Adelie Quote of the Day

Being the middle child, Adelie doesn't get a lot of one-on-one time and attention.  Yesterday morning I was getting ready to take Briggs to the doctor.  I told her excitedly, "While I take Briggs to the doctor, you get to go to Grammie's house and play all by yourself!"  She responded, "You mean Grammie won't be there?"

I'm guessing she wouldn't mind having Grammie and Grandpa's house all to herself for a few hours.  I'm not sure how Grammie and Grandpa (or DCFS) would feel about that.

Lasting Impression

The other day Briggs and I were playing together.  He was holding a little monkey figure and said, "The monkey is sick.  He sucked his thumb and throwed up in his bed."

I guess that's not something you quickly forget.

On the plus side, 3 weeks down and still thumb free.  Maybe monkey will learn his lesson too.

Where is Thumbkin?

It has been well-documented here that we would like Briggs to stop sucking his thumb.  We've tried a variety of strategies with no lasting success.  We started with hand socks, followed by a tied up shirt sleeve, and then the "yucky stuff."  None of those deterred him enough to stop sucking his thumb.  However, the "yucky stuff" (bitter tasting nail polish) had a lasting impression as he would still talk about it.

Two weeks ago (today), Briggs would not keep his thumb out of his mouth while we were playing.  I threatened to put the yucky stuff back on his thumb if he didn't keep it out of his mouth.  Well he didn't so I put some on.  He kept his thumb out of his mouth the rest of the morning.  I warned him before nap that he still had yucky stuff on his thumb.  Well he either forgot, didn't care, or stuck it in out of habit while sleeping.  Whatever the cause, he sucked his thumb, gagged on the taste, and then threw up in his bed.  Oops!  A nicer mom might have decided that causing your child to throw up in his bed might be a little extreme.  This mom saw it as an opportunity.  Obviously vomiting is a negative experience, so I was hoping that building off that negative experience might just be the solution we needed.  And it was...mostly.  We had one more nap-time vomiting instance a few days later, and I realized that he might be putting his thumb in his mouth without realizing it while sleeping.  We made a little tweak to our plan and continued on.

We are now 2 weeks in to a thumb-free existence.  I still put yucky stuff on Briggs's thumb once or twice a day, just as a reminder to him that it's there.  He wears a hand sock on his right hand for naps and bedtime, mostly as a sleep-time reminder not to inadvertently put his thumb in his mouth.  He never takes it off.  Obviously the thumb sucking is a strongly ingrained habit, so we're not home free yet, but this has by far been our longest lasting success so far.  I'm not saying that inducing vomiting is the best strategy to break a bad habit, but if it works...

Thumb free and happy about it.

This Girl

The other day we were looking at baby pictures of Adelie.  Staley said, "Look, Adelie!  You're naked."  To which Adelie replied, "I wish I was like that right now."

Oh, this girl.

Our Disney Trip: The End

For our last full day of vacation, we headed back to Magic Kingdom.  I wanted to make the most of our last day, so we dragged the kids out of bed early so that we could make it to the park when it opened.  It was a bit of a contrast from the first day when they came bounding into our room to wake us up.

It wasn't easy, but we managed to get everyone up, dressed, fed, and to the park a little before 8:00.

We took advantage of our early arrival by doing lots of our favorite rides without lines, like Peter Pan, Little Mermaid (twice), Goofy's Barnstormer (twice), the carousel, and Tomorrowland Speedway.  We also met Tiana and Rapunzel (for the 3rd time).  While the girls and Zach went on the Little Mermaid ride, Briggs and I got some chocolate croissants and juice at Gaston's for the family to enjoy as a mid-morning snack.  Yum!!  There was a frothy apple juice drink called LeFou's Brew that was quite scrumptious.

We didn't mind meeting Rapunzel again since she's one of our favorites.

