Well, we visited the land of Mickey and Minnie and all things happy. Aunt Katie and Alex were there and we had a grand time! It was great seeing Judith and Alex together. And it was fun to visit so much with Katie over the eight days. For those who would like the short recap, here it is: We did eight days at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios. Judith learned the words "ride" and "line". She LOVED the rides and enjoyed seeing all the people. But what she probably loved the most was all the stairs she could walk up and down and all the fountains she could put her hands in. She was quite frustrated by walking around in a harness for a few days (after she listened to us better, she got to walk around without the harness) and she was frustrated by all the fountains she couldn't put her hands in.
Of course the great thing about Disney is getting to meet Mickey Mouse. And Judith just loved all the animal characters! She ran up to Goofy and threw her arms around him, and did the same with Donald Duck. Judith really enjoyed meeting all of the giant stuffed animals. She was a lot less pleased about the human characters. We went to a Princess breakfast and Judith just screamed at the women. We met Belle, Mary Poppins (we still don't know why she's part of a princess breakfast), Jasmine, Mulan and Snow White. Judith was not pleased with any of them. No smiles at all. Oh well.
Overall, we had nice weather to start and then really hot and humid. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves and were thrilled to go. Since getting back, Judith has adjusted well. She spent a day resting (she took a four hour nap on Tuesday). Then on Wednesday morning, when I told her she was going to Busy Bees (her day care) she stopped eating, got her shoes, put her water and blanket and diaper bag by the door and said, "Shoes on. Bye-Bye." She was ready to go. And she was so happy to get there and see her friends. That was fun! By Thursday Judith was bored with being home. She kept trying to get me to put her shoes on. She brought them to me and said, "Shoes on. Ride. Shoes on. Ride." I kept explaining was don't have rides here - those are in Orlando. Poor thing. She only asked about four times on Friday, so she was a bit better adjusted.
Of course, by Friday Judith learned a new trick. Two hours after I put her down for her nap, I was walking through the hall. I opened her door slightly because I had heard nothing, just to see if she was really asleep or starting to stir. She was standing in her crib totally naked. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "Is that pee-pee?" I looked at the diaper and clothes on the floor and the wet bed, crib and floor and said, "Yes, Judith, that's pee-pee." This morning then when we got her up, she was again totally naked, but had not peed all over the place (thankfully).
We got her dressed and fed her hummus for breakfast (per her request - it seems to be her favorite food these days!), and then went off to the second birthday party of a neighbor. There were six children between the ages of five months and three years, and Judith really had a great time. Next Saturday we'll celebrate her birthday, but it will be a lot smaller of an affair. We have invited one friend over (who is currently out of town, so we won't find out if she can come until Monday or Tuesday), and besides that it is just going to be us. We are going to have some ribs and beans and cake and ice cream. It should be fun!
And there is no triple crown winner this year. Big Brown is the first triple crown hopeful to finish last. Unfortunate, but Nick Zito is a huge trainer, and it's still fun to have a long shot winner. Especially when you have no money on it (I heard before the race that $5.8M had been wagered on Big Brown - people are crazy!).
And it seems this week has been quite momentous in history. Of course I could be referring to D Day, or the death of RFK, or the Tiananmen Square anniversary. But really, in our lives it goes back to June 6 of last year – the day Judith first walked. Our lives have certainly never been the same (and never will be). Our little angel loves to run and take off. She likes to be a little adult and push the stroller and take care of the other kids. She is her own little independent person, and it’s been amazing to try to keep up with this over the past year, and will continue to be in the time to come.
And one quick aside – Happy Birthday, Michele! We hope you’re enjoying it!
Now, for those who want the blow by blow, in depth Disney report, please keep reading. I will apologize up front - it took more than five hours to type all of this up, and I have not had time to proof read it for style, readability, or anything else. I have the distinct impression that the word "then" is the most frequently used word here. I do apologize - it is utilitarian for the details, but not for style. For all who don't want to spend the next hour reading every detail, have a great week, and we'll post birthday pictures next weekend!
Sunday, May 25: We flew from San Jose to Denver to Orlando on Southwest. I have to say, for all the problems with flying these days, we really enjoy our Southwest experience every time we fly with them. Judith was great for the flights. On our flight to Denver we were unfortunate in that we were behind a very nasty man who made nasty comments every time Judith made any sound at all. And she wasn't crying, she was talking, and making happy baby sounds. He would pound his seat and say, "Oh my ___!" and "Lord have mercy!" He was just nasty. We moved on after the flight, but Judith picked up the "Oh my ___!" phrase and has used it repeatedly in the two weeks since. We have chosen to ignore it and hope it goes away. A reaction will probably keep it around longer.
We landed in Denver, ran over to our second flight, got on, and had a great second flight (the same nasty man was on that flight, but in the back, and on a plane to Orlando you're guaranteed LOTS of kids, and so he must have been in agony, poor guy!). On the way up Judith was saying "Hi, Sky." On the way down she was saying, "Goodbye clouds" and waving to them. It was soooo cute! She did learn how to work the tray table, had fun with colored pencils, and climbed all over Mommy and Daddy.
We landed and headed off on the Magical Express to our hotel. Judith screamed and shouted on the entire bus ride to Disney. We passed under the gates and I said to her, "Judith, we're in the happiest place on earth!" She continued to scream. We arrived at Boardwalk and Aunt Katie and Alex were there to greet us. Once Judith got to the room, she was able to snack and run around and was happy again. Running around and playing with Alex and getting in and out of cabinets without locks on them was LOTS of fun! Alex was just so excited to have a playmate - it was adorable! We went out on the Boardwalk for dinner and Judith ran up and down the boardwalk. She watched the ducks, was fascinated with a man playing a piano while bicycling along (we had to dance to the fun music) and she even tried running into Jelly Rolls (a 21+ nightclub - they really didn't want her in there!).
