I'm not a Mom on tv, but I play one in Real Life. » Disneyland

Doin’ Disney Day 4

mommyinreallife — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:08:37 +0000

Thursday found us up early and heading for our last day at Disneyland. Sean made a full recovery, so we were ready to take on the Mouse one last time.

How every morning starts

Required

I had to beg them to go on this one.

They always end up loving it.
Mommy knows best!

Speed racerette

Sean is livin’ the dream.

This one is for their dad.

Hey Mom, that mountain looks like a bear!

Lewis and Clark

Toy Story Mania is the longest line we waited in: 30 minutes

Upside down glasses – never fails to amuse

Half eaten giant fruit – awesome!

Kenai & Koda (Brother Bear) “fought” over who go to hug Skye.
She LOVED it!

Tower of Terror
That’s us on the righthand side in the front row
We’ve been on it so many times, the kids pose for the pictures.

It was fairly hot.
But you don’t really need an excuse for ice cream!
Or in Skye’s case, a fruit bar.

Yep, that’s Mr. Walt Disney. Thank you!!

And thus concludes our magical trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. We left nearly 12 hours after we arrived. We were all completely exhausted, with sore feet but happy hearts. We had a totally awesome time! And we can’t wait to come back!! We love you, Disneyland. You never fail to amaze us!

Doin’ Disney Day 3 – the hotel edition part 2

mommyinreallife — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:50:59 +0000

Skye continued to entertain herself (and me)

I heard voices from under the bed,
apparently it was an undersea cave.

Cabin Fever anyone?!

At least Vomitfest has packed up and gone home early.

Skye stole my hot bubble bath idea.

I have been informed that we are pretending
her horse is actually a seahorse.
Because a seahorse is her favorite sea animal.
She’s pretty strict about this. Don’t mess up!!

Things took a decided up turn after lunchtime.
I ran to get Skye and I some Mickey D’s
(it’s in the hotel parking lot. Color me convenient!)

Then Skye took a nap… and so did I.
Definitely high point of the day!

Then there was more coloring.

I gave Sean some warm flat coke and when he’d kept
a few sips of that down every 30 minutes
I started to think we might be on the road to recovery.

Meanwhile, Skye is still crazy.

So far, so good. Everything is staying down and his color is really returning. Next up were dry animal crackers. He ate a few over an hour or so. They set with him well. He’d been complaining about a headache and it was obvious that he was pretty miserabler. I finally gave him and advil and that did the trick. Within a half hour he was suddenly up and better.

He ate his very dry burger from Mickey Ds, no fries and a small sprite.
His color is completely back to normal. As is her personality.
And his bit of stubbornness. Oh yeah, he’s fine.

Look out Disney, here we come!

Doin’ Disney Day 3 – the hotel edition part 1

mommyinreallife — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:00:52 +0000

I was awakened at 4:30 am Wednesday morning to the sounds of Sean throwing up on the hotel carpet because he couldn’t make it to the bathroom. My tummy was slightly queasy so I thought maybe it was the burgers we had last night at the Hungry Bear in Adventureland. But Sean continued to vomit several more times over the next two hours. No fever, thank goodness. But it was pretty obvious that Disney was not happening today.

I’m still pretty convinced it’s a moderate case of food poisoning. Sean has a pretty sensitive tummy. We ate at the exact same places yesterday that we did the day before. He had one churro, some low-fat granola bars, a rice crispy treat and some dried fruit. Oh and a muffin for breakfast. Not a bunch of amusement park crap, by far. So it’s not just eating too much junk food.

Now he’s resting fitfully. His tummy is still bothering him and he’s fairly miserable. I’m hoping that the puking has stopped. He doesn’t have anything left in him, thank goodness! If he is feeling better in a couple of hours, we’ll try some very dry animal crackers from the hotel vending machine.

Here’s what the morning looks like so far:

coloring

misery

“working”

art gallery

still miserable

movies

Next up – lunch from McDonalds, naptime and Sean tries a cracker.
Oh, and I may take a hot bubble bath.
No pictures of that, it ain’t that kind of blog!

