Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Magic Continues, Disney Day 3






Friday was my favorite day! We had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney - a cool 3 story restaurant with jungle animals throughout and a fake thunder storm every 30 minutes. The boys loved it. Into the park we went at 9am We saved Mickey's Toontown, another land that is all Mickey'd out, for today. Straight to Mickey's house went where we were promptly greeted by Mickey himself. All fear and shyness of characters is long gone...Ian is happy to hug, Nate to high five and tease. Ian loved the roller coaster in Toontown - as with most rides it took a bit of convincing to get him on it in the first place. Nate loved all the things there were to do and climb on. Ian's true magic moment came when he saw Minnie Mouse. He ran up to her at full speed and threw himself into her arms at the town fountain. Dave and I were both thrilled to see how happy he was. Later, we met Pluto. Since it was starting to rain (again!) Pluto took both boys by the hand and walked them all the way down Main Street to his house. They thought they were so special.
I took Ian back to nap at the hotel this day. Dave and Nate "King of the Coaster" continued on to do some father/son bonding on the big rides: Thunder mountain railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and more Star Tours.
When Ian and I re-entered the park we stumbled upon the Parade of Dreams which was really neat. All the floats were beautiful and characters were everywhere. We then went on some mom/son rides: Rocket ships, Jungle Cruise and Winnie the Pooh (over and over and over). Ian "One more time again" Shuster was born.
Nate's Fav.: Haunted Mansion
Ian's Fav.: Meeting Goofy and Tigger and new friends all by himself

Disney Day 2





Thursday we were up bright and early for our Early Entry into Disneyland. Anyone staying on-site gets to go in one hour earlier than the masses (although, keep in mind, it is still raining off and on and the Californians seem to fear the rain!) After a very neat countdown we were in the park, sun shining momentarily! Right away we met Dale and Mickey Mouse (dressed up - there seems to be 3-4 different Mickey's you can encounter - only one in the park at a time)! Still shy around Dale, Ian was off the stroller for a pose with his pal Mickey. We headed to Fantasyland to maximize our time with the Dumbo ride, Mr. Toads Wild ride, Peter Pan, Casey's circus train. We convinced the boys to try our the Matterhorn, a pretty good roller coaster. It was on this ride that Nate found his love of roller coasters! Throughout our trip he did every wild ride in the park that his 41 inch body would allow (most have a min. height requirement of 4o inches). Off to Tomorrowland for Star Tours ( a Star Wars ride), more Buzz Lightyear, and one of Ian's new favorites, the Rocket Ship ride (like Dumbo, only rockets). We had lunch at Redd's Rocket Pizza port, met the 'REAL' Buzz Lightyear and Dave and Nate took off for Space Mountain (scary ride!) while Ian passed out in his stroller. We watched the first (of 2) Jedi Training Academy shows, got on the Nemo submarine, Teacups finally opened (they shut down in rain). We got our Mouse Ears this day too at the Mad Hatter!
Nate's Fav: Taking mom on Star tours
Ian's Fav: Dumbo ride

Disney Trip




We're baaaack! We survived Disney and the boys (especially Ian) are already asking when we are going back! We left on Wednesday (my birthday!) for a 4 night/5 day adventure. When we arrived at the (Disneyland) hotel, Goofy was there to greet us. Both boys were extremely shy (at first, this didn't last long...you'll see pics!) but Ian wanted to wait outside while Dave and Nate checked in. He watched Goofy for about 20 minutes with curiosity and awe. Ian, our resident Disney fan and expert, wasn't quite sure what to think of one of HIS guys live!
After check in we headed straight to catch the Monorail in Downtown Disney (a great perk of staying on-site). It was getting dark and very rainy. We headed to Blue Bayou, the restaurant at Pirates of the Caribbean, for my birthday dinner. That night we rode Autopia, Pirates and the trip favorite, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters. We were soaked though that night from the rain, but there was hardly anyone there - a perk of rainy Disney. Let me tell you, I would rather have rain than lines. They boys (2 and 4) could care less about being wet, but I couldn't stand line whining!
Nate's Favorite thing: Getting Indiana Jones T-shirt
Ian's Favorite thing: Driving thecars

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Going Downtown






Today we took the MAX Train downtown. It's a favorite activity of the boys. After hopping on at Sunset Station, we rode down to visit the family jeweler to get Dave's new wedding ring (which we are hoping will become Murphy's law and cause us to find the missing one) and had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. The highlight? French Fries shaped like smiley faces.


On a different note, yesterday I had to take Ian to the doctor to get his ears checked. As usual when he gets a bad cold and congestion, one is infected and we DO NOT want to fly to Disneyland this next week with that! Anyone who knows Ian knows that his body is his temple an he does NOT like to be touched - hair, nails, teeth, ears - all are off limits w/o a fight. Needless to say our entire visit with Dr. Gillespie was mass hysteria, sobbing, hyperventilating. As we walking out, Dr. Gillespie behind us, Ian turns around to him and says matter-of fact, "Now that wasn't so bad!" Little stinker!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Winter Wonderland







With a dusting of snow on Christmas, everyone was salivating to find more. Luckily, Grandma Jan and Grandpa Ron live high enought to get plenty of the white stuff. At 1300 feet elevation, we were able to go sledding 2 days in a row in at least a foot of snow. Sam and Andrew were able to join us the second day. Nate was our daredevil and Ian just giggled as he spun down the hill over and over.