Disney 2013

Although our time at the magical place on earth (where dreams come true!) was cut a little short, I still wanted to share our pictures.  I felt like I planned a lot for this trip, but the first hour in, I was completely overwhelmed.  My lack of an internal compass and being directionally challenged was a large part of it!  Our first mis-step was driving to the park and not thinking about the amount of time it would take to actually get into the park.  Next, I had not properly prepared the kids for the character meet and greets.  The first characters we saw were Pluto and Minnie Mouse.  First I didn't prepare them that they would have to wait in a line to meet them and second I didn't prepare them that at some point the characters leave.  It was really important for Elizabeth to meet Pluto and after standing in line for a few minutes, it was announced that he would be moving on.  So EB had her first melt down.  Another lesson I learned was that if you think your kid might not be tall enough to do a ride it probably isn't a good idea to parade him up there only to be told "sorry buddy you don't meet the height requirement."  

To recap our trip and lessons learned... 1) allow plenty of time to get into the park (you aren't the only ones there!) 2) familiarize yourself with a map (side note - Brandon even struggled with the Disney app that was supposedly so wonderful) 3) prepare your children for the character experiences (would you rather do a ride or wait in line for a autograph with a character we may be dining with later) 4) have a back up ride for your shorter child to ride to keep them happy (Grant's melt down in the gift shop was something no one enjoyed witnessing!) Geesh this all seems so obvious now!

The good news is there was a lot that we did do right.  My pink scarf on the stroller was a great idea.  Renting from Magic Strollers worked out really well.  Packing a tube of pennies for the souvenir penny press was also a good idea and the kids had fun looking for the penny stations.  I am guessing the rain ponchos I packed would have come in handy, but we didn't have any rain while we were there.  

My initial emotion was just purely being overwhelmed and not exactly magical, but when I look back the pictures they make me smile and it's kind of like child labor - you just remember the sweet baby in your arms, not all the hard work it took to get there!  So here are our happy memories, until we go back and make a few more! (and maybe get a family picture together!!)

Grant was really excited!

Daddy took a turn pushing to stroller too

Main Street was decorated for Halloween

"White Rabbit" (Grant was OK watching from the sidelines)

On the Tea Cups

EB's very special face painting.  She didn't get to do it at the St.Jude Kid's Run this year because she had her dance recital and we have been promising her she could get her face painted somewhere.  Well of course Disney had a face painting station and she found it!  We smiled, bit the bullet (because we knew it would be pricey) but she was so thrilled and happy it was worth it and with the way everything went down over the next few hours we were so glad we said yes.  Plus everybody in the airports and planes complimented her so we really got our monies worth! 

It was worth the wait to see the step sisters and step mother from Cinderella.  They were a hoot!  Again, Grant was OK just watching :)

We were going to eat lunch but Grant spotted the carousel and insisted we do that before we ate.  Again, another thing we are glad we said yes to.  We all four rode on a horse and smiled the entire time! 

We also did Dumbo and Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster.  There was no wait at Lilo and Stitch's Great Escape ride so we did that, but I would not do it again.  Personally I just thought the ride was dumb.  Grant pulled a good one on this attraction though.  You enter a round room with chairs and restraints automatically come down.  When they hit your shoulders they go up just a tiny bit so you are comfortable yet still secure.  Well our little buddy was sitting on his knees when the shoulder restraints came down so that meant he had plenty of room to weasel out.  Since we had never been on this ride I had no idea how important these restraints were.  I held my hand on his leg but half way through he slide out and tried to sit on my lap!  I was restrained myself so there was very little we could do to make him sit in his chair.  Brandon and I were looking at each other like "what do we do now?!"  I had to assume because no one came and checked our restraints that they weren't really necessary and that was in deed the case so it was all good, but a little hairy for a moment.  Needless to say I don't need to do that ride again!  Elizabeth and Grant drove us around the Tomorrowland Speedway and the last ride was Space Mountain.  This was the ride that Grant didn't make it on due to his height.  We did the rider swap and Brandon and I both rode with Elizabeth.  She is our thrill seeker and absolutely loved it!  I think she might actually do the Tower of Terror.

These aren't easy ones....(not easy at all)

This past week my mother-in-law passed away.  Although she had been diagnosed with stage IV cancer last October, it still came unexpectedly.  I guess you always want to think you have more time and the truth is, you are never ready to let go of someone you love.  I don't want to go into the details of everything, but because this blog is for Elizabeth and Grant someday I want to write about it so they remember how we handled this very difficult situation.