Adelie's last 2 cards to hand out were for Tiana and Pocahontis.  Since we had not had a chance to meet Pocahontis at Animal Kingdom, Adelie gave it to Tiana to pass on to Pocahontis.  She promised she would.  :) 

Our (early) lunch was at Columbia Harbour House.  For a quick service restaurant, they had some good seafood options and a fairly quiet upstairs seating area.  We followed up lunch with Enchanted Tales with Belle.  We tried to bring Briggs with us, but as soon as it started, he began to cry.  Zach took him out and he fell asleep in the stroller while the girls enjoyed acting with Belle.  Staley got to be the beast (a trip highlight!) and Adelie was Maurice.

Adelie as Maurice in the dungeon

Staley and Belle taking their bows

Since Zach had to miss out on Enchanted Tales, he took the girls to see Mickey's Philharmagic while sleeping Briggs and I wandered around the park.  One of us might have enjoyed a Mickey ice cream treat while the other was sleeping.

One of my college friends happened to be at Disney the same week as us.  Our plans overlapped on this day, so we met up for a ride and a parade together.  It was so fun to see her girls and get to spend a little time together.  Of all the hundreds of pictures I took during our week, I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with them.  The only picture was from when we rode Seven Dwarves Mine Train together.

Her 2 girls (in the 2 rows behind us) appeared to be having more fun than Staley.

Briggs did better with the parade the second time around.  He talked incessantly about the dragon before the parade.  As the dragon was approaching, he frantically told me he had to go potty.  However, he made it through the dragon and was able to enjoy the rest of the parade.  Progress!

After the parade, we met a few more characters (Merida, Gaston) and rode a few more rides.  While the girls and Zach did Peter Pan and a few other rides, Briggs and I rode the Disney train again and then fit in a few spins on Dumbo before dinner.

Merida rounded out the princesses we met.  The only princesses we did not meet during our trip were Mulan and Pocahontis.

Gaston might just have been my favorite character we met.  He was hilarious!  He was as arrogant and self-absorbed as you would expect.  The kids weren't so sure how to take him, but I found him very amusing.

Dumbo was a favorite ride for the whole family, which is why we rode it so many times.

Our final Disney dinner was at the Be Our Guest restaurant in the Beast's castle.  The atmosphere is so cool.  We ate in the ballroom (where Belle and the Beast danced), and explored the West Wing and the library while waiting for our food.  I thought the food was very good, although Zach was a little disappointed with his steak.

The kids got to lead the way to our table with Lumiere.

The ballroom is just like the movie.  It's even snowing out the windows.

The rose in the West Wing

We did try the grey stuff, and it was delicious.

Eating at the Be Our Guest restaurant is the only way you can meet the Beast.  I think that was one of the main reasons Staley wanted to eat there again.  (On our last trip, everyone was tired and the line was too long after eating so we skipped meeting the Beast.)  After dinner, we told the kids we'd have time for one more ride or we could stay to meet the Beast.  Adelie wanted to fit in one more ride, so she and Zach went to do the Magic Carpet ride while Staley, Briggs, and I met the Beast.

We met up with Adelie and Zach in front of the castle to watch Elsa light up the castle once more.  I could watch that every.single.night.  I found it so magical!!

I just love Disney!!  Even just seeing this picture makes me want to go right back.

We finished off our last day with buying a special treat with the money from Uma and Papa.  Adelie picked out an Ariel playset, Staley got a Belle music box, and Briggs found a Disney train.  It was the first thing he looked at in the store, and he never let go of it.  He sat on the floor of the store and played with it in the box until the girls were done.

Briggs with his treasure.

We weren't quite ready for bed when we got back to our resort, so we walked around and said good-bye to all our favorite areas, took pictures, and just enjoyed our last night at Disney.

It was hard to say good-bye to Disney.  You know it's been a good vacation when no one is ready to go home.  I think we could have easily stayed a few more days.  Although we experienced so much in our week at Disney, there was more that we would have liked to do.  There were rides we missed, characters we didn't meet, shows we didn't see, places we didn't eat.  I didn't even get a Dole Whip.  That's why there is always a next time.  Each trip has it's own moments of magic.

It may be Tinkerbell landing in your hand,

or the crazy characters you happen upon,

or a silly chicken that lands on your arm,

or an Olaf photo bomb.