We picked up a few basics at the store and went back to the room to lay Judith down for sleep. She had not napped and was WAY over tired. Of course, we had a toddler bed for her, which she has not slept in before, and so she fell out of bed four times during the night. But by about 2 a.m. she was settled and slept through the rest of the night.
Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day: Judith was dressed in her "American Cutie" shirt and was adorable. We ate in the room and let the kids play and then we packed up and transferred hotels to the Beach Club. Our rooms were very similar at the two places. They both contained a kitchen, dining area and living room that were common. And then Katie and Alex had a room with a queen sized bed and full bathroom area, a sofa, table and two chairs. Robert, Judith and I had a room with a king bed, chair, desk, and full master bathroom with a spa tub (that we never took advantage of). We had close to 1000 square feet of space between us, which was great!
After getting into our room there we went to Epcot! We gave up on the stroller (Judith wouldn't sit in it at all) and put Judith in the harness. That worked for a while. We ate a nice lunch and rode Nemo and Friends - Judith's first ride! She really enjoyed it, especially the EAC (Eastern Australian Current), but she was a bit afraid of the aquariums at the end. We then went over and rode "The Land". We were in the first row and Judith was fascinated that we were in a boat, and fascinated by all the scenes. We then went onto Imagination and the ride with Figment. We were in the front row again! Yeah!
We watched a few splashing fountains, played in the park, and then headed back to the room. We intended to go back to Epcot after a little rest for the kids, but by 6 Judith was sound asleep. She woke up once (from 8:45 - 9:30), and then was straight back to sleep. She didn't fall out of bed and slept the whole night through. She was totally exhausted.
Tuesday, May 27: After breakfast in the room we headed to the dock and took the boat to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Immediately after we entered the park, a float for "High School Musical 2" went by with kids singing and dancing. Judith loved it and wanted to dance.
We then headed off to Disney's Playhouse. Judith was somewhat entertained for the first half of the show and then lost interest, but Alex enjoyed the show throughout. At the end of the show, streamers went to the right and left (we were sitting in the middle), but a single orange streamer fell straight on Judith and redeemed the entire experience - she was thrilled with it! We then went off for pictures with Prince Caspian (who called Robert a Giant for being so tall!), and then stopped for a snack.
At this point Alex slept in his stroller and Judith ran off to climb up and down stairs at the food court. We had lunch, took pictures in front of the hat, took pictures with Baby Einsteins (I don't know their names) and headed to the Magic of Disney Animation. We were then in the right place at the right time, winning Mouse Ears for the "Year of a Million Dreams" (which has been happening since 2006, but who's counting?) and that was fun. Judith enjoyed the show about creating the characters, and then we met Sourcer Mickey! We tried to ride Toy Story (the brand new ride) but it was closed, and so we had a snack and headed back to the boat and the Beach Club.
After the kids napped, we headed to the pool. Aunt Katie had brought all sorts of fun beach items because of the wonderful sand areas at the Beach Club's main pool. Unfortunately, Judith HATED the sand! Hated it! But she loved being in the water and swimming around. We swam, went to the room, ate, put the kids down, had a glass of wine, and then went to bed. Judith was up 4 to 5 times over night, crawling out of her bed and into ours. I didn't sleep from 1:30 - 6:00. It was a long night!
Wednesday, May 28: We took a bus to Magic Kingdom and took pictures and more pictures. Our first pictures with photo pass when we arrived, in the front of the park, in front of the train, were the best family photos we got during the whole week. They're great! (We don't have the PhotoPass pictures yet - that will be a few more weeks.)
Judith then had lots of fun playing in the fountain and having a snack. You might be noticing a theme around food, but really it was Alex who taught us what toddlers should eat like. Oh my goodness, this child LOVES his food! Meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, he's a happy baby with food. It was adorable to watch him eat and after the food! We hope Judith learned something from him, because she tends to just pick at her food.
We rode the flying carpets of Aladdin, and Judith loved going up and looking over everything. Then we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Judith really enjoyed all of the animatronics of the characters on the sides. She stared, transfixed, at all of it.
Then it was time for lunch at the Crystal Palace with the Pooh Characters. It was fabulous! Judith just loved the characters. And the food was quite enjoyable! Aunt Katie had stopped by City Hall in the morning to tell them we were celebrating Judith's second birthday, and so she got a "Happy Birthday" button for the lunch. And then at the lunch they gave her a cupcake with a candle, and a birthday card signed by the Pooh friends. Piglet helped her blow out the candles. It was cute! Alex wasn't quite sure what to make of the characters, but he was thrilled with the food!
Then we headed off to ride the Peter Pan ride. Judith enjoyed it, but was on overload, I think. She totally slept through the next ride - It's a Small World (my childhood favorite!) and the subsequent shopping. We took the kids off to Toontown Fair and took adorable pictures of them in their strollers, totally asleep, in front of the Toontown Fair sign. We shopped a bit more until they woke up, and then explored Minnie's house.
From there, we went back to Fantasyland, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Pooh's Playful Spot (a park for children ages 2-5 to play in). There were lots of big kids there, but Judith and Alex had a GREAT time running all around and playing with the water. They really enjoyed being free of the strollers and lines. Then we called it a day and headed back to the room.
Then we did something daring - we left Judith with Aunt Katie and Alex for an evening of fun, and Robert and I headed out for a night out. Katie swears it was the easiest babysitting job ever - that Judith and Alex were both asleep easily and early.
Robert and I headed to the China exhibit of Epcot. We watched some acrobatic performers who were a lot of fun, and then we had dinner at their main restaurant (we were there the last night before they closed for six months of renovations). It was a wonderful dinner. Then we headed over to the bridge by the international gateway, and watched the evening show, which was fun.
We were then on the first boat from Epcot over to DHS. It was a magic hours night, so they were open until 1 a.m. for those who were staying at a Disney property. We arrived at 9:45, and went to stand in line for Fantasmic, their night show. It was a fun show, but we were shocked at the number of children under the age of five who were there. And then the number of those kids who were at the park all the way until 1 a.m. was nuts. Really - if you're going to be at the park that late, take advantage of the nannies that are offered, and let your child SLEEP! OK - enough preaching.
