Disney 2018 (Days 3 & 4)

Day 3: EPCOT

Ah Day 3. Some of us had the time of our lives, others of us were dying in the heat. But I will always have such a soft spot for this day. We spent our whole day at EPCOT. No breaks. No Naps (for the adults anyways). Just go go go. We started our morning by going on The Sea's with Nemo and Friends. I think by the end of our trip we rode this at least half a dozen times. It was so cool and a refreshing break, and as we all know, JP loves loves loves Nemo and Dory! After this we went and did Living with the Land, and then met Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. He finally had warmed up to characters more, and this time Goofy was the big hit! After we met with Mickey (who he also loved) Goofy came right over and was playing with Josiah and "Goofing" around! As you can see, he loved this meet and greet spot!

We then went across the way to see Baymax and do his classic "Ba-la-la-la" fist bump (which even now months later Josiah still laughs when we do it or when he watches Big Hero 6). Once done there, we met a friend of mine who I had met online many many years ago! It was so nice to finally meet and spend the day with her!

About this time, the world showcase opened, and Mike and Mom made their way to Canada to get their first of 11 (yes you read that right) drinks. I got the violet lemonade with my friend and thus started the trip around the world! After going to Canada, we started going around the world showcase clockwise, so we then went to Mexico for a margarita, and then to the Norway pavilion. We made our way to Frozen Ever After (which I LOVED) then onto China!

Look at his excitement!

I have always loved the China pavilion. Mostly because of the Mulan meet and greet, but also because of some funny memories of the last time we (Mike) drank around the world and had to get a bottle of beer and it was nasty. Anyways. Back to my homegirl Mulan. Mike had gone to go to the bathroom, or go get a drink, or food, or something. Mom, JP my friend, and I had all stayed back and just were sitting on a bench outside. We were hot. We were exhausted (as you can see). This was a semi posed shot, but the exhaustion level was so there. We were just DONE and needed a few minutes. A photo pass photographer was walking by and we were like "hey can you snap a shot of us being so tired? We want to remember everything!" and she did. And I'm SO glad we got this shot. But I'm even more grateful for what came next. 

A few minutes later, the same photopass photographer came back outside, but this time, Mulan was with her! She said to Mulan "This is Prince Josiah. The one I was telling you about!". Mulan came over and sat on the ground (at JP's eye level) and chatted with us about how strong of a warrior he was and to keep an eye out for Mushu. We then got pictures taken with Mulan, and she went on her way to her regular Meet and Greet spot. It was definitely a "Pixie Dust" moment for us. She could have very well just walked right by and waved. But for her to stop and talk to us BY NAME was so amazing.

We then made our way to Germany for food and beer for the Drinking Around the World crew. At this point it was their 5th drink, it was hot, and we all needed a break. So we went over to Figment, and then I'm pretty sure this might have been when we went on Soarin. But I can't remember. This was our mid day break that we all desperately needed! But then we realized if we slowed down, we'd never keep going and there were still 6 more countries to visit (and drink at!)

We next went to the UK where mom got a wine that she couldn't finish, followed by France where we got the La Vie en Rose and holy cow was that gooooooooooooooood. (Don't be mistaken I got another Bacon Cheese Roll). We then went to Morocco where some young frat boys suggested a drink for Mike and Mom to get (It was horrible ps). Japan was next. I knew what they should get and thankfully they listened to me! They each got a different flavor of Sake. The Violet Sake? I have dreams about it holy cow it was amazing! Next was the American Pavilion. I felt like I needed to do something nice for Mike so JP and I went and got him a turkey leg (cue the awww's). This is also where I met up with another internet friend of mine who I met a few years ago! Her and her husband happened to be there the same week as us and were even staying in the same hotel! So it was nice to catch up with them! I also did some pin buying and trading in the American Pavilion, including giving one of my Ariel pins to a young girl starting pin trading for the first time. I hope that pin is something special to her!

Ah. My favorite part of the night. THE LAST DRINK. To celebrate, they decided to go sit at the bar and have a Martini. If I dream about the Bacon Cheese Rolls, Mike dreams of the Espresso Martini in Italy. I figured it wouldn't be too long no problem. Oh was I wrong. a good solid half an hour goes by and they are still inside. Mind you I have a cranky 1 year old who just wants to run and play, it's 830 at night so he's actually tired, and we're just sitting around. Oh, and the fireworks were going to start at 9 (which I wanted to be a little farther away from in case he got scared). They finally came out, we BOOKED it out of the world show case into Mouse Gears, and were safe from the fireworks.

