Disney: Day 2

Yep, despite not having a chance to just sit and blog for two months, I'm picking up right where I left off!

Day 2 of our Disney trip started with Magic Morning (which honestly felt super crowded for something that is supposedly limited to certain ticket holders). We only did a few rides during that hour because those were the longest lines of the entire visit, then John ran over to grab Fantasmic FastPasses before they ran out.

We kept ourselves very busy throughout the day, doing some rides over and over again. We opted to NOT do Star Tours more than once though. Since they've added in the 3D aspect to the ride, it makes us all totally nauseous. 

Call me weird, but I love the Jungle Cruise. The guides are super fun and sarcastic and they each put their own little twist on being terrible. I got called out for my Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) shirt. Over the speaker system, he said, "I'm going to assume the Atticus Finch lady is an English major". I responded, "Librarian". He countered with, "Same difference".

 We JUST missed Genie!

 Nathan is an awful driver.

Even though my family complained their faces off, we headed in to the Innoventions building to do the Thor meet and greet. They have pieces from the movies (including Loki's helmet - which is what I really wanted to see) and I had been told from friends that it was a super fun character experience. Yes, it was mainly just for me but the boys ended up thinking it was awesome. Mostly because....

Nathan was chosen by Thor to attempt to pick up the hammer!

 It was great! And then we got to have a family photo with Thor. Look for it on this year's Christmas card. Yes, I'm serious.

We had worked up quite an appetite throughout our day and had reservations at Cafe Orleans (same food, less $$$ than Blue Bayou - albeit without the awesome setting). I stuffed myself with the amazing Disneyland Monte Cristo, which I had been looking forward to for a few months. Ok, I won't lie - I'd been craving the thing ever since I'd had it in 2007.

After dinner (and yet another ride through Pirates), we found our spots for Fantasmic. Disneyland certainly knows how to do their shows. It was beautiful.

We stayed until closing again and then headed into downtown Disney for ice cream. It was another night of falling asleep before our heads hit the pillow for sure! One more day left at Disney....

Disney: Day 1

The next morning, we woke up early to head over to the Disneyland Hotel for our breakfast reservations. The boys had no idea we had reservations for a character breakfast, so you can imagine the excitement when we walk in to Goofy's Kitchen and there's Goofy.

We had never done any character dining before. I think it was super fun, and I liked that it wasn't rushed or crowded. The downside is that you really pay for that relaxed time with the characters. And Disney doesn't tell you how much it's going to be until you get there. Holy dollar signs, batman. I had some idea as to how much it would be, but oy. However, I don't regret doing it and I'm glad we were able to give the kids that experience.

 Aiden is in his "I'm too cool for smiling" phase. Nathan, however, exudes joy in every single photo. 

After breakfast, we were just in time for the gates to open at California Adventure. Getting through the gates is a slower experience than it used to be because they take your picture if you're going through for the first time of your visit. Then when they scan your ticket any time after that, your name and picture pops up on a little screen so they can make sure no one else is using your ticket. It's interesting, but does take up more time.

We were surprised to find that 30 minutes after opening, all of the Fast Passes for the new Radiator Springs Racers were totally gone. Hmm. We decided to wait on that one and hit up Bug's Land first. Nathan had been too small for a lot of rides last time we were there, so it was fun to not have to worry about that this time around. Really, the boys are the perfect ages for Disney.

After that, John wanted to check wait time for Tower of Terror. Aiden had been boasting about how he was "extreme" and would do any "extreme" ride, but as soon as he saw it, he proclaimed that he would not be riding it. But Nathan happily said he would join John, much to the surprise of all of us. I was happy to get out of going on it (I have never been on it and never want to go on it), so I sat with Aiden while John took Nathan on the ride. I was SO nervous about Nathan going on it. Once they were off, Nathan said it was "awesome" but that he would not go on it again. Apparently he had cried as they were going through the more environmental haunted/ghost stuff and that's what nixed any future trips on it for him. John said the picture that is taken during the ride was hilarious because Nathan had gone to his happy place and looked like he was sleeping peacefully as they dropped to their doom.

We did get to Radiator Springs Racers (SUPER FUN!), which ended up being the longest ride wait time of the whole trip at 45 minutes. We never had to wait more than 30 minutes for any ride, and most were at 15-20 minutes of wait time. There's something to be said for going in the off season, even though quite a few rides are closed for repair.