So, we watched and enjoyed Fantsmic, and then headed to some of the rides. We were able to get on the Tower of Terror (tons of fun!) and then onto Toy Story. That new ride is a great time! Our final bonus round didn't work (disappointing, but the official open date of the ride was May 31, so they were still testing things), but we still had a great time. We then headed over to the Star Wars ride, which I have never been on, and Robert says hasn't changed in the 19 years its been open. It was fun in that it was old fashioned and practically empty. We then decided that hitting three parks during the day had taken good advantage of our park hopper passes, and that 14 1/2 hours of Disney parks in a day was probably enough, and we walked back to the Beach Club (it's about a 25 minute walk - very nice). It was a lovely evening, and we were grateful to Aunt Katie for watching Judith so that we could have our date night out.
Thursday, May 29: This was our "free day." Katie had not scheduled anything for the day. She and Alex relaxed in the room, did some shopping, and swam. Robert and Judith and I had a relaxed morning at the room, took the bus to Magic Kingdom, and got on the monorail to Polynesian Village. Both of us had stayed there with our families as kids and we wanted to see it again. So we went that way and had a nice lunch. One fun note from our lunch - I ordered an Asian salad. With my Asian salad I was given chopsticks. Judith LOVED the chopsticks. She ate the food that I fed to her with them, and she used them herself to spear her food quite effectively and put it in her mouth (and her food was grilled chicken with pasta and tomato sauce and a fruit cup). It was adorable!
Then we went back to Magic Kingdom (after a delay on the Monorail while we sat for a bit). We decided to focus our afternoon on Tomorrowland. We headed over to the Astro Orbiter (Robert took some fun video) and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Robert and I shot at Zurg and Judith spun the car around with the center controller). We rode the Carousel of Progress, which surprisingly, Judith really enjoyed. Robert and I aren't sure why they changed the song, but we thought the new ending was funny. We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Judith really enjoyed looking around at everything and riding through the other rides. Then we went off to the Indy Speedway (which we don't know what that has to do with Tomorrowland, but oh well). Judith steered the cart while I worked the gas, and we really bumped around back and forth (more than a week later I still have bruises, but Judith was fairly well protected by being held onto by me), but she really was laughing and enjoying herself.
Then Robert worked the gas and tried to have Judith steer, but she was starting to lose steam, and so he did both. By the time they got off, she was fading fast. We put her in her stroller and she fell asleep. We walked through stores for an hour and a half so she could sleep. We then watched the flag retirement ceremony that they do at 5:00 each day at the park entrance, and then took the bus back to the hotel.
Then we enjoyed a fun evening of swimming in the "quiet pool" that was right behind our room. The quiet pools don't have life guards. But they are much less used and easy to get to from our room. It was lots of fun and relaxing. We brought Judith back upstairs and fed her dinner and got her off to sleep. Another great day! And as it would have been my mom's birthday, we figured she'd have been happy that two of her kids and both of her grandchildren were at Disney, having a good time.
Friday, May 30: We started off early in the morning by heading out to Epcot. (From the Beach Club, Epcot was a total of about a four minute walk away - very nice!) Robert and I quickly got onto Soarin' (not as quickly as advertised, unfortunately), which was a great ride. then we high tailed it over to Norway for our Princess Breakfast. We started out by having our picture taken with Belle. Judith was scared of her and wanted to be as far from her as possible - so she's holding onto Robert's arm in the picture. Very cute! Judith was adorable in the dress from her grandparents that's supposed to be for her upcoming birthday, but I couldn't resist putting her in for the sake of a princess breakfast - white with pink and red roses on it - adorable!
We got our cold food options, and they brought our warm food to the table. Robert loved the tomato herring and I enjoyed the smoked salmon with capers. Judith liked the croissants (she's a bread lover). Alex was keen on the eggs, and I don't honestly remember what Katie ate - it was a little chaotic. Our princesses to come by were Mary Poppins (princess??!!), Snow White, Jasmine, and finally, Mulan.
Alex looked up at Snow White with a look of total love and admiration, seeming to say, "I'm going to marry you - I'm in love!" It was priceless! By the time Mulan got there, Judith was in the chair, screaming, and wanting nothing to do with food or princesses. It was unfortunate, but a bit entertaining. I admire the women who work as the princesses - making small talk with all the unhappy children throughout the room whose parents spent good money on the breakfast and want good pictures for it, cannot be an easy job day in day out. And they all did it with a lot of grace.
So with Judith being done, Robert took her out for a walk, and we waited to pay the bill. Then we quickly got all of our stuff together and left. We were in perfect position then to be some of the first people on the Norway ride, which opened at 11 a.m. Judith really liked that ride. She also liked the Viking horns hat in the gift shop. But she was afraid of the giant troll. Then on to Mexico (with a BIG stairway in front that Judith could climb), but their ride doesn't open until 12:30. So we headed back to Future World and got fast passes for Test Track.
We walked to the front of the park for our pictures in front of the giant golf ball. By this point, it was hot and the kids were moving into melt down mode. So we headed back to the room, and let them nap there. We cooked an early dinner/late lunch in the room, and then headed back out to Epcot.
Katie watched the kids while Robert and I rode Test Track. And then we went onto Spaceship Earth. It's a vastly improved ride, and Judith LOVED it! She was mesmerized by all the figures along the way, and the ability on the way down to make choices on the touch screen. Those choices generated postcards from the future that we then had sent to my email account.
And then I have to say, they have greatly improved how they handle the characters at Disney. As children, it was a struggle find the different characters throughout the park and get your picture with them and get their autographs. We weren't going for autographs this time - just pictures. But they have these spots where they have four or five characters all lined up, and photo pass photographers ready to take your pictures. So we stood in an air conditioned line inside and out of the sun for 15 minutes, and then got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Goofy. By the time we met Goofy, Judtih didn't want to be held - she wanted to be put down so she could run right to him and give him a big hug! It was adorable!