Now, we  could have ended our night here, but Josiah had fallen asleep, and mom had said she wanted to try Test Track. So hey, let's do it! We did ride switcher for it so Mom and I would go, and then I would go with Mike while Mom watched the baby. The entire wait (about half an hour) she kept saying "I'm going to hate this I'm going to hate this!" I had to assure her she'd love it. And then we get on. And if you've ever been on test track, you know that the beginning is just a lot of jerking around "testing" your car, but that the end you rocket our of that gate going easily 55 mph. Well, the entire outdoor time she was screaming "I hate you I hate you!!!". We got off, and she had this look on her face. She wanted to go again! But let Mike and I go. So now Mema can say she's done one of the fastest rides at Walt Disney World!

Day 4: Four Parks One Day

I think of all our days in the parks, this one was my favorite. We had decided before our trip to do a challenge. We wanted to go to all 4 of the WDW parks in one day. I know. Absolutely crazy for most people, and even crazier for a group with a young toddler. But we decided we wanted to do it, and I'm SO glad we did! At each park we had to take a picture in front of the icon of the park, meet a character, ride a ride, and eat some food. That was what we did to make it "count"

Park 1: Animal Kingdom

The reason the planner of our group *Me* chose Animal Kingdom as our first park was for a few different reasons. First and foremost, they had Extra Magic Hours from 8-9 AM, so we'd be able to get in and out of the park before it got too crowded from the "normal" people (aka people not staying on property). But the other main reason was because the other 3 parks you can get to and from them by boat/walking/monorail, where as Animal Kingdom you HAVE to take a bus. So it was an easy first or last option, and we decided first!

We were there from 830 AM (got a later start than I wanted). Icon picture at the tree of life. Mike and I rode Expedition Everest while JP and Mom rode TriceraTop Spin for the millionth time. I ended up going on Expedition Everest 4 times in a row (the 5 minute wait time was the 2 minute walk from the front of the ride to the actual coaster loading zone). Mike only went on twice, but I guess that's because he's not as much of an adrenaline junky as I am. We ate Elephant Ears (I wish I had remembered the giant Mickey shaped cinnamon rolls for this park because that would have been a WAY better choice).And for our character we met Pocahontas. Now as you know, she's one of my top princesses (along with Mulan) and the way she interacted with us and JP was incredible. She sat right down on the ground with him and was reading the signature book to him as she signed it. It was awesome <3

Park 2: Hollywood Studios

I had actually made our fast passes for the day at Hollywood Studios, if only for the fact that I knew we'd get in and out of AK quickly and it was also our first time to HS on this trip! When we got there we headed right to Rockin Roller Coaster for our fast pass  We then all sat and relaxed and watched the Beauty and the Beast show while I was carefully thinking of where we should go for lunch. We also took advantage of this time to get some great photo ops with the Magic Shot with Chip from Beauty and the Beast, as well as some solo shots of Mom and Josiah!

We were at HS from 1030am-3pm. For our icon we took it in front of the Tower of Terror. There's some controversy as to what the icon is at HS anymore since the sorcerer's hat is no more. We chose ToT but you can also consider the Chinese Theater the icon too. Ride was Rockin Roller Coaster (well, Mike and I did it. This was a little too much for Mom). Food was Pizza from Pizzarizzo and I'm not going to lie, it was so really good pizza. If you follow along in our lives, you know Mike and I have been eating our way around all the pizza places at home, and this pizza wasn't as good as our top pizza at home, but it would probably rank 3rd, so I'll take it! Character meet and greet was with Star Wars characters! We met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. Chewy didn't shun Mike this trip so that was good, and Josiah actually preferred Kylo like a weirdo.

 Park 3: EPCOT
We ended up taking a much needed break after HS to go back to the hotel, take a nap, and just relax before going out for the rest of the night. But once we were well rested, we made our way back to EPCOT. We had just spent the whole day at EPCOT the day before, as well as our first day we were there for an extended amount of time so we figured we should get in, do what we needed to, and leave.