Mimi and EB

We left Thursday evening for Florida, our first family trip to Disney.  We checked into our room late and Brandon and I probably fell asleep around 1 am.  We woke the next morning ready to soak in all of the wonders of Magic Kingdom.  It seemed like it took forever to get in to the actual park, but that's another story.  We had been there an hour or so and my sister-in-law (from AZ, but was in town visiting) call to tell us that Robin had been taken to the hospital and that she would keep us updated.  A few hours later she called again saying that we needed to come home.  In a flurry of emotions we started walking out of the park, pushing a double stroller, working our smart phones, making phone calls...trying to figure out the fastest way home.  We approached an information center and I went to an employee and explained that we had a family emergency and needed to get home as soon as possible.  Within 5 minutes we had kleenex, bottles of water and were escorted out the back gates where a van with 2 car seats waited for us and this compassionate employee drove us to the parking lot to retrieve our rental car.  Grant had fallen asleep due to a total meltdown about not being tall enough to ride Space Mountain (another story!), but Elizabeth jumped out of the stroller and said "what's going on?"  We had to tell her that we needed to leave quickly to get home to be with Mimi.  She cried and said, "but we didn't get to go to Animal Kingdom." We assured her we would come back and with great grace and maturity she nodded her head and got in the car.

Mim with EB and baby Grant

Our first plan was just to get in the car and drive for 15-17 hours back to Illinois.  My mom knew I wouldn't listen to her, so she had my brother call me and he convinced me to get Brandon a flight home and he would come and drive home with me and the kids.  Within another 15 minutes that plan had changed and my brother and sister-in-law had airline tickets for all 4 of us.  After boarding our connecting flight Grant finally asked "Airplane, again?"  I think he had just figured out that our Disney trip was shorter than expected.  We arrived at the hospital at 10:00 pm.

Festival of Lights Parade last year.  Mimi hated to be cold! (and it was cold!)

Brandon and I spent the next week at Robin's side for the most part.  We took turn rotating our kids and  our niece and nephew.  Needless to say, none of the kids saw a lot of their mommies and daddies that week.  On October 11, Robin entered her eternal resting place and I know she had a special place in Heaven waiting for her.  Not only were we dealing with our own emotions as adults, but we knew we had to tell the kids.

Mimi and Grant two years ago at Tanners

My friend had treated the kids to a special trip to an orchard/pumpkin patch.  Then they went to play at our old neighbor's house.  Brandon and I went to pick them up at about 6:30 and we decided to take them to the park to play.  They wanted to swing first.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth kind of got pushed out of the swing and slide across the mulch.  We took the kids over to the pavilion and got her calmed down and then starting walking with them.  Brandon explained that Mimi was now living in Heaven and even though we won't be able to see her, she will always be with us and always be watching over us.  We talked about how it is ok to be sad and it is certainly ok to talk about Mimi.  In fact, we said we wanted to talk about her a lot because we want to always remember her.  The look on Grant's face was so intense and serious.  He spoke first and said, "Only Pops now?"  B said, "Yep, only Pops now" and he nodded his head.  We turned to Elizabeth and she began crying, but said "my hands really hurt" (from the swing incident).  She is pretty intuitive and I think our absence during the week had clued her in that something pretty serious was going on.  I have been concerned about our very inquisitive daughter's quietness.  But yesterday Grant was singing a song from VBS and Elizabeth said, "Mimi is living in God's backyard because she is in Heaven." Today at school the director told me that she overheard some conversation with Elizabeth and her teacher and that it was healthy and appropriate.  All in all I think the kids are coping well.

Amber, Mimi, Brandon

As parent's we faced some tough decisions on how involved the kids should be in the arrangements.  We had very serious discussions about the kids seeing Mimi one last time.  In the end we all concluded that minimal exposure was best.  The children were not present for the visitation or the funeral service.  They did join us for the gathering that followed.  The last time they saw Mimi was when we were all at the orchard/pumpkin patch together.  Amber and her kids had just arrived and Kenny and Robin picked them up and we all met there.  Mimi didn't have a lot of spunk, but she gave it her all - just as she always has.  She sat on the benches and watched the four kids play together and the smile on her face said everything.  Elizabeth, Grant (even Stella and Briggs!) I want you to know that you meant the absolute world to Mimi and she loved you more than you will ever know.  Part of what hurts the most is knowing that the kids will be missing out on an awesome grandmother.  However, we comfort ourselves by saying that now she gets to watch them do everything and always has a front row seat!  We have memories that we will treasure forever and will do our very best to share with you over and over and over again!!  We even had people contribute their favorite things and "Mimi-isms" so that we can make a memory book.  I promise to honor her memory the best that I can.  We lost such a special woman, but I understand that God has a plan and even if I don't like it or even understand it, I trust in Him.

Our last trip to Tanners with Mimi.  They were playing "Statue" a game that Mimi made up a few years ago.  It was one of their favorite games to play together!

Grant and School

Well I knew it was too good to be true.  Grant did awesome at school the first few weeks when I dropped him off.  Two weeks ago he clung to me so strongly it took both teachers to pull him off of me.  Last week he decided my pony tail would be a good thing to hang on to for dear life.  Of course within 10 minutes he is calm.  The teachers say he participates, plays and listens well.  So our solution...next week Grant gets to go to school TWO days a week instead of just one.  We hope that more frequency will help with his routine and that he will adjust quicker.  The whole way to school he will sit in the in the back and say "I don't like school."  When we ask him what he doesn't like he just repeats "I don't like school."  Last week they had beans in the water table and the teacher said he insisted on picking up all the beans that had spilled onto the floor before doing anything else!  I know this isn't uncommon, I just hope we move through this stage quickly because it isn't pleasant for anyone!!

Awe...look at that sweet face!