We did a little shopping, went and rode Mexico, and then realized that we had to get out of the park in the next 10 minutes or the kids were going to hear the fireworks, and that was not going to be a happy thing (too loud for overly tired children). So we high tailed it back to the room. The kids went to sleep easily, and we called it another great day!
Saturday, May 31: We headed off for Magic Kingdom in the morning. We redid some of our earlier pictures that hadn't turned out so well, let Judith play in the fountain a bit, and then went off to attack our "to do" list. Aunt Katie was truly brave and took both children with her on Buzz Lightyear, twice, while Robert and I rode Space Mountain. From there we headed back to Toontown Fair and stood in another 15 minute line to meet characters. We re-met Pluto and Minnie and Goofy, but the real attraction (and the reason we stood in line) was Donald Duck. We don't know why, but Judith just ran right up to him and buried her face in his side while giving him a HUGE hug. It was SO CUTE!
Then we headed off to Fantasyland and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. I tell you, riding the rides that go way up in the air was LOTS of fun for the little ones. Then we rode Cinderella's Golden Carrousel. Judith was not quite sure what to make of it, and was very tired at that point. We video taped it but haven't seen the tape yet, but Robert thinks she may have smiled once or twice.
We let the kids rest a bit at Baby Care (we used baby care at each park each day - nice facilities and we were happy to have them!). Then we ate. And then we headed over to The Haunted Mansion. We thought Judith would really enjoy it, but she fell asleep as we were in line. So Robert and I enjoyed the ride (another one they've made changes to), and then went shopping with Katie down Main Street while both children slept in their strollers. We worked our way down one side of the street and back up the other, ending at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. The kids loved their ice cream, and they were able to watch the parade go by at the same time. Saturday was the first truly hot day - mid 90s and high humidity. We were all about done at that point, and so we headed back to the hotel.
It had been so hot that it seemed another perfect opportunity to use the pool. The kids really did love their time in the water. And so did we. Then it was time for dinner and bed again.
Sunday, June 1: Well, already to the last day of our adventure. We headed out to Animal Kingdom. Robert, Katie and I all took the time to ride Expedition Everest (a very fun ride!). We were next off to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, were we say giant bats, a Komodo dragon, and tigers! The adults enjoyed it more than the kids I think. Then we took the train to train to Conservation Station and Affection Section. Judith and Alex were afraid of Affection Station (a petting zoo), and so we headed back to Africa.
We ate lunch (BBQ chicken halves with beans and fruit - Judith's best meal of the whole trip from the amount she ate!), and then Katie and Alex went to cool off, while Robert, Judith and I headed to DinoLand USA. We rode TriceraTop Spin (can't get enough of going up in the air in a circle) and watched some fun street performers. Then back to Discovery Island, pictures in front of the Tree of Life (which is totally fake - weird), and then back to the Beach Club.
After Judith napped, we headed back to Epcot one last time. You go with less than two hours until park closing and you can get A LOT done! We rode Nemo and Friends, the Land, Spaceship Earth, and Norway again. Judith again climbed the stairs for Mexico (even though we didn't ride the ride again). Then it was back to the room and feed Judith, and get her off to bed. We pulled all of our stuff out of the room to the living room area for packing. We got quite a bit packed up while Katie got Alex off to bed. And then Katie and I headed out to DHS one last time, because Katie had not yet had the chance to ride Toy Story.
So one more boat ride and we were off to Toy Story. And then we ran to Tower of Terror. And then we ran to the Aerosmith roller coaster (which I had not rode yet) and got on less than 2 minutes before park closing, and so we were the second to last group to ride it. What a blast. Then we were out of the park, walked back, and were back in the room. We packed some more, and then Robert and I headed downstairs to the hot tub to soak our feet (something we hadn't done the whole trip, even though our room overlooked the pool and hot tub), and then back up stairs and back to sleep before the big travel day.
Monday, June 2: As the morning rolled around, we got Judith fed, packed up the last of our items, said our goodbyes, and headed out. We had an extremely smooth travel day. Again, Southwest Airlines was great. Everything was smooth and on time and very easy. Judith was a PERFECT ANGEL on the trip back. Not one cry on either flight. She was just amazingly well behaved. She really enjoyed running around the Las Vegas airport (where our layover was) and was enthralled with the slot machines. Robert explained to her that these are machines you put money in so they make noise. He explained that it's really not a good value.
After getting back to San Jose we stopped at Panera for soup and salads and then headed home. Judith did not sleep at all for this. We were up from 5:00 a.m. Eastern time until we walked in the house at 8:10 p.m. Pacific Time. Judith ran from room to room, dancing a happy dance at being home. And then she was off to bed rather quickly (which was good) and so were we.
On Tuesday, she took a four hour nap to make up for all the lack of sleep the previous week.
Overall, it was a wonderful vacation and a great time. We are quite fortunate that we were able to go and we know that we will cherish the trip for a long time to come. We hope you all enjoyed the update and full description of things. We certainly took as much advantage of the days as we possibly could. By the time we got to the final days, Judith still didn’t like her stroller, but when we would tell her that if she sat in her stroller we’d take her to a ride, she would sit in the stroller and be patient until we got to the ride. She also liked walking the lines herself and didn’t like being carried through them. She was good at winding around when the lines moved quickly, and was also good at waiting when we needed to do that. We were so proud of her throughout the trip.
And it was such a delight to see how much Alex has grown and how interactive he is. He loved grabbing onto Judith and trying to hold onto her while she walked. He didn’t understand that he’s only a pound less than her and she can’t carry him far. She turned a bit afraid of him coming after her, but he loved chasing around his playmate. We had rented children’s toys for the room, but really, they didn’t need them. They chased each other and played in the cabinets and had a lot of fun.