Or it could be that first glimpse of Mickey,

or riding rides you've been talking about for the past year,

or just seeing a character or a show that makes your face light up.

For me, it was all of that.  The months of planning were so worth it.  Even though we had tears and lines and things that didn't go exactly as planned, we also had so many magical moments.  I didn't want to say good-bye to Disney.  So I won't.  I'll just say, "See you next time!"

Our Disney Trip: A Few More Days

Our late night at the Christmas party was not a great recipe for getting to our park early the next day.  We were heading to Animal Kingdom.  I love the feel of this park and still feel like there's more to it that we haven't experienced.  Maybe after our next trip, I'll feel like we've fully experienced it all.

Originally I had hoped to get to Animal Kingdom when the park opened to ride the new Pandora ride that we didn't have a Fast Pass for.  However, we decided that bouncing our kids out of bed early after they had the latest night of there life might not be the best idea.  We all slept in and got to the park by 10:00, just in time for our safari.

The safari was a big hit with everyone. Briggs loved that we were riding on a big truck, and the girls had a great time trying to spot all the exotic wildlife.  I found it all very educational and enlightening.

After our safari, Zach took the kids to walk along the Gorilla Trail to see more wildlife while I took advantage of a short single rider line to ride Expedition Everest.  Staley wanted me to try it first to help her decide if she wanted to do it.  After my description of the ride, she decided against riding it.

Love the guy in the front row.

We enjoyed a DELICIOUS quick service meal at the Harambe Market.  It was by far the best quick service meal we had.  Briggs and Adelie didn't eat much of their chicken skewers, but Staley polished off hers and some of her siblings' too.

That meal got enthusiastic thumbs up from 3 of us.

After lunch, Briggs and Zach took a few spins on the Wildlife Express train while the girls and I enjoyed 'The Festival of the Lion King' show.  By the time the show ended, Briggs had fallen asleep.  We came across Baloo and King Louie with no wait so we quickly met them before heading off to enjoy Kali River Rapids.  Staley and I rode first.  Using Rider Swap, Staley immediately did it again with Zach and Adelie while I hung out with the sleeping boy.

Staley was excited to tell Baloo and King Louie that she had been in 'The Jungle Book' play.

Briggs woke up in time to enjoy a mid-afternoon treat.

Once Briggs was up, we enjoyed ice cream treats while walking around more of the park.  We explored the new Pandora area, which is visually amazing.  We posed for a family picture with the Animal Kingdom Christmas tree on our way out of the park for an early dinner.

Pandora!

Every park was decorated and festive.

Our dinner that night was at Ohana at the Polynesian resort.  The kids didn't love the food, but Zach and I thought it was AMAZING!  We ate so much.  I was enjoying the meal so much that I didn't care that Briggs only ate some bread and then just played with his cars at the table.

His cars kept him occupied so I could focus on enjoying the incredible food I was eating.

After dinner, we then headed back to Animal Kingdom so Zach and I could ride the Pandora Flight of Passage ride.  I thought it was AMAZING and was so glad I had gotten Fast Passes for us to do it.  On the other hand, it made Zach motion sick and he felt lousy for the rest of the evening.  In retrospect, I should have just done it twice...once for each of us.  :) While Zach was busy getting motion sick, I took the kids to watch the night time show (which, yes, made Briggs cry).  We weren't in a great viewing area, but were able to see most of it.  Once we met back up with my motion sick husband, the park was closing so we headed back to the hotel.

Hollywood Studios was our Thursday plan.  This is the park that we can cover pretty easily in a day, so we let the kids sleep in a bit and got to the park mid-morning.  We started off with the Frozen Sing-along show.  Briggs was initially worried about this one and didn't want to stay, but once it started, he enjoyed it.  This isn't my favorite show, but it has amusing parts and I love when Elsa makes it snow in the theater.

There are not a lot of rides at this park that my kids want to do, so we spent a lot of our day watching shows and meeting characters.  We saw the Beauty and the Beast show, which everyone enjoyed.  Since Briggs didn't want to see the Little Mermaid show, Zach and Adelie went to that one while Staley, Briggs, and I went to Disney Jr.  Briggs loved the Disney Jr. show.  He was dancing and clapping.  I was so glad we had found a show that he fully enjoyed from beginning to end.

