Short answer?
No.
Although I was pretty darn close, folks. I was tired. The early flight and our long day was catching up with me, and even though it was fairly noisy in Innoventions, if I didn't stop reading, and get moving, I was going to fall asleep.
In public.
I mean, who does that?
So, I called DH, knowing that my immobility was rendering me almost completely useless. Which would have been a good feeling if I was, say, back in our hotel room, snuggled in my happy Wilderness Lodge bed with my Native American proverb and a piece of chocolate wrapped in gold foil with the castle embossed on it, but oh no!
I was on a bench in Innoventions West.
And in all honesty, if it hadn't been for the custom menus at the Coral Reef, I would have cancelled and called it a day. I was pooped. Done. Tired. And 50,000 other words that mean I needed to do something or the rest of the evening just wasn't going to happen. If you'd like a little foreshadowing (we all know how I love a good cliffhanger), let's just say I'm glad I didn't cancel.
So, we decided to leave Innoventions West...goodbye, deliciously cool air, and venture forth. We took a little stroll around Innoventions East, but nothing peaked our interest. I asked DH if he wanted to go on any rides while DS was sleeping. By this I meant, honey, you've been spoiling the carp out of me, and I love you.
And I don't do thrill rides, and you do. Would you like to go on something I would never set foot on? Well, it turns out DH was amenable.
And I totally didn't mind. The man was being so good to me, how could I not return the favor. Minds out of the gutter, people. Remember, it was a public place.
So DH got in the single rider line for Test Track, and I browsed in the gift shop.
Now I was getting a little worried about DS' ability to make it through dinner. After all, we'd had a rocky day, with many ups and downs, and I just didn't know how my three year old would take to having to sit and behave for a meal.
I decided, therefore, that bribery was in order.
I perused the gift shop, and finally settled on a Buzz Lightyear themed race car. There are several reasons. One, the boy LOVES cars. He has oodles, tons, a plethora if you will, of matchbox size cars. Cars which would help us soooooo much on this trip. Just remember that for later, okay? File it away in that part of your brain where you store the seemingly endless trip report trivia we all like to impart. Also, there was only one Buzz Lightyear car. Now since DS already had the Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Jack Sparrow, and many other Disney-themed matchbox cars with us, I thought Buzz would make a nice addition to the collection. Plus it was cool looking.
Does anyone realize how weird it is for me to say that? Me? My whole room was pink when I was little. (So much so that I can barely stand it now, but I digress.) I played with Barbie Dolls, and Cabbage Patch Kids, and I loved Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Bright. And I don't care if I'm dating myself by doing this, you've all heard of, or will soon my as yet unspeakable birthday trip scheduled for next year. Oh yes, I'll admit that I booked bounceback. However, I refuse to disclose where.
I must get my kicks somehow.
Anyway, back to the cool Buzz Lightyear car. Suffice it to say that the world of boy was previously foreign to me.
And I love it. Boys get neat toys. They really, really do. And the simplest things make my son happy. I swear, he'd get more jazzed up over the toy from a McDonald's happy meal than the $100+ Thomas the Train ride on monstrosity my MIL deemed the perfect gift one year for Christmas. Ask me how many times he's used it. Go ahead, ask. Not that I'm knocking the generosity, certainly no. We always appreciate what we are given, and we are grateful. I just find it so amusing that the boy is so taken with something that costs less than $3, or in the case of the Buzz Lightyear car, right around $5. It makes him so easy to shop for.
And wow, I've gotten off track.
Ah, yes. How odd it is for me to say that car is cool. But it is. And I know DS would love it. This purchase was actually our first souvie of the trip, and the first time I used my reward dollars. Now that, dear friends, felt good. Nothing like getting a present for your boy without shelling out any cash. Not that I didn't do that later. My wallet would weep right along with ZZUB's. But, I digress.
No, for now, I was sensible, and purchased the one car, and hid the goods in the backpack so DS wouldn't see it.
I mosied on over to the car showroom, where DH eventually found me oogling the Saturn Vue. Let's just say I've coveted this car for many moons. And the color was beautiful. I love it, and the Honda CR-V. But we don't need to go into my completely irresponsible desire for a compact SUV here. That's better off on the budget board.
Once DH was able to extricate me from the VUE, we decided it was about that time to head over to the Coral Reef for our reservation. And as we did, DS started waking up, which was really excellent timing. But my brilliant idea of cutting through Mouse Gears? Yeah, that was not so excellent.