We were at EPCOT from 6-730. We took our icon picture in front of spaceship earth, and then actually RODE spaceship earth as our ride since it was a short wait, a relaxing ride we could all do, and right at the front of the park! We then went to do our meet and greet with Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. Josiah and Sadness had some really cute bonding moments that I just couldn't get enough of! To eat, we had a classic Disney food, the Mickey bar! Ok, Everyone else had the Mickey bar. I had a little piece of the chocolate that fell off.




Park 4: Magic Kingdom
HOME. There's nothing like Magic Kingdom at night. I love it all times of the day and all times of the year, but when the sun goes down, the lights come on Main Street, and the castle glows, my heart just becomes a giant puddle of emotions.

We were in MK from 830-1150. There were extra night time magic hours so that made this part of our trip so special too. Took our picture in front of the castle (JP had changed into pajamas by this point). We rode the Magic carpets, Jungle cruise, Mike and I did Big Thunder Mountain (My favorite of the Mountains). Mom and Mike also did Small World while I walked around with a very very exhausted and sleeping Josiah. He ended up sleeping through our meet and greets with Tiana and Rapunzel, but they didn't mind. They just reminded us not to wake a little prince. And for a snack, we of course had to get some cookies from the Confectionery (which of course JP woke up for because hello, who sleeps through cookies and sweets??)

So there you have it! We managed to go on at least 1 ride, meet at least 1 character, eat food, and take our picture in front of every icon! It was a task I would do again with out a doubt, but maybe not till JP is a little older and can understand why we're so crazy!

None of Us Know What We're Doing

Parenting a strong willed toddler is hard. 

Scratch that.

Parenting is hard.

I have taught toddlers in the past. I had my own classroom of 10 3 year olds (and trust me they were some of the most strong willed independent head strong kids I've ever me). I've baby sat all ages (including the age JP is at now). But I've never felt as defeated as I do now. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my son more than anything. He is an amazing child who is turning into an incredible little human. 

But that's the problem.

Josiah loves to try and do everything on his own. The latest is pulling his shorts up after a diaper (and it's the sweetest thing to watch him do!). He loves to run, climb, explore, and just be all in 100% of the time in everything he does.

But that's the problem.

Because he's such an exploratory child, an independent child, an all in child, he has a hard time with transitions and doing something he might not necessarily want to do. I know a lot of it is his age and development, but it's so hard when you see other kids his age behaving, transitioning well, and behaving "the way they should".

Bed time and sleeping through the night has always been an issue for us. It still continues to be a struggle for us. And we're working on options to help not only him but us transition to better nights of sleep. But it's hard friends. It's hard to watch your son have some form of night terrors and screaming in his room. It's hard when all he wants is you for comfort but you're just exhausted and to be completely honest don't want to give him all 100% of you at 2 am. 

It's hard watching your son cry at drop off for the first time in a very long time. It's hard to see him reaching out to his Mama when you have to go to work. This morning he was extra clingy at 630 in the morning, and I just needed a break. We'd been up more times than normal at night and I just was done. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. So I had Mike take him. So he didn't get that special morning time we normally have cuddled in bed watching a movie or nursing. So of course my mind thinks of all of this as he's screaming from his teacher's arms and thinking "Why didn't I just give him those extra cuddles this morning?"

I sat in my car for a few minutes trying to get myself together this morning before driving to work. JP and his friends were on a buggy ride while I was still sitting there, and the look he gave me from his seat to the car broke me. It ripped me apart. He wasn't crying, but still had tears in his eyes and looked at me like "just come cuddle me a few minutes longer and tell me it's okay." And that's when I lost it. I cried all the way to work. I'm crying writing this. I felt like such a bad mom at that moment. I felt as though I'd failed my son as a mom. 

None of us know what we're doing. Anyone who says they've got this thing called life figured out is a liar. Because just when you think you've figured it out, life throws you a curve ball. You get busy. You have a strong willed kid. You lose your job. Someone dies. Things don't happen the way we see them on social media.

  None of us have it together. And that's okay! And I hope that by reading this and seeing that I'm struggling will help someone else realize they aren't alone. Each of us is going through something on any given day. Even when the social media posts are about how cute and adorable our kids are, we're going insane trying to get them to eat more than apple sauce and freeze pops. 

Keep on keeping on fellow parents. We've got this. We're raising such strong willed kids now to be the next strong willed passionate generation. 

xoxo

Amanda