Aedan: 37 Months, Week 3
This week was our first week off of school for the summer and was mostly spent hanging out and getting ready for our vacation. We were going to be gone for a total of two and a half weeks, with various stops along the way including Upland, a visit to Indy with friends, flying to Florida to stay for a week with Ben's family, staying on a few extra days with just our family, flying back to Indy, attending two baseball games in Cincinnati, and a wedding in Indy. It was a lot to pack into two and a half weeks, and we had to make sure we had everything we needed and could fit into suitcases that could be checked on the airplane.
On Tuesday morning Aedan had a hair cut and there was a MOPS play date at the park that the kids and I went to. I kind of know people from MOPS, but I was only there for a semester before starting to work full-time, so a lot of the moms looked at me like they'd seen me but weren't sure. It was a pretty warm, sunny day for Sault Ste. Marie, but the kids had fun running around on the playground, having a little snack in the shade, and collecting and playing with caterpillars. Any time we are around town, I would like to make it a point to go to these park play dates. That way Samantha and Aedan have a chance to play with other kids, and I have a chance to get to know some other moms.
Tuesday night was also a big deal for Samantha because she had her first tee-ball practice. She was pretty excited about trying tee-ball out. Daddy even got her her own special catching glove and practiced with her some before the first practice. Samantha is actually pretty good at hitting the ball with the bat when we play in the back yard, and it's even easier for her to do with a tee. We have been working on playing catch more and just helping her with those types of basic skills. In the past, she hasn't been the most coordinated girl when it comes to sports, but I think she could be pretty good at tee-ball as long as she tries her best. Ben took Samantha and Aedan to tee-ball that evening while I went to church for a training. Ben said the practice went well, she tried hard, she was a good listener, and she enjoyed rotating through the various stations and hitting the ball of the tee. She is sad to miss the next few practices/games while we were gone, but she will be back for more once we return, and we figured it was still worth it to sign her up for it, particularly just to experience more of what it's like to be part of an organized, team sport.
Wednesday was a washing and packing day, as we wanted to get as much stuff packed up as possible so we could head out for Upland quickly on Thursday morning. We had a packing list made, and Ben and I worked pretty well as a team getting everything together. We felt like we were in a pretty good place. In fact, we were invited over to the Sayer's house for dinner. It was nice of them to offer up their home, since they knew we'd be in the middle of packing and we also didn't have any food left in our refrigerator, as we were trying to clean as much stuff out as we could since we would be gone from home for a long time. We went over to their house around 5:00, and the kids were really looking forward to it. The kids got right to playing, while the guys went outside to grill hamburgers and hot dogs, while I stayed inside to talk. We had a delicious meal together, and it was great to just let the kids play outside together while the adults talked around the table. It was fun to catch up and relax together. I feel like our families get along well, and our parenting styles are similar. Ben made a delicious buckeye brownie dessert to share with them, and we were thoroughly stuffed when we came back home. We probably stayed later than we should have considering we were leaving on vacation the next morning, but it was fun to actually spend time with friends, that is definitely one thing I have missed in moving away from good friends in Oxford. It's always difficult to make new friends in each new place we live.
Thursday, June 15, Ben and I were up early, getting ready, packing up last minute things, and getting the kids ready for our big trip. We left right about 8:45, like we wanted, so we could drop Izzy off at the house of the lady who offered to watch her. We left the kids in the car, and Ben and I just brought Izzy's stuff into the house and let her sniff around and explore some. She was a little nervous going with new people and cowered behind my legs quite a bit, but I knew she would warm up quickly after we were gone. It was strange leaving her though, knowing that we wouldn't see her for another 2 1/2 weeks. However, I was very glad that we found someone kind and reliable to watch our little lady for us. It made me feel so much better knowing that she would be included as a part of another family rather than in a kennel.
Then, we were on the road to Upland. The kids were doing well playing in the car together, watching a couple shows, playing on their Leap Pads, and really looking forward to seeing Ema and Papa. We went to visit last over our Spring Break, and to the kids, that felt like ages ago. As per tradition, we stopped at the Lansing Mall for lunch at Chipotle, followed by play time at the little play place in the mall. Aedan has gotten very adventurous and was jumping off all these climbers. However, I love this picture of our two kiddos together. We were very ready for our vacation!
We made pretty good time, arriving in Upland just before dinnertime, and man were the kids excited to be there. Ema and Papa are like rockstars in their book, and we had a great evening hanging out together. In fact, Samantha came up with a very creative, imaginative game where she decided her and Grandpa were going to get married. We each had a role to play. Aedan was the ring bearer, I was the flower girl, and Ema walked Samantha down the aisle. Here is the video Ben took of the wedding ceremony.
