Disneyland
We had a fantastic trip to Disneyland. The weather was perfect (low 70s and sunny), the crowds were light, and everyone was in a good mood all day. I think the good moods were helped by a steady stream of snacks and treats. In the morning we had churros, after lunch we had ice cream / cookies, there were giant suckers after dinner, and all day long there was kool-aid in the water bottles. Keeping the kids from getting hungry is important!
Waiting for rope drop on Main Street, Henry pointed at the bananas in a woman's backpack in front of him. She offered him one, so he started his day with a banana. I love the guests at Disneyland.
Henry didn't seem to like the dark rides. To be fair, he's always been a bit more sensitive to noise than his brothers. We went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and he tucked his head into my chest and was kind of watching the ride sideways. Even though last year he seemed to like Buzz Lightyear, this time he complained about the noise, didn't want to hold a blaster, and rode it the same way he rode Mr. Toad. The only other dark ride we tried was Winnie the Pooh, and Grandma reported that he was the same way. He also watched the fireworks sideways with his head on my chest. I saw him flinch once or twice when the fireworks exploded, but he didn't complain during the show, and he said he liked the fireworks afterwards. Just one day later, he speaks fondly of the dark rides - Luke was a crazy driver on Mr. Toad, he liked watching me shoot the robots on Buzz, etc. I wonder if he'll want to ride them next time, and I just have no idea.
When we went to breakfast with Mickey and friends a few months ago, Henry was very interested in the characters but didn't want to go too close. I asked him if he wanted to meet Mickey on this trip and he said yes, so I started the "give Mickey a high-5" campaign. Every time I mentioned meeting Mickey, I'd say, "and give him a high-5!" Henry agreed, and when we finally were in the room with the mouse, he did it! He wouldn't let me put him down, but he did slap Mickey's hand. Later, he did the same with Tigger and Eeyore. And then, much to my surprise, he hugged Winnie the Pooh! Maybe he's starting to like the characters after all.
Luke didn't like Space Mountain last year - he's small and rattled around in the rocket. I didn't realize until the end of the ride that I should have had my arm around him! He'd been saying that he didn't want to ride it again, but when the time came, he decided to give it a try. With my arm around him he bounced around a lot less, and was bouncing against my arm rather than the rocket, so he had a great time. I was so glad he gave it a try! In the middle of the ride, Luke yelled, "We're not really in space!"
And then there was the time that Luke thought we were getting in line for Star Tours when we were really going to meet Grandma and Emmett by our stroller parked near Star Tours and he was lost for a few minutes. When I finally spotted him he had just found a cast member and looked pretty upset, but at least we found him fairly quickly. He was much more interested in holding hands for the rest of the day.
Emmett is old enough to be a Disneyland pro. The "sit and stand" stroller has room for Henry and Luke, but Emmett doesn't get to ride and he didn't complain one bit. (A year ago at the end of one day, we managed to cram all three of them onto the stroller.) He eagerly rode all of the "mountains" but didn't complain about riding Indy only once (even though we had 4 fast passes, so he and I could have gone twice) - we needed to go find a spot to watch fireworks instead. Even though his main interest was the thrill rides, he didn't complain too much when it was time to do something more tame. When he tells people about the rides at Disneyland, he almost always mentions how some effect works (the fake train in Mr. Toad, his rendition of how effects work in Indy). Luke's been getting in on it too, at least with the Mr. Toad train. Reminds me of me as a kid.
After lunch we got fast pass for the Haunted Mansion and then went over to Pirate Island. All three kids had a great time blowing off steam. The barrel bridge spooked Henry and he didn't go into any dark caves, but Emmett and Luke climbed all over that island and through all the caves. Henry loved waving at all of the people passing by on the Mark Twain, and when we were on the other side of the island, he waved at them all again. Some of them seemed to recognize him! After they'd passed by the second time, Henry headed back to the other side of the island and was looking at the water. I asked him if he was looking for ducks. Henry loves ducks, and loves to loudly say, "quack quack quack," but he told me he wanted to wave at the people on the boat again!
After the fireworks, the only "Mountain" that hadn't been ridden was Big Thunder, so we went back to see if it was running (it had been down earlier in the day). It was, so Emmett, Luke, and Grandma went to ride it while Henry slept in the stroller. When they returned it was just a couple of minutes until the park closed. Since they were still letting people get in line, Emmett, Luke and I got back in line while Grandma stayed with Henry. We were on one of the last trains that night.
Afterwards we meandered through the park towards main street, in no hurry to join the masses waiting for trams back to the parking lot. The Christmas decorations were fantastic, and even better at night with zillions of lights. On Main Street, I found the machine that vibrates your feet. It was always my last stop as a kid - for 10 cents (25 cents now!) you can stand on a platform that vibrates the heck out of your feet and legs. While it's running your feet stop aching, but they start again when it's over. Emmett and Luke also watched one of the penny-flip-book-movies in the arcade (Henry was asleep in a carrier on my back by this point).