Doin’ Disney Day 2

mommyinreallife — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:09:56 +0000

Day 2 started out even earlier than Day 1. We had Magic Morning passes, so we got in at 8, an hour before official park opening. Only a few of the rides are open for it, and the fastpass system isn’t activated yet. But we got in the Matterhorn line before it wrapped all the way around the mountain, and that made it all worth it! Afterwards, we headed over to grab Fast Passes for Space Mountain and color us disappointed. It was closed!! Hoping to open later (it did) but we didn’t get back to it today. Bummerewski!

California Adventures opened at 10, so we hopped on over there.
It never fails to crack me up that we drive all that way
to take a picture in front of a fake Golden Gate Bridge,
when we live literally minutes away from the real one!

One of our famorite shows is Muppets 3D Theater!
Skye’s favorite is Beaker! He’s mine too!!
Sean doesn’t have a favorite muppet
but he really likes Fozzy’s jokes!

Time for Lunch
Today we dined at The Tasty Pilot
Hamburgers and chicken nuggets
Livin’ on the wild side!

Ah, the classic french fry mustache!

With the french fry beard as a close second!

Grizzly River Run – Before Pic
aka DRY pic

During Pic – just before things get wet!

And the AFTER Pic
aka the drenched pic

The Hollywood Tower of Terror
aka Skye’s Favorite Ride
she is afraid of The Haunted Mansion
Go Figure!!

Churro time, baby!!

“This is the best tastin’ Churro I ever heard!”
my impression of the Vlasic stork’s
impression of Groucho Marx

My little event planners hard at work.

The Haunted Mansion
Mom wins again!!

Exploring Tom Sawyer Island

Child Labor

Where’s Johnny Depp when you really need him?

My sweet little monkey-face

Can you hear it?
Duh-duh-duh-duuuuuuuuh, duh-duh-duh!
Duh-duh-duh-duuuuuuuh, duh-duh-duh.duh.DUH!

Then we headed home to collapse in bed.
And prepare ourselves for another
busy & fun-filled day!

Doin’ Disney Day 1 with More Verbage

mommyinreallife — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:23:28 +0000

I have more energy this morning after 10 hours of sleep (yay for vacation and exhausted children!) However, I definitely don’t have more time! We get Magic Morning entry (1 hour before the park opens) so we are heading over even earlier today. However, I want to get my memories written down before I forget them!

Edited to add: I ran out of time before we left for the park this morning. So I am updating Day One at the end of Day Two. After I post this, I am going to immediately write and post Day Two. Then I can sleep knowing that I am officially caught up. Too Much Pressure!!

We arrive at Disney just at opening, 9 am. We grabbed Fast Passes for Indiana Jones and then headed over to ride The Matterhorn!

Home-made rice crispy treats make waiting in line a little sweeter.

Next it was time for Skye’s Princess Makeover.
I had scheduled a Knight’s Makeover for Sean.
He made it clear that was SO not happening.

Each girl has her own fairy godmother!

Skye chose the very traditional Fairytale Princess style.
Which is sort of the opposite of my
Wild ‘n Crazy girl!

The next step is Skye’s favorite
MAKE UP!!

Then its time for her fairy godmother to sprinkle on
the magic fairy dust that makes her an
OFFICIAL PRINCESS!
It takes a LOT of glitter to be royalty!
Kate, take note!

And there she is: Princess Skye McKenna
in her brother’s hand-me-down Pirate t-shirt.
Cause that’s how she rolls.

Then we were on to Pizza ~~Planet~~ Port for lunch!
Nothing says your royal highness
like a giant slice of pepperoni!

Yep, I was there too. Notice the WATER bottle.
Bein’ all healthy at Disneyland!
It’s CRAZY!!

We went on more rides:
Pirates of the Caribbean
Indiana Jones
Jungle Cruise
The Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain
No namby pamby baby rides for us!

