Where do I start?
Backwards.
No more travel as far as I can see for the next few months. In the past 19 days, we have spent 11 nights away from home.
Remember this is my journal, so it will be long and you aren't committed to having to read the whole thing. Some of this stuff I just put down because I want to remember it. So if it bores you, don't feel obligated to read it!
We just pulled off a monumental feat, the greatness of which you'll probably never fully realize: navigated Orlando and the Disney Parks and resorts with my mom, sis, and niece and nephew, plus our own toddler in tow, pulled off the logistics of airline travel, map negotiating, rental car check-out, resort settling, transportation, kids' race packet pick-up, starting-line arrival, cheering, finish-line photos, half-marathon packet-pick up/expo, half-marathon completion, and sleeping/eating and nobody lost an eye. All in less than 72 hours. Blisters, expenses, and a couple of family tiffs were the worst of the carnage but I have to say that I think overall, the whirlwind gave us all a taste of Disney and we had a fabulous time.
Our big girl on the airport parking shuttle. Last time she was in a stroller.
Yesterday Anna's first words upon wake-up were:
"Nemo? Choo-choo? Boat?"
Me: "No baby, we're going home. Wanna ride on the airplane?"
Anna: "Uh-huh!"
We crammed in as much Disney magic we could in the Thurs afternoon-Sat night we were there. But it wasn't enough. We had a blast but still didn't get to see or do half of what we really wanted Anna to experience. We did ride Spaceship Earth, NEMO, and the Mexico ride at Epcot (and the rest of us minus Anna rode Test Track and Mission: Space. No time for our biggest regret: Soaring). Anna really loved the rides, and wasn't scared one bit. Thank goodness. I actually had no time to wonder if she even would be scared till we sat in our first ride: Spaceship Earth and it got dark. Then the thought crossed my mind but I looked at her little face that was full of wonder of what was going on all around her, and my thoughts passed. I guess at this age, she doesn't understand fear yet. So we had such a blast with her. I bet next year the Haunted Mansion wouldn't be the best idea. Our first night ended with spectacular fireworks at Epcot. For some strange reason, it made Anna so giddy, she offered hugs over and over again all around to her cousins, Nana, and Nanny Kristi. She seemed moved or something. My theory is that Disney knows how to put on a show such that it changes the hormone levels in kids' systems, with the end result being nothing but a feeling of peace on Earth and abundant love to their family, thus driving the parents to realize that they need to come back to Disney over and over again to enjoy such a wonderful Kodak moment. Seriously, I do believe there is a whole team at Disney designed to induce feelings that will bring families back over and over. It's choreography at its finest.
Shopping in Mexico. Did not buy the hat.
The pretty ones are always the booger-pickers.
Bummer, too short this time for Test Track.
Anyway, this year at the Magic Kingdom, she rode Haunted Mansion, Aladin's Flying Carpet, Pirates of the Carribean, It's a Small world, the Disney train, and saw a Disney Parade. Even in the off season, there were some crowds so we packed in as much as we could while still covering her nap times. On the last night we were there, we pushed her to a late nap with plans to wake her and go back to the park till it closed but it was clear by the fact that she was crying out in her sleep and couldn't exactly settle that we were pushing cognitive overload on her and thought that our plans to hit the Pooh and Dumbo rides plus meet Princess Aurora (her current fave) were probably more our desires than hers so the late nap turned into down for the night. That was a tough decision to make. We were so on the verge of waking her up to go back out there. But to top it off, that brief down time was just enough time to make our muscles sore and stiff from the half marathon we'd just run that morning. So we stayed in and let all those last 3 park hours go on without us. It felt like being at an all-you-can-eat buffet and getting full after just one plate! We considered staying one more day but the costs were just too much. It's true what they say: Disney is NOT CHEAP. It's amazing. We are seasoned travelers and Disney has been the greatest cost of all!
It's a Small World Afterall!
Mickey is EVERYWHERE.
Of course we let her have this. It's a Disney Vacation, people.
At one point in Epcot, we missed the last boat across to Morocco that would have saved some foot-pain. I jokingly shouted to my family "You suck!" as if I were telling off the boat captain. As was the intention, only my family heard this (he did not). It was apparent Anna heard this too as she went around the park for the next 15 minutes shouting from her stroller: "YOU SUCK!" to innocent park-goers. We giggled, amazed that we are now at that point where she'll repeat that kind of stuff and got her to change her shout-out to "PIZZA"! Then she proceeded to shout out "Waffles! Pasta! Ice Cream!" to park-goers all the way to Morocco. She's brilliant, isn't she?