On Friday we had plans to meet some good friends from Oxford at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Ema was kind enough to drive down separately so that she could get us, plus Isaac, in on the grandparent's pass they had. We appreciated not having to pay for all of us to get in. We hadn't seen the Chagdes family in a year, since we moved away from Oxford, but they were probably our closest friends, and our kids always got along so well. At first the kids were a little unsure of each other since it had been so long since we'd seen each other, but it didn't take very long for it to turn into this. When you are around Samantha, no one stays a stranger for very long. She is a very friendly, welcoming, social little girl.
After a full, fun day on Friday, it was time to get ready to fly to Florida on Saturday. We left about 8:00 in the morning so that we could get to the airport and get checked in for our flight. We all had a quick breakfast in the car on the way there, and we were ready for the start of our Toll family vacation. Since we had a pretty small, early breakfast, we decided to eat lunch before getting on the plane. Here are Ema, Papa, and the grandkids eating lunch together. I love the expressions on everyone's face, particularly Aedan's. I had many pictures and as I looked through them, not one of them was he actually looking at the camera. However, in each picture he is making a different silly face. This is just the beginning of a vacation full of difficulty in getting Aedan to pose (and look) for pictures. He's such a silly kid though, a picture like this does more to describe his personality than one where he is looking nicely at the camera smiling.
Our flight was at 11:45 out of Indy, and we knew it would be a fairly long afternoon of traveling, getting our rental cars, and making our way to the vacation house, especially with being on the road by 8:00 that morning, but the kids all did really well. Samantha and Alaina sat together with Aunt Jeni on the plane, looking out the window during take off and landing, but then playing on their Leap Pads for much of the rest of the time. Aedan chose to sit between Ema and Papa, and they did a great job amusing him and keeping him busy for the flight with different toys, snacks, and games. That left Ben and I sitting together with no kids to entertain, so we kind of had a relaxing flight of listening to music and reading books.
It took a little while to get all our suitcases and car seats and stroller off the luggage carousel, then all nine of us made our way through the airport and to the rental car area. We rented a car as well as a minivan to accommodate everyone, and the kids were definitely ready to get out of the heat and into the air conditioning. It was about a forty-five minute drive from the airport to the house that we rented, and Aedan fell asleep in the car on the way there after having a long day with no chance to nap. It will be interesting to see how he handles vacation and being gone over his nap time with no real set schedule.
We were all very excited when we pulled up to the house that would be our home away from home for the week. From the pictures online, it looked wonderful, but it was even bigger on the inside than the pictures made it seem. Here are pictures from their website:
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| Ben and I had this room. |
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| Aedan got the cool Star Wars room. |
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| Samantha got to sleep in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse room. |
We threw together a quick grocery list to get food for dinner, some breakfasts, and snacks, and then Ben, Ema, and Papa went to the store to buy food. Since we had a nice little pool right in our backyard, Jeni and I decided to let the kids go swimming for awhile, knowing that we would have plenty of time before they got back from the store and we were able to make dinner. The water was a little cool, but not bad at all, and the kids had fun swimming and splashing around together. We then had some grilled chicken and sausages for dinner. It was a great evening, and we were looking forward to our first full day of exploring on Sunday.
Our first day at Disney was Monday, so we decided to take advantage of Sunday as a day to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We knew that our kids, especially Samantha, would really enjoy seeing everything about space, seeing rockets, and actually getting a tour of where they launch them from. It was fairly expensive to get in, but the day was wonderful, definitely well worth it.
We went on a tour of the Kennedy Space Center complex, which was a little bit boring to the kids, but we got to see where they launched rockets from as well the crawler-transporters that transport the spacecraft from the VAB along the causeway to the launch pad. After getting a pretty long bus tour of the complex, we were dropped off at this building where we got to see the actual Apollo 18 rocket that was made but never used for a launch. It was awesome to see how massive it was, and to be able to see it up close. We even got to each lunch at the cafeteria under the rocket which was pretty cool, too.
Monday was the big day, as it was our first day at Disney, and we had plans to go to the Magic Kingdom, the most classic of the parks. We were up and ready early that morning, ready to head to the park. Before leaving for the day, I took a picture of myself. Here I am 27 weeks pregnant, almost to my third trimester, ready for full days of walking around Disney in the Florida heat. I was still feeling pretty good and energetic. It actually felt better for my body to walk around then to sit. I had comfortable shoes, tank tops to keep me cool, and the best maternity shorts I was able to find in a pinch.
