This year really hasn’t been our year. It hasn’t been godawful terrible, and things certainly could have been worse, but if you’ll forgive a few moments of ungrateful self pity, this year has kind of sucked. Some of the reasons for that have been shared on the blog, others haven’t been, but a big part of why it’s been harder than other times is that we’ve felt very much out of control; the things we were struggling with we really couldn’t do much about, and few things are as irritating as perpetual helplessness. So we’ve spent 4 months reacting, and enough is enough.

And so, as I was struggling to think of what to do for Katie for Mother’s day, I felt a giddy moment of decisiveness. On Tuesday the 3rd, we made a few phone calls and then booked a 4 day trip to Anaheim to go to Disneyland, departing the following Wednesday the 11th. We usually book our trips 6 months ahead of time, and plan them a year or two out, so this was a wee bit of a big step for us.   Sure, it’s taken us a week to put up the post, but we did give you a hint, what with the two minutes of video clips of the boys riding Autopia, and at one point an announcer for the train saying in the background, “next stop on the Disneyland train, Main Street.”  We had an early-afternoon flight aboard Jet Blue (which is my new favorite airline, despite the A320s), and flew into Long Beach Airport. The boys did pretty well on this flight, even without Malin along for help. No puking! Of course our shuttle was late and the boys had a serious case of the wiggles.  Katie found a handicap ramp up to the car rental building and the boys spent 20 minutes running up and down that ramp, stopping along the way to admire the line of cabs across the street.  Dexter actually admitted he was tired.  We then boarded our shuttle to our hotel (with the boys riding on Booster Seats for the very first time – and the last, for another year or two), and stayed at the Tropicana just across from the Pedestrian entrance to Disneyland. Fantastic location, by the way.

We weren’t sure how to handle the boys sleeping in the hotel, worried as we were that they’d fall off the bed to their deaths, or worse, crying loudly enough to wake us up. So Katie got Nic in her bed, and I had Dex, and the boys slept while Katie and I did not. (I woke up many times in the night.  At one point Nicholas crushed my nose, which is still very sensitive from the surgery.  He also did fall off the bed – well his lower half did and he yelled for help.  Dexter, on the other hand, cuddled up to the back of Joel and slept peacefully [by sleep peacefully, she means “kicked joel in the buttocks or family jewels all night long”.-katie) The next morning we woke up early, popped the boys into a borrowed stroller (SO much cooler than ours. Chicco sucks, McClaren Rules!), and off we went to Disneyland. We got there just as they opened, at 8am, and in we went.  (It was probably the first and last time we will ever be anywhere on time again.)

One thing Dexter’s Occupational Therapist recommended was asking for special accommodations for Dexter. His sensory integration problems aren’t too severe most of the time, but given an overwhelming environment like Disneyland, she thought waiting in the handicapped line, away from the crowds and out of the sun, would probably let Dexter enjoy the experience. She was totally right – Disney gave us a pass for Dexter. Without it, Dex wouldn’t have enjoyed himself at all, and the trip would have been a waste. It doesn’t get you to the front of the line, but it did get us away from the big lines, and usually waiting in a quiter place, and it made life a LOT easier. (Especially for Joel, who hates the sun and crowds, which makes Disneyland a challenge.  He and Nicholas quite enjoyed the Fast Pass accommodations.)

Katie and I had spent a few hours pouring over the maps and trying to figure out what the boys would like, and how to make it as fun as possible. We did okay in our planning, but forgot to bring our list of To Do’s that first morning in the park.  Thus, we totally screwed up and chose our first ride based on the length of the line and not based upon was this a good choice.  Our first ride was Pinnochio. Oops. It was really dark, and there was lots of jarring turns, and scary things jumping out of the dark, and loud noises, and Dexter freaked out. We tried to recover by going on King Arthur’s Carousel, but the turn-style hit him in the back of the head and he spent the ride in tears on Katie’s lap, sitting on a bench.

We tried valiantly for a third time, and climbed aboard the Casey Jr. Train (from Dumbo!) SUCCESS! The boys both LOVED it. We ended up riding that train 4 or 5 times over the next three days. We also tried Dumbo, but Nic got mad that he had to fly with Dad and spent the whole time crying. (Every time we’ve looked at our Disney pictures since, and Nicky sees the picture of Joel and Nic in Dumbo, he comments on how he wanted to ride with Mommy.  Poor Joel.)

After that we went to Toontown, home to Mickey’s house, and the boys had a much, much better time. They got to meet Minnie Mouse, Dexter’s favorite, and Goofy. We got to play in Minnie’s house, Goofy’s garden, crash Goofy’s car, sail Donald’s boat, and then meet Micky Mouse and explore his house. The boys loved Toontown.