We stayed at the Disney Fort Wilderness campground, in the cabins. They were roomy and clean and just overall super awesome. More than I expected. Plus the weather was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME" amazing. It felt like we were camping and it was so wonderful. The resort has a pool, lake, boats, arcade, playground, campfire sing-alongs, stables, petting zoo, restaurant, a store, and all kinds of stuff to do. Of course, in the limited time we were there, we took no advantage of these things. You also had to take a fun golf cart to get everywhere because there's no driving and parking allowed in regular vehicles. There's an extra cost for the golf carts, or you can instead take their bus system around. The golf carts were worth the money. And it was off-season so there were no real crowds. It was a quiet campground that had tons of trees and wildlife and the staff was great. We will be staying there again. You can take a boat right to the Magic Kingdom and drive to the other parks. We loved it. Again, it was like camping.
Next year we will be staying a full week to enjoy the resort and slow down through the parks so we don't have to rush. Paul and I had been before, and we took Anna there this past June when we were already there to watch a shuttle launch. Then, we had only visited the Animal Kingdom for one day, which was great fun, since she was really into animals back then.
Anna was great on the airplane rides to and from Orlando, which were a little over 2 hours each way. In fact, unlike our previous plane rides when she was younger, I knew her little personality had grown so I didn't even have anxiety about entertaining her all the way there for the threat of her causing a scream scene. Despite her great behavior, on the way home, she finally fussed herself to sleep from exhaustion and woke up 30 min later upon landing, pissed off and tired. So the other passengers got a good ear full of the sounds of a post-Disney 22 month old with cognitive overload and sleep deprivation. But God bless this child, she kept up with us at every step of the parks with no complaints. She was as ready for fun as we were at every turn. She was truly amazing and we were so grateful she was having as much fun as we were. She especially loved hanging out with the rest of the family. She had a real blast with them for sure. Plus she had a stroller and when she got tired of walking, she got to ride. Who wouldn't love that?
Here's a note to all: I will NEVER be going to Disney during the peak-seasons. Paul and I have been before Anna was born and it's way too hot and crowded. Now that we came during the off-season, we know there's just no reason to ever go during peak-season again. On that note, we did have fun when we came as single adults, but I do think it's a different kind of fun with Anna. In fact, I think I liked it much more this time. I was surprised at how much a 22 month old really could get into this stuff and she didn't even see half of the potential of Disney. We had fun partly because she had fun. And the rest of the family was enjoying themselves too, so we had lots of laughs and experiences. It was fun hanging out with the family and catching up.
Despite the costs, we have decided to make the Disney Marathon a yearly family event. Now I have a whole year to figure out how to cut costs and do it cheaper and stay longer. My friend Rachel gave me the best book ever by which to start my research. Thank you, Rachel for the book because it was a HUGE HELP during this year's trip. Now I'm going to use it to start planning for next year's trip.
But I have to slip this in: we are past the teething of all 4 canines and now onto her first 2nd year molar. God help us. I was hoping for a longer break to enjoy happy Anna. But I can see the teething cranky Anna is upon us in the last 24 hours, and the fact that she is now asking for her paci during regular business hours is another sure sign. The slobber and occasional hand to the back right bottom molar, along with: "ouch" is another sign. Disney and her family was a good distraction, but now I must face reality of what will probably be another 4 weeks of teething booger behavior. I am so glad these are the last 4 and then we are DONE.
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Why we came in the first place: The Disney Half Marathon and Kids' Races
Despite the fact that she strangely woke with a fever of 101.4 the first morning at Disney, the ibuprofen brought it down and put her in a good enough mood to run her first formal race: The Disney Kids' 100m dash! After some motivational pump-ups from her cousins and some stretching with mommy, we ran it with her. At the finish line, she said "more? more?" and received her metal. She wanted to do it again, but it was time for the other kids' runs. My niece and nephew ran the Mickey Mouse 1 mile race and they got metals too! All the kids were tired by 1pm, which is when we finally made it back to the cabin for naps and food. Parks that afternoon. Paul and I were worried about our feet since we had to run 13.1 miles the next day...we braved the parks hoping for no foot pain. I even wore my running shoes, at risk of getting them ruined or something. It seemed to work. We got out with minimal foot pain and no blisters, ready for our first Disney half marathon (though I had some new calf soreness. Bummer.).