Anyone want to chime in and shout out what's in Mouse Gears? What one of the whole side rooms is devoted to? Go ahead, you know you want to.
Here on out, it shall be referred to as the five letter word.
Oh yes, C-A-N-D-Y.
I swear that child had a radar. We made a quick escape, narrowly avoiding the room, but not without him seeing the offending items, sensing a potential meltdown on our hands.
I was quick, my friends. I hadn't planned the introduction of the bribe until the restaurant, but I was in dire straits.
So I explained the importance of being a good boy during dinner, and that he would get a special prize. Of course, he was eager to earn a special prize. Phew.
So we got to the Coral Reef and checked in. Now as we were sitting there waiting, we tried to put off the opening of the special prize, but DS was fixing to know what it was. Right. Now. And that's not to say he was behaving badly, not at all. He had just woken up, was a bit hungry, and excited that I'd bought him something. So he wanted to open it. Well, we weren't going to tempt fate.
Of course, he loved the Buzz Lightyear car. Now getting him to go the bathroom before dinner posed something of a challenge as he insisted he didn't need to go. Um, child? Do you know how small your bladder is? DH ended up taking him, and basically we coaxed him into it by telling him he could bring the Buzz car. I know. The complicated world of boy.
So of course, as the boys were in the bathroom, the pager goes off. I should have known, I mean that is the way to get called to your table. Send one member (or two) of your party to the bathroom, and the pager goes off, my friends. I walked up to the podium and explained that the boys were indisposed. As I was waiting for them, a couple of people passing by told me, your pager is going off.
Um, I know. As if I couldn't feel it vibrate in my hand, or see the flashing red lights?
I must have looked REALLY tired.
However, I was gracious. I am not without some sense of class, regardless of how exhausted I am. Remember, I'd all ready had my good solid meltdown this morning, so that was out of my system.
I thanked them, and explained that I was waiting for someone in the bathroom.
When they came out, we were seated promptly. DS was so excited over his new race car, and we took his others out so he could play with them.
DH really liked the custom menu. Of course he asked me what it cost. So male. Right, LL? When I said nothing, it was free, he was quite proud. That's my man. He appreciates my thriftiness. Thank you, DIS boards.
And for those of you who read my pre-trip report, and have been waiting this whole time to know what the custom menu said, here goes...
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for three...
DH and DS,
Thank you so much for showing me
what an adventure life can be
through all the things that we do
the best treasure in my world is you.
Love,
TK"
Anyone need a tissue? My family is my treasure, and I wanted them to know they were loved. And that's why that reservation didn't get cancelled, even though I was exhausted. Because my boys are so worth it.
Anyhoo, dinner was really, really good. I loved the Mahi Mahi, it was prepared very well. I had the Key Lime Tart for dessert, and it was fantastic. I absolutely love that dessert. Now, poor DH. He ordered the Seafood Linguine, and the portion was small. I mean, pitifully small. And my husband is a good eater. Let's just say he's got a healthy appetite. And this meal so did not cut it. I believe he actually had three pieces of bread with dinner. It was that bad. I mean, it tasted fine, just a very small portion. Which was absolutely hilarious, considering that my Mahi Mahi was huge.
I later mentioned this to my mother, and she told me she's noticed very inconsistent portion sizes there on different trips. Interesting. A little side note for you food lovers.
DS did eat some of the pizza we got him, which thrilled me to no end. At least he had some food in him! Now, I've already raved about my dessert, DH really liked his as well. He went with the traditional Chocolate Wave, and said it was very good. He offered me a taste, but I just wasn't interested in chocolate. Which is weird for me, but I was loving my Key Lime Tart. And yes, I did share.
Barely. But I did.
DS really loved seeing the fish, and the whole atmosphere of the restaurant had him enamored. All in all, it was a good first meal. Not perfect by a long shot, but a good start to our vacation. I really enjoyed myself. It almost felt like things were looking up.
We were feeling brave. With food in our bellies, we became courageous parents. We decided to try a couple of rides before we called it a night. I suggested Figment, and it was a walk-on...or was it?
Up next - How many Cast Members does it take....
when they drop her off on a Thu & Fri. As I'm sure I've shared in the past they have a problem with discipline (ie they don't understand the concept
) and Niamh really needed a firm approach so that she knew that no amount of crying was going to get her out of going. Long painfull story but hopefully resolved now