At this point, we were hot and parched.
Mint ice cream sundaes at the Golden Horseshoe
Complete with twangy music floor show!

Eventually we made our way over to Toon Town.
The kids practiced blowing things up.
Good solid educational stuff there.

Sean: MOM MOM, take a picture of us in the fire truck!
It’s my job to oblige!

We went on a couple more rides
and then headed back to the hotel around 7 pm.
Ten hours, not bad for our first day!

Day Two is up and coming.
There is much deja vu!!

Doin’ Disney Day 1

mommyinreallife — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:38:43 +0000

After 10 hours at the Magic Kingdom, I am too exhausted to even think about summarizing the day, much less write about it! Hopefully after a soak in a hot tub and a full night’s sleep, I’ll be able to jot my thoughts (looks like I had a little sum-thin’ left!) Until then, here are a few pics to tied everyone over.

Sweet dreams!

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho Evening Edition

mommyinreallife — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:59:45 +0000

It was a long, peace and without incident drive down. My favorite kind! Since I’ve done this a few times before, just in the last year, I’ve worked out most of the kinks. It also helps that Sean is outgrowing/learning to deal with his sheer terror of automatic toilets.

We hit the road at 8:30 am. We headed East on 580, which takes us over the Richmond/San Rafael bridge.

Off to the left was a beautiful view of Sausalito (I think). It’s the south-eastern side of Marin County. And behind us (not pictures) was San Quentin. Not quite as scenic.

The kids had a blast in the back. I had two portable dvd players with headphones so they could each watch their own movie.

This was I could listen to my tunes cranked up! Bon Jovi full blast makes driving quite the pleasure!
Finally we hit I-5. It’s a straight shot to Anaheim from there. Which seems like we are really on our way. On the road again… And the first round of “are we there yet?”

We had one stop for food & gas. Another stop for Micky D’s ice cream cones and potty break. And one stop at Kmart for sunscreen, new swim trunks for Sean, socks and razors. I have dry itchy skin. My comfy traveling parts are my capri length sweats. Which hit right mid-shin. And cause me constant itching. When I went to scratch, my right leg was baby butt smooth. My left leg – Chewbacca! I’d somehow only shaved the right one this morning. I think this is another nail in the Alzheimer’s coffin!

Things I heard from the backseat:

Skye singing Highway to Hell (Megamind soundtrack)
Sean: that has the h-word in it.
Skye: Highway?

Sean: a-s-s
Skye: b-i-ch
Sean: what starts with “c”
apparently they are playing the alphabet came with curse words
motherhood WINNING!

We’re all settled in at the hotel now. We got here right at 4pm. Which means we made excellent time even with the stops! We grabbed a little dinner at the Micky D’s in the same lot as our hotel. Sweet! The kids are showerin’ up and we’re all hitting the hay nice ‘n early! Disney opens at 9am tomorrow morning and we have every intention of being there front and center when those gate swing in.

Plan of attack: run over to Indiana Jones and get fast passes FIRST. The head to Matterhorn. By then our past passes will have come do and we can run and get fastpasses for Space Mountain. That’s as far as we’ve gotten so far. Sean has an elaborate list written out that he’s been working on for about a week. Can’t wait to see that!!

Until then, may Tinkerbell sprinkle us all with sleepy dust. And if the kids don’t quiet down soon, I’m callin’ in Cap’n Hook to make ‘em walk the plank!

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho

mommyinreallife — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:34:17 +0000

In just a couple of hours, the littles and I will be heading South ways to the land of Magic and Churros (oh how I love those things!) It’s Spring Break here and we are going on vacay! We are a Disney lovin’ family. I love it just as much as the kids. My mom is the same way. It’s hereditary. I can blame genetics. We have little Mickey Mouse ear shaped chromosomes.