The last time we came to Disney World, we stayed on site so our experience was a little different with being able to take a bus straight from our hotel to the entrance of the park. However, since we are staying in a house and driving in every day, we had to plan in extra time to get from the parking lot to the transportation and ticket center where you take either a boat or the monorail across the Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom. I always forget how long it takes to get to the Magic Kingdom, and we even tried to allow for extra travel time. However, Ben and I were determined to have a great day, regardless of the crowds or the heat or the weather. We didn't know which would be quicker, but the girls thought taking the boat sounded like a fun idea. Here we are on our way for our first day in Disney!
Everything was so exciting that first day, from riding the boat, to riding the tram in from the parking lot. I told them this would be the most boring ride they would be on all day.
On our way into the park, we got separated from Ema, Papa, and Uncle Timmy, so they parked in a different place and took the monorail instead of the boat, so the rest of us arrived at the front of the park first. However, we took advantage of our time to have a little snack and snap some pictures. Again, I tried to get Aedan to pose with Samantha in front of Mickey's picture in the flowers, but he was being resistant to posing for pictures again, so I decided it wasn't important enough to force. It's a cute picture of Samantha though!
When planning the Fast Passes, Ben and I tried to choose rides we thought everyone would enjoy, while also choosing the ones that are more well-known and tend to have longer lines. We hoped that we could go on another ride to "break everyone in" before going right on Space Mountain, but it took longer to get into the park then we expected. Since I am pregnant, I wasn't allowed to go on any roller coaster type ride, or anything with a big drop or a lot of shaking or bumping. I like all those rides, but I definitely can't complain about the reason I couldn't go on them. Plus, many of those rides Aedan couldn't go on anyways because he was too short, so instead he and I would do something else together. For example, while everyone else was on Space Mountain, he and I went on the Tomorrowland Speedway. He was pretty excited to drive his own race car. He couldn't steer and reach the pedal at the same time, so I was mostly in charge of the pedal. However, he was cranking the wheel so hard back and forth that the car kept bumping side to side, which he didn't like either, so I ended up steering as well and he just enjoyed the ride.
Uncle Timmy took some reaction videos after the kids, especially Alaina, experienced something for the first time, and here's the reaction video after Space Mountain. The girls survived it, but I don't think it was their favorite. Samantha especially didn't like the ride in the dark, even though it wasn't that big of a roller coaster. Regardless, we were just happy that she was brave enough to give it a try.
From there we were on to other rides, and at this point I don't remember exactly which ones we went on at which times, but we were all pretty excited to go on the Dumbo ride. It was a short line, so we decided to take advantage of our chance to go on it, even though that meant the kids didn't play in the play area for people as they wait. (It was a pretty hot day, as we expected it to be in Orlando in the middle of June, but you can tell we are getting red cheeked and sweaty in these pictures.) Even though the Dumbo ride is a simple concept, I think it was one of the kids' favorite rides overall, just one of those classics.
After the Dumbo ride, we had a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain. We had thought that Aedan would be tall enough to ride it, but he turned out to be just shy of the height requirement, so while everyone else went on that ride, he and I found a small play place hidden under the railroad track in the shade. I also took Aedan to use the restroom, which he had been doing an amazing job of keeping his diaper dry even while walking around Disney World. He did not seem afraid to use big potties like Samantha always was, and he was very interested in going in the toilet rather than his diaper. I was super proud of him, and we didn't mind taking him to the potty whenever he needed to go if that meant he was getting more and more ready for potty training. The girls really liked Big Thunder Mountain, a much better choice than Space Mountain, according to Samantha.
It was pretty hot and sticky that morning, so we took advantage of the little bit longer weight for for Pirates of Caribbean because we could stand in cool air conditioning for awhile. We all enjoyed the cool shade, and the Pirates ride was a lot of fun. Aedan had a great time on the ride and was excited for any other ride that had a small drop like the Pirates ride.
She called Aedan a little prince, and he got to sit right down on Cinderella's lap.
