Friday, January 28, 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Passes

WARNING: This is a double marathon post. For those of you who perfer to just "walk out to the car" or "run around the block", this post is not for you. Best take it in small bursts or a full out run cross country run with deep breathing techniques and fight past the initial lung bursting air deprival that stops most people on their feet.

Ready? Deep breath and... GO!


For those of you who actually read my blog and have been wondering where the heck I've been hiding myself, here's what I've been up to the last few weekends. We have season passes to Disneyland and this January just happened to be Disney Parks Character Appreciation month, so we packed up EVERYTHING and when I say everything, I mean it~ breakfast, lunch, dinner, four-a-day snacks, water bottles, a change of clothes for both babies, pjs and nighttime diapers, 12 diapers for both kids, three blankets (one for each child and one to put over the double stroller when they go down for naptime), jackets for the four of us, sunscreen, umbrellas for the parents, Moby wrap and diaper backpack for Mom, mini diaper bag for Dad, and just about anything else you could think of. When we hit Disney, we're serious.


So during the slow season, there's been tons of construction, but the opportunity to meet the characters has been thrilling for me! Seeing Jonathan's face light up as well as the meltdowns, it's all been wonderful! The first set of pictures with Lars and Jonnie are from last Saturday the 15th. I was nursing Avonlea and the boys were on Main Street when the original characters swarmed out of the backstage gates.



My husband, the goof.
I adore this one. Lars told me the Jonnie cuddled up to Dale. Jonnie loves anything soft, fluffy and warm.


With Chip.

Pinocchio!!

We've been trying since October to see Tinkerbell, but we were always too late or a myriad of other things that come up with kids. But this day I was determined to get Jonnie and Avonlea in to see her, especially since Jonathan totally LOVES her.
Right before entering the main maze of Pixie Hollow.
Jonathan couldn't stop starting at Terrance's wings. He just couldn't...stop... staring. X)

One more bend before meeting the Pixie herself!

The set up was beautiful. Jonathan is totally obsessed with flowers, but hasn't learned to say the word yet, so he points over and over again and jumps up and down clapping.

He learned what mushrooms were, "Moh moo." He'll get it eventually. =)
When we finally got up to Tinkerbell, Jonathan flipped out. He was crying and shrieking and just couldn't handle it. He was terrified of her. She was really sweet and tried to help calm him down, but that just got Jonnie more wound up. It was hard not to laugh. I guess he just hasn't figured out how to handle being around beautiful women yet...
We then went here to meet Mickey Mouse!!
Avonlea had passed out for a nap, so I took Jonathan to see Mickey. It was so wonderful. Jonathan was so sweet and cuddly while we waited in line. When we were the next up to get pictures, Jonathan could hardly contain himself, pulling on his arm to run to Mickey. I picked him up for our picture. I asked Jonnie if he loved Mickey and would give him a kiss. Ever so gently, Jonathan put both of his hands on either side of Mickey's face and planted a kiss right on the tip of Mickey's nose. Mickey gave him a big hug and I started to cry. *Even now I'm getting teary-eyed thinking about it.*

This cool little photo op car was on the way back to the sidewalk after visiting Mickey and Jonnie hopped right in. Cars and trains are Jonathan's latest obsession since he learned to say "choo choo" and "cah" after he got both for his birthday last year.


Jonathan wanted to go on Lily Bell the train. Dumbo and the trains are his favorite things to ride while at Disney. It was a special time for us. I got a chance to sit down other than to nurse the baby and also to be alone with Jonathan while Avonlea napped. Jonathan was so well-behaved and snuggly. He got really sleepy since it was after his naptime and when we came back around to Small World where Lars and baby were, I picked Jonathan's up, put him in the stroller and the minute the blanket his his lap, he was out.


Monsters Inc. is the other movie that gets abused daily in our house. We were able to catch Sully on the way into his ride yesrterday morning.


Yesterday Lars had the day off because his school district gives the following Monday after finals off. As we walked into the park after seeing Sully and hitting up Monsters Inc. at California Adventure, the main characters were spewing across Main Street for meet-and-greet.


Minnie!

We had just watched Pinocchio the night before, so Jonathan was trying to figure out where he's seen Geppeto before. Jonathan kept stroking Geppeto's hair and giving him a weird look. It was cracking me up!! You can see it on Lars' face as well!

Who could forget Pluto?
I didn't know that Jonathan and Lars had gotten a picture with Goofy the weekend before until we were already up to take this picture. So, here's one of me with both kids this time around. =)


While Avonlea ate, the boys took Lily Bell around the park. As I went to meet them, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit came out. She is seriously one of the most frightening characters I've seen at the park. Since these guys are some of those rare characters that you don't see very often, I was psyched out and clamoring to get a picture. I just wish you could see the Queen's face better since she looks exactly like the cartoon.

This is one of those things that everyone sees, but never remembers to take a photo of while they're there since the road curves around it and most peolpe don't walk through this little garden that separates the different roads to the various parts of the park.. This time around because of construction, I remembered to pull out the camera and take a picture while we crossed to the castle.


So we arrived to the bane of our trip. We waited over an HOUR AND A HALF to met these guys. I was so beyond disappointed because we were told that the queue people were getting in wasn't a ride. WHAT??! You mean the Snow White ride was ripped out just for a character photo op??


Well anyway, the boys hopped on Dumbo while us girls waited and waited and waited and the Dumbo ride line was the longest I've EVER seen it. Then they came back over and we waited and waited and proceeded to wait even longer. Avonlea was starving and Jonathan was cranky. But can I just tell you it was sooo worth it? Both Flynn and Rapunzel were the nicest characters I've ever met. Boys never wait in line as long as we did to meet these two, so they were excited to see Jonathan and both of them asked about Avonlea and LOVED her name. *grins sheepishly* And would you believe that we haven't even seen the movie yet?? I must be crazy!!!


Anyhoo, again, the minute Jonathan was in the stroller and the blanket his his lap he was out. We rushed to the nursing station where Avonlea promptly fell asleep for her nap as well. So Lars and I wandered through the shops looking and lusting after things and then sat down at the fudge shop so I could indulge in a fudge s'more bar and enjoy the ragtime piano player on Main Street. I requested "When You Wish Upon a Star" since it's our song and we danced together while the kids slept. It was wonderful to spend that small moment together in what I refer to as "our personal Disney".
Then we walked all the way back to the garage and the kids woke up right as we were waiting to load on the elevator. Even though they napped until around a quarter after 7, they both went to sleep before 11pm.
It feels good to be busy. I have a hard time sitting down to the computer simply because I have no patience for it anymore. I love being an active mother. I've been reading more books and working on more hobbies and keeping house better, among many other things.
Something else too, is that you'll more than likely see more pictures of me up when I do post. I'm working very hard on allowing me to be me. I'm learning to be thankful for my body the way it is and not punish myself for looking how I do. It's a big process, but taking pictures of myself is a first step. I hope I haven't killed you all from such a long post! I just don't get on very often anymore, so there might be more posts like this one!