If you haven’t see all of the 676 pictures in our album and would like to,(not counting more than 200 PhotoPass pics or Katie’s pics), you can click here to find them. I don’t have Katie’s link or the PhotoPass link, but I’ll put those here if I get them.
In the spirit of Disney, we hope that all your dreams come true! Talk to you all soon!
Of course the great thing about Disney is getting to meet Mickey Mouse. And Judith just loved all the animal characters! She ran up to Goofy and threw her arms around him, and did the same with Donald Duck. Judith really enjoyed meeting all of the giant stuffed animals. She was a lot less pleased about the human characters. We went to a Princess breakfast and Judith just screamed at the women. We met Belle, Mary Poppins (we still don't know why she's part of a princess breakfast), Jasmine, Mulan and Snow White. Judith was not pleased with any of them. No smiles at all. Oh well.
Overall, we had nice weather to start and then really hot and humid. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves and were thrilled to go. Since getting back, Judith has adjusted well. She spent a day resting (she took a four hour nap on Tuesday). Then on Wednesday morning, when I told her she was going to Busy Bees (her day care) she stopped eating, got her shoes, put her water and blanket and diaper bag by the door and said, "Shoes on. Bye-Bye." She was ready to go. And she was so happy to get there and see her friends. That was fun! By Thursday Judith was bored with being home. She kept trying to get me to put her shoes on. She brought them to me and said, "Shoes on. Ride. Shoes on. Ride." I kept explaining was don't have rides here - those are in Orlando. Poor thing. She only asked about four times on Friday, so she was a bit better adjusted.
Of course, by Friday Judith learned a new trick. Two hours after I put her down for her nap, I was walking through the hall. I opened her door slightly because I had heard nothing, just to see if she was really asleep or starting to stir. She was standing in her crib totally naked. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "Is that pee-pee?" I looked at the diaper and clothes on the floor and the wet bed, crib and floor and said, "Yes, Judith, that's pee-pee." This morning then when we got her up, she was again totally naked, but had not peed all over the place (thankfully).
We got her dressed and fed her hummus for breakfast (per her request - it seems to be her favorite food these days!), and then went off to the second birthday party of a neighbor. There were six children between the ages of five months and three years, and Judith really had a great time. Next Saturday we'll celebrate her birthday, but it will be a lot smaller of an affair. We have invited one friend over (who is currently out of town, so we won't find out if she can come until Monday or Tuesday), and besides that it is just going to be us. We are going to have some ribs and beans and cake and ice cream. It should be fun!
And there is no triple crown winner this year. Big Brown is the first triple crown hopeful to finish last. Unfortunate, but Nick Zito is a huge trainer, and it's still fun to have a long shot winner. Especially when you have no money on it (I heard before the race that $5.8M had been wagered on Big Brown - people are crazy!).
And it seems this week has been quite momentous in history. Of course I could be referring to D Day, or the death of RFK, or the Tiananmen Square anniversary. But really, in our lives it goes back to June 6 of last year – the day Judith first walked. Our lives have certainly never been the same (and never will be). Our little angel loves to run and take off. She likes to be a little adult and push the stroller and take care of the other kids. She is her own little independent person, and it’s been amazing to try to keep up with this over the past year, and will continue to be in the time to come.
And one quick aside – Happy Birthday, Michele! We hope you’re enjoying it!
Now, for those who want the blow by blow, in depth Disney report, please keep reading. I will apologize up front - it took more than five hours to type all of this up, and I have not had time to proof read it for style, readability, or anything else. I have the distinct impression that the word "then" is the most frequently used word here. I do apologize - it is utilitarian for the details, but not for style. For all who don't want to spend the next hour reading every detail, have a great week, and we'll post birthday pictures next weekend!
Sunday, May 25: We flew from San Jose to Denver to Orlando on Southwest. I have to say, for all the problems with flying these days, we really enjoy our Southwest experience every time we fly with them. Judith was great for the flights. On our flight to Denver we were unfortunate in that we were behind a very nasty man who made nasty comments every time Judith made any sound at all. And she wasn't crying, she was talking, and making happy baby sounds. He would pound his seat and say, "Oh my ___!" and "Lord have mercy!" He was just nasty. We moved on after the flight, but Judith picked up the "Oh my ___!" phrase and has used it repeatedly in the two weeks since. We have chosen to ignore it and hope it goes away. A reaction will probably keep it around longer.
We landed in Denver, ran over to our second flight, got on, and had a great second flight (the same nasty man was on that flight, but in the back, and on a plane to Orlando you're guaranteed LOTS of kids, and so he must have been in agony, poor guy!). On the way up Judith was saying "Hi, Sky." On the way down she was saying, "Goodbye clouds" and waving to them. It was soooo cute! She did learn how to work the tray table, had fun with colored pencils, and climbed all over Mommy and Daddy.
We landed and headed off on the Magical Express to our hotel. Judith screamed and shouted on the entire bus ride to Disney. We passed under the gates and I said to her, "Judith, we're in the happiest place on earth!" She continued to scream. We arrived at Boardwalk and Aunt Katie and Alex were there to greet us. Once Judith got to the room, she was able to snack and run around and was happy again. Running around and playing with Alex and getting in and out of cabinets without locks on them was LOTS of fun! Alex was just so excited to have a playmate - it was adorable! We went out on the Boardwalk for dinner and Judith ran up and down the boardwalk. She watched the ducks, was fascinated with a man playing a piano while bicycling along (we had to dance to the fun music) and she even tried running into Jelly Rolls (a 21+ nightclub - they really didn't want her in there!).
We picked up a few basics at the store and went back to the room to lay Judith down for sleep. She had not napped and was WAY over tired. Of course, we had a toddler bed for her, which she has not slept in before, and so she fell out of bed four times during the night. But by about 2 a.m. she was settled and slept through the rest of the night.
Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day: Judith was dressed in her "American Cutie" shirt and was adorable. We ate in the room and let the kids play and then we packed up and transferred hotels to the Beach Club. Our rooms were very similar at the two places. They both contained a kitchen, dining area and living room that were common. And then Katie and Alex had a room with a queen sized bed and full bathroom area, a sofa, table and two chairs. Robert, Judith and I had a room with a king bed, chair, desk, and full master bathroom with a spa tub (that we never took advantage of). We had close to 1000 square feet of space between us, which was great!
After getting into our room there we went to Epcot! We gave up on the stroller (Judith wouldn't sit in it at all) and put Judith in the harness. That worked for a while. We ate a nice lunch and rode Nemo and Friends - Judith's first ride! She really enjoyed it, especially the EAC (Eastern Australian Current), but she was a bit afraid of the aquariums at the end. We then went over and rode "The Land". We were in the first row and Judith was fascinated that we were in a boat, and fascinated by all the scenes. We then went onto Imagination and the ride with Figment. We were in the front row again! Yeah!
We watched a few splashing fountains, played in the park, and then headed back to the room. We intended to go back to Epcot after a little rest for the kids, but by 6 Judith was sound asleep. She woke up once (from 8:45 - 9:30), and then was straight back to sleep. She didn't fall out of bed and slept the whole night through. She was totally exhausted.
Tuesday, May 27: After breakfast in the room we headed to the dock and took the boat to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Immediately after we entered the park, a float for "High School Musical 2" went by with kids singing and dancing. Judith loved it and wanted to dance.
We then headed off to Disney's Playhouse. Judith was somewhat entertained for the first half of the show and then lost interest, but Alex enjoyed the show throughout. At the end of the show, streamers went to the right and left (we were sitting in the middle), but a single orange streamer fell straight on Judith and redeemed the entire experience - she was thrilled with it! We then went off for pictures with Prince Caspian (who called Robert a Giant for being so tall!), and then stopped for a snack.
At this point Alex slept in his stroller and Judith ran off to climb up and down stairs at the food court. We had lunch, took pictures in front of the hat, took pictures with Baby Einsteins (I don't know their names) and headed to the Magic of Disney Animation. We were then in the right place at the right time, winning Mouse Ears for the "Year of a Million Dreams" (which has been happening since 2006, but who's counting?) and that was fun. Judith enjoyed the show about creating the characters, and then we met Sourcer Mickey! We tried to ride Toy Story (the brand new ride) but it was closed, and so we had a snack and headed back to the boat and the Beach Club.
After the kids napped, we headed to the pool. Aunt Katie had brought all sorts of fun beach items because of the wonderful sand areas at the Beach Club's main pool. Unfortunately, Judith HATED the sand! Hated it! But she loved being in the water and swimming around. We swam, went to the room, ate, put the kids down, had a glass of wine, and then went to bed. Judith was up 4 to 5 times over night, crawling out of her bed and into ours. I didn't sleep from 1:30 - 6:00. It was a long night!
Wednesday, May 28: We took a bus to Magic Kingdom and took pictures and more pictures. Our first pictures with photo pass when we arrived, in the front of the park, in front of the train, were the best family photos we got during the whole week. They're great! (We don't have the PhotoPass pictures yet - that will be a few more weeks.)
Judith then had lots of fun playing in the fountain and having a snack. You might be noticing a theme around food, but really it was Alex who taught us what toddlers should eat like. Oh my goodness, this child LOVES his food! Meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, he's a happy baby with food. It was adorable to watch him eat and after the food! We hope Judith learned something from him, because she tends to just pick at her food.
We rode the flying carpets of Aladdin, and Judith loved going up and looking over everything. Then we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Judith really enjoyed all of the animatronics of the characters on the sides. She stared, transfixed, at all of it.
Then it was time for lunch at the Crystal Palace with the Pooh Characters. It was fabulous! Judith just loved the characters. And the food was quite enjoyable! Aunt Katie had stopped by City Hall in the morning to tell them we were celebrating Judith's second birthday, and so she got a "Happy Birthday" button for the lunch. And then at the lunch they gave her a cupcake with a candle, and a birthday card signed by the Pooh friends. Piglet helped her blow out the candles. It was cute! Alex wasn't quite sure what to make of the characters, but he was thrilled with the food!
Then we headed off to ride the Peter Pan ride. Judith enjoyed it, but was on overload, I think. She totally slept through the next ride - It's a Small World (my childhood favorite!) and the subsequent shopping. We took the kids off to Toontown Fair and took adorable pictures of them in their strollers, totally asleep, in front of the Toontown Fair sign. We shopped a bit more until they woke up, and then explored Minnie's house.
From there, we went back to Fantasyland, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Pooh's Playful Spot (a park for children ages 2-5 to play in). There were lots of big kids there, but Judith and Alex had a GREAT time running all around and playing with the water. They really enjoyed being free of the strollers and lines. Then we called it a day and headed back to the room.
Then we did something daring - we left Judith with Aunt Katie and Alex for an evening of fun, and Robert and I headed out for a night out. Katie swears it was the easiest babysitting job ever - that Judith and Alex were both asleep easily and early.
Robert and I headed to the China exhibit of Epcot. We watched some acrobatic performers who were a lot of fun, and then we had dinner at their main restaurant (we were there the last night before they closed for six months of renovations). It was a wonderful dinner. Then we headed over to the bridge by the international gateway, and watched the evening show, which was fun.
We were then on the first boat from Epcot over to DHS. It was a magic hours night, so they were open until 1 a.m. for those who were staying at a Disney property. We arrived at 9:45, and went to stand in line for Fantasmic, their night show. It was a fun show, but we were shocked at the number of children under the age of five who were there. And then the number of those kids who were at the park all the way until 1 a.m. was nuts. Really - if you're going to be at the park that late, take advantage of the nannies that are offered, and let your child SLEEP! OK - enough preaching.