We made sure to find a place to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade that afternoon because we had such a great time watching it on our last trip. You are able to see so many different princesses and characters up close without having to stand in line to meet each of them. We were a little late to finding a spot, but we found this small area right next to the rope along the parade pathway, and it ended up being the perfect area. There weren't many other kids around the area where we were, meaning Samantha, Alaina, and Aedan, got a lot of personal attention from the characters that passed by on the floats. Ben was kind enough to pick up some Mickey Mouse ice cream bars for the kids to enjoy while waiting for the parade to start. The rain had just recently stopped, so the ground was pretty wet, but that didn't change the fact that the ice cream was melting much faster than the kids could eat it, especially Aedan. Regardless, Mickey Mouse bars are something you have to have when visiting Disney World. It's the perfect afternoon treat on a hot day. I also love this picture of Aedan because you can see the lipstick print from where Cinderella kissed his little forehead. In fact, immediately after getting kissed by Cinderella, he asked when he'd be able to meet, hug, and get a kiss from more princesses.
For most of the parade, Aedan just sat quietly on my lap, taking everything in. He isn't quite as outgoing as his big sister, but once it got toward the end with the characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale, he was very interested in getting up and saying hello to them. Again, it was so cute to see the attention they were getting from the characters. It was such a fun parade.
Here's the parade as recorded by Uncle Timmy. He tried to get some of the reactions of the kids, but it's pretty long, so I had to split it up into multiple videos in order to upload it.
Here's the reaction video Uncle Timmy recorded after the parade was over.
And here's another close up picture of the kiss Aedan got from Cinderella.
Our next Fast Pass wasn't until later that evening, so we took the rest of the afternoon to go on some other fun rides like It's a Small World...
...And also Story Time with Belle. Samantha really enjoyed this experience last time, and it's a fun, personal way to interact with Belle up close. At the very beginning, they have all the kids line up and they practice acting out different parts of the story while the cast members choose different kids to act out the different parts of the story. All the kids were given the chance to have a part that wanted one, but Aedan was a little too shy. Alaina was chosen to be Mrs. Potts, and Samantha was chosen to be the beast because of her loud and ferocious roar. She was so excited to be chosen for that part.
The performance was just too cute to not record, and both Ben and I were recording from different angles at different times, so some of the scenes are repeated, but it was so great to see Samantha acting out her part with such confidence. Most of the kids were timid and quiet, but not Samantha, she owned her part of being the beast, and I couldn't help but smile while watching her act out the part. She was SO into it, and watching her perform made me wonder if we should get her in some kind of an acting/drama performance. They have a local theater company in Sault Ste. Marie, and I bet Samantha would really enjoy being a part of something like that. You have to watch these videos; they are just priceless. Her roar and her face just get me every time.
The best part of the experience, by far, was at the end when Samantha got to have a special dance with Belle, since she was the beast. Again, there was no shyness there, and she was just beaming the entire time. I love watching the excitement of our children.
Even though Aedan didn't want to be a part of the show, he decided he wanted to get his picture taken with Belle at the end, as long as I went up there with him.
Story Time with Belle was awesome, and Samantha talked about it the rest of the night, how good she was at roaring and that's why they chose her, and how excited she was that Alaina got to be Mrs. Potts as well.
The rest of the evening was spent eating some Italian food indoors to get in out of the rain, using Fast Passes for the Seven Dwarf Mine Train ride that everyone but me could go on, riding the Little Mermaid ride, and meeting Ariel, since that wasn't a long wait at all and the kids were all doing pretty well considering we'd been going strong all day.
Before wrapping up our long, full, fun day at the Magic Kingdom, we went on a couple more rides like the Mad Tea Party ride where the kids got to twirl around in circles as fast as they could, another one of their favorite rides, especially Aedan's. He told me that Papa told him to go fast, so he spun that tea cup as fast as he could!
Then, we rode the Astro Orbiter because all the kids had been wanting to ride it since the beginning of the day, but we just hadn't made it back to Tomorrowland yet. It's more fun to ride that ride at night anyways because of the lights you can see around the Magic Kingdom and the castle in the background. Aedan was SUPER excited about riding these rockets, making him feel like he was really flying. He chose to ride with Ema, Samantha rode with Papa, and I got to ride with Alaina, which I was pretty excited about because she doesn't usually choose me. We all had a blast soaring up in the air that evening, and it was a great way to end our day.
We considered staying for the fireworks show that night, but we ended up deciding against it, walking out of the park just as the show began, so the kids could watch it from the stroller as we made our way down Main Street. We had had a long day, there were tons of people filling the park for the fireworks that would all be leaving at the same time, so it was nice to be able to beat the crowd and get on the monorail back without having to wait for a long time. Here was the view of the castle on our way out that night. Sometimes I feel just like a little kid when I'm at Disney World, and I think I enjoy the experience of it all just as much as them. What can I say, we had a magical day at the Magic Kingdom, and as I tucked Samantha into bed that night, she described it as the best day ever.
(Blog about June 13-19, 2017)
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