Vacation: Day 3

Day three began with us being extremely sore, both boys coughing and turning into snot factories, and Nathan vomiting. John's cousin Colin and his wife Lisa were meeting us in the park at opening that morning and sadly, they had to do their own thing until we finally got our situation under control and made it over to the park around between 10:30 and 11am. We don't really know why Nathan threw up, but we suspect it was a combination of severe coughing and overeating at Spaghetti Factory the night before.



Once we finally met up with them, we took a ride on Autopia again while waiting for our FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters to become valid. We wandered around and did a few other things while waiting for the lunch call from Laura and Kevin. We finally decided to meet in California Adventure and have lunch at Pacific Wharf. We took a ride on the double decker bus to get down Main Street and it was a beautiful day to ride through the park.

Nathan (grumpy pants - notice Pooh Bear continued to join us), Me, Aiden (hiding behind me because he in an anti-picture phase), Colin, and Lisa

After a very yummy (and pricey) lunch at Pacific Wharf, Laura and Kevin went off to get in some more rides on their last day in the park and the rest of us headed over to California Adventure's outdoor excursion area (I'm completely blanking on what it's actually called). Aiden and Colin had fun walking on the rope bridge and Aiden came bounding back to encourage me to join them. I tried. I honestly tried. But I took one step out on that rope and nearly dropped into the fetal position. I cannot handle heights. Aiden begged and begged and BEGGED me to go with him, "It's so fun, mommy! You can do it! You can really do it, mommy!". I seriously had to fight back tears as I attempted to explain to him that I was so proud of him for walking on the rope bridge, but that mommy was not able to make it across. It may sound silly, but it was very upsetting to me that I was not able to do that for my child. I nearly ran out to the middle of the bridge just to get out there for him, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten stuck out there!

After nearly needing a therapist, we left the rope bridge and went down to the tire swings. Nathan was too small, but Aiden enjoyed it.

Unfortunately right after getting off the tire swing, Aiden had a major meltdown and pushed Nathan to the ground, sitting on top of him and mashing his face into the concrete. I had to attempt to calm Nathan down (who was now insisting full force that we go home immediately) while John put Aiden in a long time out and threatened to take Aiden back to the hotel for the rest of the day.

After about 10 minutes, we were finally on our way again. We grabbed some waters and headed over to A Bug's Land. Colin suggested that we see the 3D It's Hard To Be A Bug or whatever it's called. We got into the 3D theatre that looked like an ant nest and Nathan flipped out. My bum barely touched the seat before I had to take him out of the theatre. We sat outside while everyone else stayed to watch and from what I could hear coming from inside that theatre, I started to worry about how Aiden was handling it. Just then a mom brought her sobbing 7 year old out of the theatre. Oh great. Probably a good thing I didn't make Nathan stay. Turned out that Aiden loved it, so no worries.

After that, we hit a few bug rides and then it was time for Colin and Lisa to go. They were great sports following us around all day with our very slow moving and very naughty children. They probably had a nice long "Do we really ever want to become parents?" conversation on their way home.

Aiden wanted to go on a few rides that Nathan wasn't tall enough for, so I took Nathan over to the play fountain and he had a blast running in the water. It was a very warm day and he'd been overheated most of the day, so it was a great chance for him to cool down.

He really did like it, despite what the picture makes it look like!

After both boys got thoroughly soaked, we went on the Monsters Inc ride and had lots of fun. At the end of the ride, the weird monster lady that says, "You didn't file your paperwork" is at the end and they have it slightly interactive. Of course I didn't know this when it started talking to me.

The first time we rode it:

"Young lady in the 2nd row"

-I glance over slightly afraid"

"I like your hair. Do you want to trade?"

-I smile, shake my head, and say "no".

"How selfish!"

The second time we rode it, I again sat in the 2nd row:

"Young lady in the 2nd row"

-I again look over-

"I see you have a small monster next to you"

-I pat Nathan's head as he huddles next to me-

"Yes, that one. You can't take any monsters out of the ride with you"

-I laugh-

"I'm serious. Please return him to the ride attendant"

You can see Aiden was still soaking wet from the water park.

After that, John and Aiden went on some more rides that Nathan was too small for and then we headed back to the hotel to meet the others for some In N Out Burger and to get the boys in bed. Dwight and Karla stayed with the boys again so we could go back to the park. John and I went on Soarin Over California, which is quite amazing, and then decided to say goodnight to the others while we sat quietly in Downtown Disney. Since this was our anniversary trip, it was nice to spend some time with just the two of us. Not to mention that we were exhausted and not up to any more rides.

After some overpriced drinks, we went back to the hotel to crash. We would all definitely need our down time the next day...