Last Thursday we had an opportunity to go to Disneyland with our beautiful neighbors. On Saturday our passes would be blocked out for most of the rest of the summer, and we wanted to go one more time before that happened. My uncle works there, and he was generous and gracious enough to sign in our friends that don't have passes.
We have gone to Disneyland with others several times, and it's always fun. But we've never before gone with people that have a wee one, so there's inevitably some differences in what they want to do (they're usually from out of town, so they don't do Disney every couple of weeks like we do, and they SHOULD go on all the cool rides) and what we can do with a toddler. So we end up spending a good chunk of time waiting in lines for roller coasters that we can't go on. It's fine--we go to Disneyland often enough to not really feel like we're missing out on anything (fun with the kid that is--we rarely go without him, so it's been ages since I've been on Space Mountain). But it's hard for Ben. This time we were with his sister/girlfriend, so we got to do all the toddler things his little toddler heart could desire. They had so much fun.
We brought the double stroller so they could cuddle. We headed for Toon Town first, with a stop at the Wishing Well on the way. They would not wait for the camera to be ready to throw in their pennies, which I felt was a little rude. But we got some good shots anyway. Including an awkward one wherein Jesse, the kids, and I looked like a family.
Toon Town is always Ben's favorite because he gets to just run amok and push buttons, climb into cars, etc. I get bored after a few minutes of just wandering and looking at things. But we make sacrifices as parents. Like going through Mickey's house twice. And taking pictures with each character two times each, because our kids keep photo-bombing other people's time with Goofy, Pluto, etc. What? That's just me? Fine.
It's also kind of fun to be with people who have different personalities than me. Me; when we get to Toon Town I park the stroller at the entrance, let Ben out, and follow him as he sprints from place to place, often boring me to tears after spending 10 minutes pushing the same doorbell. But again, I'm taking one for the team. Ben is having a ball, and I just love being along for the ride. Brandi--well, they do it differently. They like a more controlled approach. Ben was having none of that. But Adalee refused to remove her monkey backpack, despite her parents' eventual surrender to mild chaos. After a couple of hours, though (yes--a couple of hours in Toon Town), it was clear the children's joy and merriment could not be contained or controlled. They were in toddler heaven.
But heaven couldn't last forever (otherwise this mom would have torn all her hair out). So we ventured out into the rest of the park and rode some rides. Like Casey Junior's train, Small World (bit hit) and the Carousel (also a big hit). Not such a big hit: Roger Rabbit. Neither of the wee ones liked it. Although after crying through pretty much through the whole thing, Ben managed to squeak out, between sniffles, "ride fun." Liar.
We had big plans of the Jungle Cruise, California Adventure, and many other joyous rides and attractions, but after Winnie the Pooh (which, by the way, was clearly designed by someone high on hallucinogens), the kids were falling asleep. We weren't going to do the whole day thing, and we wanted to get the kids home for a nap. We tried (in vain for Benjamin) to keep them awake on our way back to the car and for the car ride home (seriously--Ben was sleeping like the dead). Sleeping in the car generally equates to an afternoon and evening of a napless hell for Ben, but he was so tired he not only slept in the stroller and the car, but he took a three-hour nap upon our return home as well. We had to wake him up before my mom came to watch him.
My mom came over around 4:30, and Matt (who'd had to work all day and missed the fun) and I went on a date to Disneyland. We tried this last week very unsuccessfully. We were crazy nuts excited about roller coasters, then we got there only to discover our passes were blacked out that day. We then went to The Block (an outdoor mall-ish place nearby)--this after searching Anaheim and Orange for a gas station, hoping and praying we wouldn't run out of gas--which was so full and crowded we couldn't find anywhere to park. So we ended up going to the mall a few blocks from our house and reading for a few minutes at Barnes and Noble before giving up and going home. But THIS time...this time was different. We grabbed food on the way over, saw Toy Story 3 (which was incredible), then played at Disneyland. A dream date, if you will.
Sigh. Disneyland, we will reunite once again in August.
2 comments:
Hooray for spouse dates!!! You guys are too cute! :)
I am so excited that Ben is doing really well with the characters now. I remember when you began the Disney adventure he would not have anything to do with them. Now I see both Mickey and Pluto hugging him! How fun for you all. Good photos of all! Thanks for sharing!
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