Even though Aiden had refused to go on Tower of Terror, he did go on California Screamin' with John, which turned out to be a bad idea. He went silent and pale and then refused to go on any roller coasters the next day. And by refused, I mean started screaming and crying when we tried to go on Big Thunder Mountain. We did get through the rest of the first day before he freaked out over roller coasters though. Nathan and I relaxed on King Triton's Carousel while John and Aiden had the living daylights scared out of them on California Screamin'.

We had never been on the big Mickey ferris wheel, so that was our next stop. Did you know they have some stationary cars and then others that glide back and forth as you go around? I flatly refused to go on a gliding one and barely made it through on a stationary car. I kept my eyes clamped shut the entire time, although from the pictures, it seems like it would have been a nice view.

 I hate heights. Hate. Crying and hyperventilating kind of hate. I managed to avoid a breakdown this time.

We watched the Pixar parade before heading over to try Goofy's Sky School. From the ground, it seems like a fun little roller coaster that doesn't go all that fast. It is a very different experience once you get on it. It propels you towards corners (which ends up looking like you're going to go flying off the edge to your death), then whips you almost violently around. I was screaming my head off and apparently tensing my entire body to the point of injury. I was so sore and disheveled once the ride ended, I could barely walk. John whipped out the camera to document the moment I stepped off the ride.

 Nathan enjoyed himself.

The most expensive corn dog ever.

But they were huge and delicious.

We were feeling a little done with California Adventure (since everyone except John had been traumatized on something) and still had another hour before Disneyland closed, so we ran over there to finish out our day. As it turned out, everyone was watching Fantasmic, so the rides were pretty much deserted. We rode Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates before the park closed.

That night, the boys were fast asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. We were all happily exhausted and definitely sore, but were looking forward to the next day's Magic Morning and a full day in the Disneyland park.

Road Trip!

Ugh, I can't believe this trip was a month ago already! Time is flying! Anywho, back on January 31, we loaded up our minivan with as much clothing and food we'd need for a week and set out for California. Our first stop along the way was Winston, OR to visit the Wildlife Safari. All of the pictures from it are on the other memory card and I'm feeling lazy, so you'll have to settle for this picture:

This is an emu. The emu was very interested in my window. The emu was making scary grunting noises. This picture was taken just before John rolled down and LOCKED my window. I was face to face with a grunting emu who kept sticking its head just inside the car - and it was then I discovered that I am extremely terrified of large birds. I was hitting John's arm and screaming, "Roll up the window! ROLL UP THE WINDOW!!", while John and the boys were laughing hysterically.

After the horrifying emu encounter (which I do think is at least slightly funny now), we got back on the road and made it down to Sacramento before finding a hotel so we could all crash. 

I have never seen the boys fall asleep as quickly as they did each night on this trip. And yes, Nathan routinely sleeps absolutely covered in stuffed animals. This is what he was limited to bringing on the trip.

The next day was fairly uneventful drive-wise. We continued to listen to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on audio book. We LOVE the Harry Potter books on CD for road trips. It keeps the boys entertained and makes the time go by super fast.

We made it to our hotel in Anaheim by 5pm and were super happy to finally stay at a hotel right across from the Disneyland entrance (three minute walk? Yes please!). We watched the last bit of the Super Bowl in our hotel room (they threw the ball??? why didn't they run the ball?!?!? I'm still bitter) and then headed into Downtown Disney for dinner at Tortilla Jo's. They have a balloon guy who comes around and makes balloon animals/items for the kids for free. The boys got some pretty cool battle axes. People kept stopping us and asking where we got them once we left the restaurant.

We wandered around Downtown Disney for quite a while, stretching our legs from two days in the car, watching the fireworks, confirming where we needed to go for breakfast the next morning, and just getting pumped up for the next three days of total Disney.

And since I'm going to go super picture heavy from here on, I'm going to separate these into different posts. More to come....

The Minthorne Adventures

Ugh, the long blogging absences. I don't like them, and I've been told by a few of you that you actually miss me posting on a regular basis (I am truly happy you enjoy my blog!). I assumed once both boys were in full day school, I'd adjust to a more regular schedule - blogging included - but I think I'm still trying to find the balance between working, parenting, household projects, and doing stuff for myself, such as reading challenges and slowly learning to play the violin I got for Christmas over a year ago. When I was in school, I'd write out a daily and weekly schedule, telling me what to do and when to do it. I got out of that habit after graduating in June, and I really think I need to get back into it in order to get the most out of my days.

For now, here's a somewhat detailed update on what we've been up to for the last few months -picture heavy!. I think we were busier than I thought we were!

