank of black belt and open his own school in the future.
DD even took classes for awhile but she is more like her father and I and doesn't really like pain all that much so she is taking a break for awhile. I am thinking art class may be more along her line!
Our driver had hung around and waited for us so we all loaded up and headed back to our home away from home. When we got back we watched a little tv. I watched my soap opera for the first time since we had been gone. Emma fell asleep and finally woke up about 4:00. She was immediately ready to head back to the park. We stopped off at the Cold Stone Creamery and got some cones of their wonderful ice cream. We dropped a tip in their cup and they proceeded to serenade us with a song. High Ho! High Ho! We love to take your dough! We loved it! Just another good reason to like this place! Good sweet stuff and entertainment too!
Our next stop was in DTD at the World of Disney to pick out the toy that she had been promised. I took the opportunity to do my shopping while we were already in the store.
I took a pics of holiday merchandise just for you Sherry! Of course, it's a little late now!
I picked up a pen to replace one for our autograph book, a mouse hand hot pad for our oldest DD, a new large slouch bag so I could carry everything, a few new pins for DD to trade, the newly released Wall-E DVD and a yours-for-only-$15-with-a-$50-purchase-holiday-throw that I also gave to oldest DD for Christmas. DD, of course, couldnt find anything in the entire store because she was determined to make me walk all the way to the Rain Forest Café for a tiger that she had seen the day we ate there. Nothing is ever simple! Of course, we spent another 15 minutes of her changing her mind about just which toy she wanted before we could finally head into the park. On our way back through DTD, I remembered that I needed to pick up our tickets for our tour in the morning. Guest services was already closed but thankfully, they were able to help me at one of the ticket booths. I was also able to pick up our PS tickets for Fantasmic on Friday night and got a $50 gift card while I was there for the oldest DD.
Finally, we made it INTO the park for our first time today at 6:00pm! We went straight to Pirates for a 2 minute wait.
Then on to HM. DH and DS decided to go ride Splash so DD and I went on a late night Jungle Cruise. We met back up with the guys and watched the Tiki Room show.
DS was in a good enough mood to sing some "In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, room!"
DS was already wanting to go back to the room since they had already spent some time in CA while we were shopping. His attention span for spending time with the family had dropped dramatically since Alex had left. DH managed to talk him into riding a few more rides with us as I was wanting to stay until 8:00 so we could at least spend a measly 2 hours in the park. We headed into Fantasyland where we went for a quick trip on Mr Toad. Hell was pretty hot so we all warmed up from the night air. Then we rode the Teacups. DS decided to ride in his own cup so he could see how fast he could spin. Since it was right there, we managed to get DS on Alice which didnt turn out to be so bad because there were these cute teenage girls in front of us. By the time we got off the park had closed so we made our way back to our room.
I ordered in Chinese food. The tv was finally fixed so we ate while we tried to watch Prince Caspian
. until DD and I fell asleep again before it was over. Luckily, I have already pre-ordered it so we can finally see how it ends!
Oh yeah! Looking like a nice quiet day in the park. Also the skies were much clearer from the fires. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. Since the park wasnt very crowded we thought it would be a great time to check out the new Pixie Hollow. We were lucky and ended up only having about a 20 minute wait. 
Good luck!
me too! 
