Disney: Day 2, Part 2

Last Disney post, promise!!

On Saturday we opted out of going back to the rotel for naps since it was our last day and they were in much better moods after lunch. (I have to say though that by 8:30 that evening we started to re-think that idea!) After Winnie and Tigger, we went to Fantasy land and wow. Wow. I have never seen so many people in such a "small area." It was insane. But Audrey wanted to ride the carousel and James Dumbo, so we dug out our parent of the year awards and got in separate lines. We didn't have to wait too long for the carousel and when we got off and found the boys they were only about half way thru the Dumbo line. Audrey decided she wanted to ride too so to avoid starting a riot, Jon took both of them by himself. He's a trooper!

We left Fantasy Land as soon as we could and went to find Buz. We didn't find him though.

We decided to look for Buz later and went to stake out some seats for a parade. We got some really good ones and while we were waiting James looked in the store window that we were sitting in front of and saw some treats. Special treats as he referred to them and he begged ever so sweetly so I took him in to pick something out. He chose the $6 Mickey ear lollipops.

They really enjoyed that parade more than any of the others. Next time though, we will park ourselves across the street from where we were. The sun was right in our eyes the whole time. Okay, so after that the grownups needed to sit in some chairs and drink some coffee so we went to Main Street Bakery for a snack. I tried to get a picture out side the bakery but the side walk and street were just to crowded. Jon and I both got the best cup of coffee we'd had in a long time (well, since that morning at McDonald's!!!) and I just have to say that the chocolate croissant is out of this world! I wish I'd known how good it was going to be and I would have gotten 2 of them!!

After we were partially rejuvenated we headed out to look for Buz again. The character times kept saying he was in Frontier Land so we headed back there to look for him again. I stopped off in the Christmas Shoppe for some ornaments and Jon headed on with the kids. He texted me about 10 minutes later and said to come on, James was over it. Rut ro rorge. Who would of known that they would freak out that I left the group?? By this time the kids were in a nasty mood and we thought about leaving for a nap but it was too late. So, we went back to the help desk (which is where we should of gone all along but whatever) and I asked where we could find Buz and some other characters. I learned a valuable piece of info then, u can find characters where ever you see Mickey's hand. Geez. And Buz was NOT in Frontier Land, he was in Tomorrow Land. We trucked over there and got in line, again!
 You stand in line for what seems like hours with cranky, bouncing off the ropes kids. You're tired, they are tired. You're really tired of bumping into people and having people bump into you. Your daughter gets traumatized for the umpteenth time by grabbing hold of a tall persons legs thinking it's her daddy only to look up and see that it's some stranger. And you do all this for less than a minute with some character with a big, cheesy, kind of creepy grin on his face. It's worth it though. Always is. To see that look on their faces. That's why parents have been doing it for years and years. That look on their kids faces and in their eyes. And then to hear them talk about it to other people makes it even better!

I must give a little shout out to my husband. He was such a trooper on this trip. The trip was my idea. I did all the planning and purchasing and arranged the yard sale and collected and rolled the change that paid for this trip and I got him totally excited about going. Had I not saved and saved and planned and planned we wouldn't of gone when we did. So, one would expect that I would be the most excited, have the most patience and get the most out of the trip. Correct? Well, not so. My husband never got aggravated, always did what we wanted with a genuine smile on his face. He put himself in Mardi Gras mode to get us quickly thru the crowds which was a life saver, I have to say. He kept me laughing the whole time and he enjoyed every moment of our trip together. He got as much out of the joy on the kids faces as I did, if not more. We were talking about it the other night and he said that if we could go back tomorrow, he'd do it in a heart beat!! Aw, I love him so much!!! That being said though, I had to snag this picture of the one time he was "over it." We were waiting for Buz.

Are you tired yet of my minute by minute accounts? Sorry. My hope is that 40 years from now when Jon and I can barely remember our own names, we can read this account and remember what a glorious time we all had on our first trip to Disney!! So, after we left Mr. Lightyear, we went to find somewhere to eat for supper. Somewhere warm and comfortable and instead we found some ducks!

We were staying for the electrical parade and had a lot of time to kill. Almost too much. After we ate supper, we happened up on Pluto which again, was a huge hit. They LOVE them some Pluto!!

After Pluto, we staked out some seats for the parade and then found out we had another hour to wait. Ugh. So Jon let me do a little roaming around in the shops and he took the kids to get some popcorn. As I'm coming out of a store, I hear a very familiar cry and can hardly believe that I can hear my own child over the noise of that crowd, but I could. Their lips were very chapped and the salt from the popcorn was burning their mouths! Mom to the rescue of course and much to his father's horror, I put lipstick on both their mouths to coat it so they could eat their popcorn with out screaming. Because, even though it was burning the dog out of them, they were determined to eat their popcorn!!!

Jon then left and went to look around and by the time he got back, this is what he found

As soon as the parade was over, we bid farewell to the happiest, most magical place on earth. The place where little boys and girls dreams really do come true. We were more tired than we had ever been and the little bun that's growing in my oven certainly didn't help matters on that end! Audrey feel asleep as soon as she laid her head down on my shoulder so I got to tote dead weight around for what seemed like an eternity. James had taken him a little cat nap so he was good to go for the trek back to the van. Even though we were so tired we could hardly keep our eyes open, it was worth it all. And even though taking kids to Disney World with out the back up of other adult arms and legs is a lot of work, it was worth it. We made some memories that will last a life time and bonded in ways that we didn't know we could. It was great. It was wonderful. It was magical and we can't wait to go again!!!!! However, we wont be taking 3 children to Disney by ourselves. Just sayin!!!