March 2008 Archives

There are countless things that I didn't imagine when deciding to become a parent.  Conversations with a three year old have added soooo many things to this list.  Here are some things I never imagined I would hear or say in my life.

Sophie: "I want my own iPhone!" - What??  She's three!
Jacob to Sophie: "Darth Vader doesn't take his light saber on the potty."  This guy knows his Star Wars.
Me to Josie: "If you run, you're going to be in trouble!" - I love running, just not when it's followed by falling and catching yourself with your face.

We've returned from our first travel crisis free vacation.  I honestly can't believe that nothing bad happened with our flights.  There was a small delay on our return and we thought we may have missed our connection but nope, it was there. 

Our youngest daughter must have sensed our relief and decided she didn't like mom and dad being so relaxed. So after we checked in we headed to the pool to "wear the kids out" so they would take naps since they didn't sleep a wink on the plane.  They were tired alright.  Josie was stumbling her way back to our room and ate it on the concrete.  Thankfully this kid has cat like reflexes and caught herself with her forehead.  The goose-egg was so big I seriously thought it would burst.  We booked it to our room and iced her head down. She was coherent and talking to me about the pool and plane ride so we were pretty sure she didn't have a concussion.  She fell asleep fighting against the ice pack which was good because I got to ice her head down while she slept which meant less screaming AND less swelling.

The next day we got up bright and early to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom.  We got there shortly after they opened the gates at 7 am and had the place practically to ourselves.  There seemed to be characters everywhere and no lines to be seen.  Sophie got to meet Snow White and Dopey first.  This was the first test of Josie's interest in characters and it came out negative.  She liked seeing them from a distance but had no interest in actually walking up to them.  I think if Snow White would have been alone (stupid Dopey) she would have wanted to see Snow White.  Sophie on the other hand was thrilled.  Snow White commented that she and Sophie had the same hair cut and you could practically see the little girl walking on sunshine as she departed, autograph book in hand.  We met Chip and Dale and Daisy Duck then walked up Main Street USA to see the castle.  It was surprisingly magical.  I honestly didn't know what to expect but all of us got caught up in it.  We ran up to the castle and inspected the murals inside. Once on the other side, Sophie and I got to ride the Dumbo ride with no line.  This was Sophie's first real amusement park ride and I wasn't sure what she was going to think.  All the way up, as high as we could go!  That in-utero helicopter ride from the folks at Nelson must have made an impression on her.  We walked back to Main Street USA for breakfast at "The Bakery" and while we were eating, the Main Street Trolley and musical cast stopped and sang "Main Street USA", one of Sophie's favorite songs from her Grandma's Disney Sing-a-long tapes.  After that we did all of Fantasy Land and had a blast. Minnie's house, Mickey's house, the Hundred Acre Wood, The ToonTown Fair where we met Pluto, Goofy and Donald.  Donald actually came out and escorted Sophie by the hand back to have her picture taken.  The Judges Tent to meet Mickey.  Jake and Sophie rode on Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster (Sophie's favorite) then we took the train all around the park.

My wonderful wife turns 30 today.

9 years ago we celebrated her birthday in Carmel, and because my Volvo station wagon had a habit of stalling for an unpredictable amount of time we made the trip from Carmel to Petaluma in one shot.

Thanks for sharing all the adventures with me, and not calling it quits after I wouldn't stop the car so you could use the bathroom.

More details coming soon, just wanted to share the pics (188 of them!) from our trip. Click on the picture above to see the first page.