I really can't believe that they weren't complaining on the way back to the car, but they were pretty much quiet. I hope the next trip goes as well, because this one will be hard to match.
Waiting for rope drop on Main Street, Henry pointed at the bananas in a woman's backpack in front of him. She offered him one, so he started his day with a banana. I love the guests at Disneyland.
Henry didn't seem to like the dark rides. To be fair, he's always been a bit more sensitive to noise than his brothers. We went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and he tucked his head into my chest and was kind of watching the ride sideways. Even though last year he seemed to like Buzz Lightyear, this time he complained about the noise, didn't want to hold a blaster, and rode it the same way he rode Mr. Toad. The only other dark ride we tried was Winnie the Pooh, and Grandma reported that he was the same way. He also watched the fireworks sideways with his head on my chest. I saw him flinch once or twice when the fireworks exploded, but he didn't complain during the show, and he said he liked the fireworks afterwards. Just one day later, he speaks fondly of the dark rides - Luke was a crazy driver on Mr. Toad, he liked watching me shoot the robots on Buzz, etc. I wonder if he'll want to ride them next time, and I just have no idea.
When we went to breakfast with Mickey and friends a few months ago, Henry was very interested in the characters but didn't want to go too close. I asked him if he wanted to meet Mickey on this trip and he said yes, so I started the "give Mickey a high-5" campaign. Every time I mentioned meeting Mickey, I'd say, "and give him a high-5!" Henry agreed, and when we finally were in the room with the mouse, he did it! He wouldn't let me put him down, but he did slap Mickey's hand. Later, he did the same with Tigger and Eeyore. And then, much to my surprise, he hugged Winnie the Pooh! Maybe he's starting to like the characters after all.
Luke didn't like Space Mountain last year - he's small and rattled around in the rocket. I didn't realize until the end of the ride that I should have had my arm around him! He'd been saying that he didn't want to ride it again, but when the time came, he decided to give it a try. With my arm around him he bounced around a lot less, and was bouncing against my arm rather than the rocket, so he had a great time. I was so glad he gave it a try! In the middle of the ride, Luke yelled, "We're not really in space!"
And then there was the time that Luke thought we were getting in line for Star Tours when we were really going to meet Grandma and Emmett by our stroller parked near Star Tours and he was lost for a few minutes. When I finally spotted him he had just found a cast member and looked pretty upset, but at least we found him fairly quickly. He was much more interested in holding hands for the rest of the day.
Emmett is old enough to be a Disneyland pro. The "sit and stand" stroller has room for Henry and Luke, but Emmett doesn't get to ride and he didn't complain one bit. (A year ago at the end of one day, we managed to cram all three of them onto the stroller.) He eagerly rode all of the "mountains" but didn't complain about riding Indy only once (even though we had 4 fast passes, so he and I could have gone twice) - we needed to go find a spot to watch fireworks instead. Even though his main interest was the thrill rides, he didn't complain too much when it was time to do something more tame. When he tells people about the rides at Disneyland, he almost always mentions how some effect works (the fake train in Mr. Toad, his rendition of how effects work in Indy). Luke's been getting in on it too, at least with the Mr. Toad train. Reminds me of me as a kid.
After lunch we got fast pass for the Haunted Mansion and then went over to Pirate Island. All three kids had a great time blowing off steam. The barrel bridge spooked Henry and he didn't go into any dark caves, but Emmett and Luke climbed all over that island and through all the caves. Henry loved waving at all of the people passing by on the Mark Twain, and when we were on the other side of the island, he waved at them all again. Some of them seemed to recognize him! After they'd passed by the second time, Henry headed back to the other side of the island and was looking at the water. I asked him if he was looking for ducks. Henry loves ducks, and loves to loudly say, "quack quack quack," but he told me he wanted to wave at the people on the boat again!
After the fireworks, the only "Mountain" that hadn't been ridden was Big Thunder, so we went back to see if it was running (it had been down earlier in the day). It was, so Emmett, Luke, and Grandma went to ride it while Henry slept in the stroller. When they returned it was just a couple of minutes until the park closed. Since they were still letting people get in line, Emmett, Luke and I got back in line while Grandma stayed with Henry. We were on one of the last trains that night.
Afterwards we meandered through the park towards main street, in no hurry to join the masses waiting for trams back to the parking lot. The Christmas decorations were fantastic, and even better at night with zillions of lights. On Main Street, I found the machine that vibrates your feet. It was always my last stop as a kid - for 10 cents (25 cents now!) you can stand on a platform that vibrates the heck out of your feet and legs. While it's running your feet stop aching, but they start again when it's over. Emmett and Luke also watched one of the penny-flip-book-movies in the arcade (Henry was asleep in a carrier on my back by this point).
I really can't believe that they weren't complaining on the way back to the car, but they were pretty much quiet. I hope the next trip goes as well, because this one will be hard to match.
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