Even though Skye’s birthday isn’t til next month, this is actually the reason for the trip (ok, admittedly, I’ll use any reason.) The kids have gotten old enough that I can’t justify pulling them out of school. Even if I do claim it as educational. we visit the Imaginarium. And of course, Indiana Jones is all about archeology and full of authentic Egyptian artifacts. It’s like homeschooling.

I have booked appointments at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on Monday for Skye to get a Princess makeover and Sean is getting the Knight one. They said they’ve had women come in too. It’s quite popular with brides who are there for weddings! I am tempted but at 41, would feel only slightly ridiculous. Besides, the tiara might not sit right on my mouse ears.

Yes, speaking of 41. Monday happens to be my birthday. The timing IS coincidental. We were going over spring break, whenever that happened to be. And it just happens to be on the day I get a year close to my demise. If I time it right, I can expire right inside The Haunted Mansion. Hopefully not on this particular trip! The Haunted Mansion is my very favorite ride. Especially when they Nightmare Before Christmas it out over the holidays!!! Skye doesn’t really love it, it scares her. Which is funny because The Hollywood Tower of Terror is her favorite. I suppose we are an odd bunch. Sean loves California Screamin’ (a traditional boardwalk type rollercoaster.) Skye is still to miniature to go on it yet, or it would probably be her’s too. We are quite the daredevils!

The kids have both made it very clear that our first ride of the first day will be The Matterhorn. When we went at Christmastime, it kept breaking down. We weren’t able to ride it and the kids were way bummed (me too.) Then it’s on to Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror… we like the thrill rides for sure. Unfortunately, Splash Mountain is closed for refurbishment and the Space Tours renovation isn’t done yet, so we won’t be able to go on those rides. Splash Mountain is one of our faves, especially since it’s supposed to be quite warm. However, Bear River Run is operational and we can still get quite soaked! I’m coming prepared this time. The kids each have their own backpack and I’m putting bathing suits, small towels and changes of clothes in them (along with snacks and bottled water. In case we get stranded.) Oh, and sunscreen! We’ve gotten burned before. Not in a good way.

I am a photo-aholic. Every night I’ll ~~thousands~~ a few pics of our day’s activities. So you all can ~~be jealous~~ visit vicariously through our antics. We can be quite silly. Yay for Disneyland!!

I will make mention here for those who have children or family members with food allergies or other dietary needs. There is NO PLACE ON EARTH more accommodating that Disneyland. When we had Sean on a GFCF diet and his assumed peanut allergy, they were ready and able to provide for his requirements. Stop by the Main Street City Hall. They have a printout of which restaurants have your restriction friendly foods. When you go in to the food establishments, you can just place your order. Sometimes you have to ask for the head chef. At Pizza Port (which we refer to as Pizza Planet) they make a special gluten free crust and pasta. You can get it with no cheese (they said eventually they might get in casein cheese, so always ask!) Pretty much everything is peanut free unless it is a specific peanut product. There are gluten free buns most of the restaurants too!! Nothing made me happier than to see Sean eating a hot dog with bun, just like all the other kids!! Oh, and at the big breakfast buffet, the chef will come out personally, take the child’s order from him (or her) and then prepare and serve it himself!! Making the child feel extra special!Like I said, OVER AND BEYOND!

Disney really is the happiest place on Earth. They never fail to amaze me.

Have a Magical Day!

Making Magic – Day III

mommyinreallife — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:04:07 +0000

One the third day, we were joined by my brother Ryan and his kids, Laney and Myles. It was a great end to an awesome vacation.

I think the picture speak for themselves!

Making Magic – Day II

mommyinreallife — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:19:03 +0000

9:00 am – California Adventures awaits

We traveled 7 hours and over 300 miles to take a picture in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Skye’s favorite ride.

Interestingly, the Haunted Mansion frightens her.

Gettin’ buggy with it.

I apologize.

At this point, we’d only been in line 10 minutes.

Giant talkin’ Mr. Potato Head.

And we’re not even on the ride yet!

Like we’re in some Disneyfied version of Hogwarts.

Robot wars aka killing time in line for Space Mountain.