Hanging out before the Disney Jr. show

We met lots and lots of characters at Hollywood Studios.  Many of them had little or no line, so we took advantage and filled up on character interactions.

Briggs was most excited to meet Cruz.  He thought it was great that she revved her engine and talked.  There was never much of line to see her, so the girls met her at a different time and then Briggs and Staley came back one more time towards the end of the day to meet her once more.

Briggs was a little unsure about Pluto...

but was all about Olaf.

And he wasn't at all worried about meeting the Army man who was walking around outside the Toy Story ride.  Go figure.

While we were finishing up at the Disney Jr. show, Adelie met Jake from 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates.'

Briggs and Zach met Chewbacca while the girls and I were riding the Toy Story ride.  Just like when he was an infant, he loved Chewbacca.

And Zach took all the kids to meet Kylo Ren while I was riding Rockin Roller Coaster.

The kids wanted to meet Buzz and Woody, but the line for them was always really long.  While Adelie and I were riding Toy Story Mania (for the 4th time of the day), Staley and Briggs were watching Buzz and Woody meet people through a window.  One of the Disney cast members came out and asked if they wanted to meet Buzz and Woody.  They said yes, so the cast member walked them right in the back door to meet them.  It was a highlight!  (Of course, Adelie was so disappointed that she had missed out.)

The only ride the kids wanted to do at this park was the Toy Story Mania ride.  Briggs did not want to do it, so we were able to use Rider Swap so the girls got to each ride it twice, once with Zach and once with me.  I had fast passed Tower of Terror for all of us on the off-chance that anyone other than me wanted to do it.  However, a few of the elevators for that ride were down and the Fast Pass wait was about 45 minutes.  Because of this, they gave us all a free fast pass to use for any ride at any time.  Staley didn't want to do any more rides, but Adelie wanted to do Toy Story Mania again.  With Rider Swap, Zach and I both did it again with Adelie.  She was loving it, and was getting really good at it!!

I had wanted to do both Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster.  I was not willing to wait 45 minutes for Tower of Terror, so I used my free fast pass to ride Rockin Roller Coaster.  And even though Zach wasn't interested, I got a rider swap and rode it again.  

So fun!!

 Our lunch was just a quick lunch of burgers and nuggets at Backlot Express.  Not impressed.  For dinner, we had reservations at Hollywood and Vine.  This was a holiday buffet where we got to meet Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald.  The buffet was fine and the characters were fine, but I wasn't overly impressed with any of it.  I find character interactions a little more difficult when the characters don't talk.  Even though it didn't seem overly crowded, the characters didn't spend much time at our table.  The kids were excited to meet them, but it wasn't one of my favorite character meals.

I did enjoy that the characters were all dressed in their Christmas finery.

Briggs was in the bathroom when Daisy came to our table.  She came back for a quick picture with him when he got back to the table, but she was all business.  She spent the least time with us.

Briggs did seem to enjoy all these characters.

When asked, Briggs tells people that his favorite character to meet was Mickey, so I'm glad we got to meet him twice.

I had hoped to see the Fantasmic show, and we even got a special Fantasmic package with dinner so we could get good seats for the show.  However, I showed the kids part of the show on You Tube and they all agreed it looked too scary.  (We have a very low "scary" threshold in our house.)  We instead gave away our Fantasmic tickets to another nice family who seemed very pleased.  We tried to go see the Indiana Jones stunt show after dinner, but Staley and Briggs both got scared during the first scene.  Zach and Adelie stayed to watch the show while the rest of us walked over to Sunset Boulevard to listen to Christmas music, watch the Christmas light show on Tower of Terror, and experience a little more Disney snow.  We left the park right before the night time shows and fireworks started.

Posing in the "snow" 

It was another full day of family fun.  I felt like we were really hitting our stride, and it was hard for me to believe that we only had one day left of our vacation.