Our goal, going into this trip was to follow the boys lead and keep them on their normal schedule.  We wanted to minimize meltdowns.  So, when nap time came, we then headed back to our hotel for a nap. Or tried to. The boys had noticed the Disneyland Train and wanted to ride, so I suggested that Katie ride with the boys, and I’ll take the stroller and backpacks and hike back to the front entrance to meet her. Oops again. First, it took 20 minutes for them to get on their train, and then another 20-30 minutes until they got to the front entrance, and had to go through a tunnel with dinosaurs which freaked Dex out again. Meanwhile it took me about 10 minutes to make it to the front entrance, so I camped out and waited. It’s hard being a Dad sometimes…

We made it back to the room, and Katie had the great idea to pull one of the big comforters off of the bed and make a big nap area on the floor. The boys passed out after eating a few chicken nuggets. Katie and I passed out too.  We never take naps but after a busy morning, followed by a pitch black room, while waiting for the boys to fall asleep, so did we.

That afternoon we went back to Disneyland (the joy of a close hotel!) This time we went over to Futureland, and rode the Autopia ride (this is where that special accommodations pass came in REAL handy – it was Dex’s favorite ride, but no way he’d sit in line for an hour waiting for it). This was the video clip you saw in the last post (and you all totally missed the clue!) Dexter was ENTHRALLED. He screamed with laughter the entire time. Nic was actually doing a good job driving, and turning and everything. It’s a good thing Katie and Nic were so careful – they were able to pic up Dex’s hat after it flew off his head during a rather spectacular failure to turn going into a corner.

Then we tried the Nemo submarine. Big failure. Nic did great, and Dexter liked the first few minutes, but then they had this whole “Nemo’s lost again” movie thing with load noises and scary monsters. I put a hand over dexter’s ear and held his other ear to my cheek during one of the first loud scenes, and then covered his eyes when one of the monsters appeared – for the rest of the ride everytime I tried to move one of my hands he reached up and grabbed it and put it back over his eyes and ears. Poor boy… (What I don’t understand is why that ride has to be so damn loud.  Seriously, you are in a confined area.  The speakers were blasting right into our ears.  I felt so bad for Dexter.  It made me mad.)

A second night in the hotel room.  After the success with the nap, and Katie’s desire to actually sleep herself, we kept the makeshift bed on the floor and from then on, the boys slept there.  Once in our room, the boys seemed totally content to just camp out and play with some trains for a while. I think they were pretty much spent. Then they passed out in their little nap-patch on the floor, and Katie and I got a decent night’s sleep. The next morning Dex asked if we could go home now…  It broke our hearts.

On the second day, we went to Disneyland in the morning, revisiting Dumbo (yes, this time Nic rode with Mommy and all was well with the world) and the Casey Jr. train. We also drove the cars again, and went over to Tom Sawyer’s island. I thought the boys would love running all over the island, but they just found a quiet area in the shade and poured sand on our maps for 45 minutes. Seriously, we paid $2000 for this? We have sand at home, guys… Still, it was nice to not be overstimulated for a bit. That afternoon we tried California Adventures, and I have to say, oops. That park sucks. Maybe next year when Goofy’s Flying School and the new Cars thing opens, but for now it was a complete bust. Still, we rode the Heimlich’s catepillar train from A Bug’s Life, and then drove some Bumper Cars (which travel about as quickly as Dex when walking by a toy store – but still, a crash is a crash, and if I know one way to make my boys happy, it’s with property destruction).  We called it quits early that day.  The boys just seemed drained all day.  Our biggest success was going to IHOP for dinner.  Nicholas and Dexter actually ate for once.  Nicholas downed his 5 pancakes and Dexter practically licked the bowl after eating all of his Kraft Mac and Cheese.  Back to our room for more train time and fun in the bathtub.

The next morning we packed our stuff up, dumped it at the front desk, and headed back to Disneyland. Again we hit Casey Jr.,the carousel, and Autopia. We also road the Mark Train riverboat twice, at the very strong insistence of Nicholas. We saw Tigger and Winnie the Pooh and Eyore. Our flight wasn’t until 5:30, so we had to nap in the park. We walked around until the boys passed out, and then found a quiet place for them to nap. (We actually found one!) They only got about an hour, but it was enough. Afterward we headed back to Main Street to get some souvenir t-shirts. The boys went wild climbing all over the fire truck / trailer.  In fact, Nicky didn’t want to leave.  So, while he played, Dexter met Pluto (petted his nose) and hugged Minnie Mouse (just one more time!)  Katie called to ask where Dexter and I were.  We were waiting in line for Donald Duck.  She ran over with Nicky and we got a family photo with Donald. We finally headed back to the hotel, got on our shuttle, endured the typical hell of going through a security line with two overtired toddlers and a wife with a metal hip, then flew home. (Security has gotten very thorough with their pat downs and took their own sweet time, this time.  I waited forever, while Nicholas screamed for Mommy.)

So yes, that was our grand adventure for the month. I wouldn’t exactly say that 3 years old is the ideal age for Disneyland, but you should hear the boys talk about meeting Mickey and Donald and Minnie and Goofy and Pluto, and riding the train, and flying on Dumbo, and driving the cars (“I CRASH!” – so sayeth Dexter Yates, every single time you talk about driving the cars). It was absolutely exhausting, and Katie and I REALLY need a vacation now. But still, we’re hoping that we’re back in control of our lives a little bit, and this year will keep getting better.

Here’re a few pictures of our escapades, just in case you want to see the boys living in fantasy land.

Recently

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.