Nathan has continued to take piano lessons - it's been a year and a half now! He also joined the Chess Club at school and has taken part in two tournaments, winning 4th place at the first one and 3rd place at the second one. He has one more tournament left on Feb 14th before Chess Club wraps up for the year and he's very determined to win 1st place. He starts Lego Robotics next week, and I have been asked to co-coach since it will be our 3rd round of robotics (although I am still awfully clueless when it comes to programming).

His chess stance cracks me up. Is that really the most comfortable way to play chess?

Aiden was specially invited to be on the Lego Robotics team for 4-6th graders (he's in 3rd) back in Oct/Nov. It involved a lot more programming than the lower level that Nathan is doing and it was a struggle for the whole family. The main coach bailed halfway through, things were scheduled for times when I had specifically told them I wasn't available, the boys who had been invited on the team were not focused enough to handle it, and I simply don't work well with boys of that age group. There was a lot of stress involved and I'm not sure Aiden is willing to do it again. But for the most part, the competition was fun (even though they didn't win anything) and they ended up doing a pretty good job considering everything that had happened with the team. The high school team brought in their battle bots they had built to show them off to the younger teams. Aiden was very impressed. I think he'd go for robotics again if he got to do that!

 Aiden and his teammate giving the robot instructions during the table competition.

Aiden being held hostage by the high school battle bots. It would throw exercise balls at people. Really amazing!

We had some fun Christmas outings during December, including John's company's Christmas party on the Portland Spirit. Unfortunately my phone died just as we were boarding so I didn't get any pictures, which stunk because it was really cool to see Portland on a clear night from the river.

We visited our favorite tree farm in Sherwood to cut down our tree.

Our Elf on the Shelf returned.....much to Buster's dismay.

We made "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers and frosting.

We visited Pittock Mansion in all its Christmas glory.

Santa was even there and surprised the boys!

We did a ZooLights trip, which turned out to be one of the most stressful evenings we'd had in a while. Traffic was at a standstill on Hwy 26 at 7pm (!) and it took us an hour and a half to get there. It usually only takes about 20 minutes. Then we stood in the longest line possible to get in. It wrapped up through the parking lot! I think we had fun, but it might be a while before we're willing to do ZooLights again.

Then we finally got to meet the newest Minthorne addition (yay for new nephews!), and we all love him so very much.

We went with the extended family to a BEAUTIFUL beach house for Christmas. Seriously, just a huge house. Of course, you need one that big to fit us all now! (My apologies in advance for the terrible quality of a few photos. My phone settings somehow got changed and everything was super pixelated for about a week before I noticed)

Let me explain this one: On the beach in front of the house sat an old cow trough. We assumed it had probably washed up from somewhere. At the end of the week, Brady and Dwight decided to "set sail" in the cow trough. This picture is of my brother in law and father in law bobbing around in an old cow trough in the Pacific Ocean. In December. After a few near topples, they made it back to shore. About 20 minutes later, a Coast Guard helicopter made a few very low, slow passes over the ocean in front of the beach house. We watched from the beach house in fits of laughter since someone had obviously called in to report two people floating around in a cow trough armed with kayak paddles. You can't make this stuff up, folks.

For New Year's, my dad came to visit as usual. We had some get-togethers with various levels of extended family, and it was fantastic to get to spend so much time with nephews and others who we don't get to see super often since they no longer live in the area. On the day my dad was heading home, we took a trip downtown to Powell's (oh my gosh, it was PACKED), then went to a restaurant we hadn't tried before (Rock Bottom Brewery), and then headed over the train station. On the way to the train station, my children got to see someone get arrested on a street corner. How educational downtown can be on a Friday night!

After all of the family members had gone away again, we took the boys to their very first hockey game! I LOVE hockey (like, a LOT), so it was very exciting to introduce it to the boys. We were three rows up from the ice with a fantastic view. The downside of being right there is that I was almost hit by a flying puck. The guy right behind me caught it and I ended up on the jumbotron looking terrified. The boys had a great time and they got super excited when a fight broke out (go figure). The Winterhawks kicked Seattle's rear 4-0.

Our little Nathan turned 7 years old somehow and we celebrated by having a low-key family celebration at our house.

New Nerf gun = Shooting a party hat off of daddy's head while he wears safety goggles and eats ice cream. Of course.

Whew! I think that's all the big stuff from the last three months. We have a super exciting vacation coming up soon and there probably won't be much blogging until we get back - but then I'll have plenty of pictures to share!