Stretching with Mommy before the 100m dash.
Getting motivationally-pumped up by her cousins and Nanny and Nana!
Oooh, pretty metal. You earned it, baby!
The next day was our half marathon. Paul hadn't really trained at all, and in my opinion, my training was only half-assed, though I did the best I could with the schedule I had. Despite that, after a 4:30am wake-up, sore calf muscles from park walking, fireworks, a two-mile walk to the starting line, and a 40 degree start under an amazing only-Disney-can-pull-this-off beautiful full moon, we finished the half marathon at our personal best times of 2:53 (previous best was 2:57 in 2006 in Houston). I felt amazingly great during the run. I had spurts of energy that can only be attributed to the Advocare gel shots we took along the run. Even up the blasted long-assed overpasses in the last 3 miles of the race. We ran through Magic Kingdom and you could stop along the way to take pictures with Disney characters but there were lines for this, and I knew if I stopped, my legs would not let me get started again. But I did get one snap in on my camera phone of Captain Jack Sparrow! But Blogger is giving me crap so I'll have to post it later.
Somewhere along the run, the dark became light. As we approached mile 10, I did some math and realized that if I really pushed these last 3.1 miles, there was a chance I could beat my personal best time of 2:57. Yes, it's still a snail pace, but it's not about speed for me. For me, my goal is always to just finish with as little walking as possible. To finish knowing I gave it all I had, and knowing I'm not a competitive athlete or serious runner. So I pushed through the last 3.1 miles, making a new goal: to beat my previous best time. Turned up my Eminem music, and pushed. At mile 11 I realized that in my previous two half marathons, by this point, my feet usually feel like painful blocks and my knees scream at me with every step while my body usually feels 20lbs heavier. But not so this time. There was some knee pain but all else was quiet. Even my feet were fine. I even ran up the long overpasses while the others walked. I pushed so much that my muscles could carry me, but my cardio was cursing me and threatening to make me vomit upon the poor spectators at Epcot's last 0.1 mile stretch. Paul made me slow down. My body went numb and all I could feel was nausea. I just couldn't see that damned finish line, even though I saw the sign that there was only 0.1 miles left to go. Paul said at this point we could walk it and still beat our best time. We ran around and through some walkers and I cursed them in my mind for just being in my way.
My brain: There's no walking near the finish line. I don't trust my own numbers. I don't want to risk it. Just push. You will survive.
FINALLY I could see the finish line. Still thought I might throw up, but I took the headphones off so I could hear the crowd's cheers, as Paul cranked his to full blast, and we crossed together. The large gold-plated Finisher's Donald Duck metals were cool to the touch so we pressed them against our faces to cool off. They were worthy and heavy around our necks. We beat our best previous times with a few minutes to spare! All this before 9am. Time to go home, clean up, and head to the Parks. Paul braved an ice water bath, but I wimped out right when my feet hit that water. I'd rather a slow stream of ibuprofen all day to muffle the muscle soreness than to suffer through 10 minutes of an ice bath!
Overall, I'm a little sore but nothing compared to previous years. I think Paul is more sore than I am. I mean a half marathon on top of Disney Parks? I must be in better shape than I thought.
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On the drive home from the airport in Houston, another Anna first.
From the back seat: "My Belly Hurts."
I shot Paul a look: "Did she just say that?"
Paul: "Uh, Yeah!"
Me to Anna: "what did you say, baby?"
Anna: "Belly hurts, belly hurts" while touching her belly.
Wow. Here we are. Paul freaked out because her belly hurt. But I was thinking: of course she's had stomach aches in the past but could only cry about it. Now she's actually telling us. Holy COW. Is that some kind of a toddler milestone or something? When we got home, she had a pretty impressive traveler-BM diaper that substantiated where the belly ache was coming from. Then a nice, long nap before her friend, AB came over to spend the night. Since C and JS were in the hospital welcoming their new baby, we kept AB overnight on our first night back home so it was good-bye Disney, hello toddler sleep-over.
With sleep deprivation, jet lag, sore muscles, and double-the-toddler fun (enough with the "mine! no!" already, ladies) Paul and I got everyone out the door by 8:30 this morning. Now I'm at work, writing this blog entry in pieces between last night and my lunch break.
I need a vacation from my vacation. For reals.
I need a vacation from my vacation. For reals.
I haven't even written about New Year's and Christmas really.
I will post all the pics of the holidays and Disney trip in Flickr shortly.
