I thought good and hard about the title of this entry. Some contenders: "Disney Rocked!" or "Who goes to the Magic Kingdom and forgets their camera?" (Yes, I did that.) However, the point of the whole weekend was that my little sister...okay, not so little anymore, actually, 17 years old and a towering 5'9", ran a full on marathon! Twenty-six MILES!
This photo was taken at the last mile, Lauren was smiling and waving her arms at us as we cheered and whooped as she ran by. I couldn't believe how unphased she looked! It was hot and sunny and she made running a marathon look as easy as cake. I was so proud. I AM so proud. That's some real dedication there. I really am glad we could be there to cheer for her and hug her later. I can't imagine the physical and mental tolls that kind of exertion requires and it's so impressive how cool she is about it. Afterwards she said, "Well, the marathon wasn't so bad, it's this damn blister!" She said the blister was worse than the running! She is super-girl, as far as I am concerned.
So, now you must be wondering about the rest of our trip. To sum up: awesome and exhausting...but mostly awesome. With the $170 we saved by saying Littleman was two, Papabear and I bought the Park Hopper tickets so we could take Littleman to all the parks - not to mention the last time Papabear was in Disney two of the parks (Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom) had not been built yet! So, he was curious.
We started with the character breakfast buffet, which ended up being a major waste of money. Littleman was fascinated that Leo and June, from Little Einsteins, would be walking around while we ate, but as soon as he saw them up close, he freaked. He wanted nothing to do with them. We learned, rather quickly, that he preferred to watch his favorite characters (Goofy and Captain Hook) from a distance.
I'm not sure which was more shocking to Papabear, June making some moves on him or the bill for this breakfast!
We met up with Lauren on Saturday, before the marathon.
Littleman loved the 3-D muppet show and the Honey I Shrunk the kids play area at Hollywood Studios.
I DID leave the camera in the car (a tram AND ferry ride away) when we got to Magic Kingdom. I did buy a disposable and I have to pick the photos up today. I'll admit, though, that I'm kind of glad I forgot the camera. I spent more time actually enjoying the moments than behind the lens. When I finally did get my camera back, I really didn't take that much.
At Animal Kingdom they now have a whole Dinosoaur themed section. Littleman LOVED it. There's a giant play area he spent much of the day in - lots of slides and climbing nets. Super fun for the little guy who's butt was spending a lot of time in the stroller.
Right after this, Papabear had to leave and catch his plane back to TX. Littleman and I stayed an extra night so we could spend a little time with Lauren after the Marathon. Here's Littleman crossing swords with her at Epcot's Norway.
Sunday night I was SO utterly wasted. Papabear had gone, Lauren had dinner plans with her running mates, and Littleman and I were just about spent. I splurged on a cab-ride back to our hotel and ordered pizza from room service. Somehow, Littleman had enough energy for this:
We watched the end of the movie, School of Rock, and then crashed into an oblivion of sleep. The next morning, Monday, we had quite a few hours to kill. I had planned to spend them in the pool, BUT, it had rained all night and it was cloudy and 62 degrees! Our hotel was very close to Downtown Disny, so we killed some time there.
Fortunately, there are loads of free things to do at Downtown Disney. I did, however, take Littleman to a way-oeverpriced lunch at the very cool T-Rex cafe. It's a lot like those Rainforest Cafe's - with all the animated, life-size animals, except this one is all dinosaur themed. It was pretty amazing. Attached to their gift shop is a "sand pit" where kids can use brushes to look for dinosaur bones. Littleman spent more than 45 minutes in it. I had a book with me, so that was pretty cool.
So, now we are home and Littleman started spiking a fever yesterday. He was up to 103 by 9pm last night. Papabear and I were so sick last week, neither of us could believe that Littleman would avoid it. Amazingly, it kept at bay until we got home. He's down to 100.3 this morning and happily watching endless episodes of Ducktales (borrowed from the library). He has requested baking cookies for daddy, so I will oblige...much to my chagrin (ha ha).
I loved our trip to Disney, as quick as it was. Now I know that the best time to take "the kids" is when they are a bit older - six and up, I think. Then they really get it and can go on just about any ride. (Littleman cried when he was told he wasn't tall enough for the Star Wars and Autoban/race car rides.) I suppose I'll start saving now...it will cost nothing less than an arm and a leg.
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