So, we watched and enjoyed Fantsmic, and then headed to some of the rides. We were able to get on the Tower of Terror (tons of fun!) and then onto Toy Story. That new ride is a great time! Our final bonus round didn't work (disappointing, but the official open date of the ride was May 31, so they were still testing things), but we still had a great time. We then headed over to the Star Wars ride, which I have never been on, and Robert says hasn't changed in the 19 years its been open. It was fun in that it was old fashioned and practically empty. We then decided that hitting three parks during the day had taken good advantage of our park hopper passes, and that 14 1/2 hours of Disney parks in a day was probably enough, and we walked back to the Beach Club (it's about a 25 minute walk - very nice). It was a lovely evening, and we were grateful to Aunt Katie for watching Judith so that we could have our date night out.
Thursday, May 29: This was our "free day." Katie had not scheduled anything for the day. She and Alex relaxed in the room, did some shopping, and swam. Robert and Judith and I had a relaxed morning at the room, took the bus to Magic Kingdom, and got on the monorail to Polynesian Village. Both of us had stayed there with our families as kids and we wanted to see it again. So we went that way and had a nice lunch. One fun note from our lunch - I ordered an Asian salad. With my Asian salad I was given chopsticks. Judith LOVED the chopsticks. She ate the food that I fed to her with them, and she used them herself to spear her food quite effectively and put it in her mouth (and her food was grilled chicken with pasta and tomato sauce and a fruit cup). It was adorable!
Then we went back to Magic Kingdom (after a delay on the Monorail while we sat for a bit). We decided to focus our afternoon on Tomorrowland. We headed over to the Astro Orbiter (Robert took some fun video) and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Robert and I shot at Zurg and Judith spun the car around with the center controller). We rode the Carousel of Progress, which surprisingly, Judith really enjoyed. Robert and I aren't sure why they changed the song, but we thought the new ending was funny. We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Judith really enjoyed looking around at everything and riding through the other rides. Then we went off to the Indy Speedway (which we don't know what that has to do with Tomorrowland, but oh well). Judith steered the cart while I worked the gas, and we really bumped around back and forth (more than a week later I still have bruises, but Judith was fairly well protected by being held onto by me), but she really was laughing and enjoying herself.
Then Robert worked the gas and tried to have Judith steer, but she was starting to lose steam, and so he did both. By the time they got off, she was fading fast. We put her in her stroller and she fell asleep. We walked through stores for an hour and a half so she could sleep. We then watched the flag retirement ceremony that they do at 5:00 each day at the park entrance, and then took the bus back to the hotel.
Then we enjoyed a fun evening of swimming in the "quiet pool" that was right behind our room. The quiet pools don't have life guards. But they are much less used and easy to get to from our room. It was lots of fun and relaxing. We brought Judith back upstairs and fed her dinner and got her off to sleep. Another great day! And as it would have been my mom's birthday, we figured she'd have been happy that two of her kids and both of her grandchildren were at Disney, having a good time.
Friday, May 30: We started off early in the morning by heading out to Epcot. (From the Beach Club, Epcot was a total of about a four minute walk away - very nice!) Robert and I quickly got onto Soarin' (not as quickly as advertised, unfortunately), which was a great ride. then we high tailed it over to Norway for our Princess Breakfast. We started out by having our picture taken with Belle. Judith was scared of her and wanted to be as far from her as possible - so she's holding onto Robert's arm in the picture. Very cute! Judith was adorable in the dress from her grandparents that's supposed to be for her upcoming birthday, but I couldn't resist putting her in for the sake of a princess breakfast - white with pink and red roses on it - adorable!
We got our cold food options, and they brought our warm food to the table. Robert loved the tomato herring and I enjoyed the smoked salmon with capers. Judith liked the croissants (she's a bread lover). Alex was keen on the eggs, and I don't honestly remember what Katie ate - it was a little chaotic. Our princesses to come by were Mary Poppins (princess??!!), Snow White, Jasmine, and finally, Mulan.
Alex looked up at Snow White with a look of total love and admiration, seeming to say, "I'm going to marry you - I'm in love!" It was priceless! By the time Mulan got there, Judith was in the chair, screaming, and wanting nothing to do with food or princesses. It was unfortunate, but a bit entertaining. I admire the women who work as the princesses - making small talk with all the unhappy children throughout the room whose parents spent good money on the breakfast and want good pictures for it, cannot be an easy job day in day out. And they all did it with a lot of grace.
So with Judith being done, Robert took her out for a walk, and we waited to pay the bill. Then we quickly got all of our stuff together and left. We were in perfect position then to be some of the first people on the Norway ride, which opened at 11 a.m. Judith really liked that ride. She also liked the Viking horns hat in the gift shop. But she was afraid of the giant troll. Then on to Mexico (with a BIG stairway in front that Judith could climb), but their ride doesn't open until 12:30. So we headed back to Future World and got fast passes for Test Track.
We walked to the front of the park for our pictures in front of the giant golf ball. By this point, it was hot and the kids were moving into melt down mode. So we headed back to the room, and let them nap there. We cooked an early dinner/late lunch in the room, and then headed back out to Epcot.
Katie watched the kids while Robert and I rode Test Track. And then we went onto Spaceship Earth. It's a vastly improved ride, and Judith LOVED it! She was mesmerized by all the figures along the way, and the ability on the way down to make choices on the touch screen. Those choices generated postcards from the future that we then had sent to my email account.
And then I have to say, they have greatly improved how they handle the characters at Disney. As children, it was a struggle find the different characters throughout the park and get your picture with them and get their autographs. We weren't going for autographs this time - just pictures. But they have these spots where they have four or five characters all lined up, and photo pass photographers ready to take your pictures. So we stood in an air conditioned line inside and out of the sun for 15 minutes, and then got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Goofy. By the time we met Goofy, Judtih didn't want to be held - she wanted to be put down so she could run right to him and give him a big hug! It was adorable!
We did a little shopping, went and rode Mexico, and then realized that we had to get out of the park in the next 10 minutes or the kids were going to hear the fireworks, and that was not going to be a happy thing (too loud for overly tired children). So we high tailed it back to the room. The kids went to sleep easily, and we called it another great day!
Saturday, May 31: We headed off for Magic Kingdom in the morning. We redid some of our earlier pictures that hadn't turned out so well, let Judith play in the fountain a bit, and then went off to attack our "to do" list. Aunt Katie was truly brave and took both children with her on Buzz Lightyear, twice, while Robert and I rode Space Mountain. From there we headed back to Toontown Fair and stood in another 15 minute line to meet characters. We re-met Pluto and Minnie and Goofy, but the real attraction (and the reason we stood in line) was Donald Duck. We don't know why, but Judith just ran right up to him and buried her face in his side while giving him a HUGE hug. It was SO CUTE!
Then we headed off to Fantasyland and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. I tell you, riding the rides that go way up in the air was LOTS of fun for the little ones. Then we rode Cinderella's Golden Carrousel. Judith was not quite sure what to make of it, and was very tired at that point. We video taped it but haven't seen the tape yet, but Robert thinks she may have smiled once or twice.
We let the kids rest a bit at Baby Care (we used baby care at each park each day - nice facilities and we were happy to have them!). Then we ate. And then we headed over to The Haunted Mansion. We thought Judith would really enjoy it, but she fell asleep as we were in line. So Robert and I enjoyed the ride (another one they've made changes to), and then went shopping with Katie down Main Street while both children slept in their strollers. We worked our way down one side of the street and back up the other, ending at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. The kids loved their ice cream, and they were able to watch the parade go by at the same time. Saturday was the first truly hot day - mid 90s and high humidity. We were all about done at that point, and so we headed back to the hotel.
It had been so hot that it seemed another perfect opportunity to use the pool. The kids really did love their time in the water. And so did we. Then it was time for dinner and bed again.
Sunday, June 1: Well, already to the last day of our adventure. We headed out to Animal Kingdom. Robert, Katie and I all took the time to ride Expedition Everest (a very fun ride!). We were next off to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, were we say giant bats, a Komodo dragon, and tigers! The adults enjoyed it more than the kids I think. Then we took the train to train to Conservation Station and Affection Section. Judith and Alex were afraid of Affection Station (a petting zoo), and so we headed back to Africa.
We ate lunch (BBQ chicken halves with beans and fruit - Judith's best meal of the whole trip from the amount she ate!), and then Katie and Alex went to cool off, while Robert, Judith and I headed to DinoLand USA. We rode TriceraTop Spin (can't get enough of going up in the air in a circle) and watched some fun street performers. Then back to Discovery Island, pictures in front of the Tree of Life (which is totally fake - weird), and then back to the Beach Club.
After Judith napped, we headed back to Epcot one last time. You go with less than two hours until park closing and you can get A LOT done! We rode Nemo and Friends, the Land, Spaceship Earth, and Norway again. Judith again climbed the stairs for Mexico (even though we didn't ride the ride again). Then it was back to the room and feed Judith, and get her off to bed. We pulled all of our stuff out of the room to the living room area for packing. We got quite a bit packed up while Katie got Alex off to bed. And then Katie and I headed out to DHS one last time, because Katie had not yet had the chance to ride Toy Story.
So one more boat ride and we were off to Toy Story. And then we ran to Tower of Terror. And then we ran to the Aerosmith roller coaster (which I had not rode yet) and got on less than 2 minutes before park closing, and so we were the second to last group to ride it. What a blast. Then we were out of the park, walked back, and were back in the room. We packed some more, and then Robert and I headed downstairs to the hot tub to soak our feet (something we hadn't done the whole trip, even though our room overlooked the pool and hot tub), and then back up stairs and back to sleep before the big travel day.
Monday, June 2: As the morning rolled around, we got Judith fed, packed up the last of our items, said our goodbyes, and headed out. We had an extremely smooth travel day. Again, Southwest Airlines was great. Everything was smooth and on time and very easy. Judith was a PERFECT ANGEL on the trip back. Not one cry on either flight. She was just amazingly well behaved. She really enjoyed running around the Las Vegas airport (where our layover was) and was enthralled with the slot machines. Robert explained to her that these are machines you put money in so they make noise. He explained that it's really not a good value.
After getting back to San Jose we stopped at Panera for soup and salads and then headed home. Judith did not sleep at all for this. We were up from 5:00 a.m. Eastern time until we walked in the house at 8:10 p.m. Pacific Time. Judith ran from room to room, dancing a happy dance at being home. And then she was off to bed rather quickly (which was good) and so were we.
On Tuesday, she took a four hour nap to make up for all the lack of sleep the previous week.
Overall, it was a wonderful vacation and a great time. We are quite fortunate that we were able to go and we know that we will cherish the trip for a long time to come. We hope you all enjoyed the update and full description of things. We certainly took as much advantage of the days as we possibly could. By the time we got to the final days, Judith still didn’t like her stroller, but when we would tell her that if she sat in her stroller we’d take her to a ride, she would sit in the stroller and be patient until we got to the ride. She also liked walking the lines herself and didn’t like being carried through them. She was good at winding around when the lines moved quickly, and was also good at waiting when we needed to do that. We were so proud of her throughout the trip.
And it was such a delight to see how much Alex has grown and how interactive he is. He loved grabbing onto Judith and trying to hold onto her while she walked. He didn’t understand that he’s only a pound less than her and she can’t carry him far. She turned a bit afraid of him coming after her, but he loved chasing around his playmate. We had rented children’s toys for the room, but really, they didn’t need them. They chased each other and played in the cabinets and had a lot of fun.
If you haven’t see all of the 676 pictures in our album and would like to,(not counting more than 200 PhotoPass pics or Katie’s pics), you can click here to find them. I don’t have Katie’s link or the PhotoPass link, but I’ll put those here if I get them.
In the spirit of Disney, we hope that all your dreams come true! Talk to you all soon!
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