Today was a great day! First I just want to say that JJ has chosen to put himself to sleep TWO nights out of the 3 we have been at the house. TWO! That means that it is the same number of nights he has put himself to sleep at home in 6 1/2 years lol! That makes all kinds of things better:)
We got up and had the boys swim this morning while Beautiful did the girls' hair with Minnie ears - and herself. We then headed to Magic Kingdom. First we went on the roller coaster at Space Mountain. Can I just say that my husband really REALLY dislikes roller coasters. We had it on fast pass which is good for 1 hour. By the time we got to the parking lot, got on the tram to take us to the entry, rode the ferry to the actual park, and got through security it we were 3 minutes from our fast pass expiring. He did not know what the ride was about. We ran into the ride. We got on the ride. It was a very good roller coaster and I loved it. He...did not. I did splurge and buy the pictures of all nine of us on the roller coaster because I know that after today it will never happen again;) The girls didn't like it. JJ looked scared in the picture but wants to do it again. So...we will see if he is a roller coaster kid or not. Of course Superman loves that stuff!
Then we went over to the Tomorrowland Speedway. All of the kids got to drive by themselves and they thought it was great. I rode with Grace and my husband rode with JJ. We manned the accelerator since they couldn't reach and both of us have whiplash from the experience lol!
From there all 9 of us enjoyed the Tea Cups. My husband, JJ, Faith, and I were in one and got it spinning enough that I was nauseated and quite dizzy when we got off. The kids thought it was very funny.
I took the 3 youngest on the Carousel then we all found each other and watched the 3:00 parade which was amazing! I am amazed at the creativity and expense that goes into the parade...and they do it every day. Wow! For a non-creative person like me it was very fun to watch. It also gave us all a chance to not be walking for a bit. My back and legs are noticing the constant contact with concrete, that is for sure.
Then we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which is very fun as well. Then "Jack Sparrow" did a performance and Superman got called up on stage to be a part of it. He loved it:)
From there I got the whole family on Thunder Mountain promising them that it wasn't as big of a roller coaster as Space Mountain - and it wasn't dark so it would be better. I actually got to sit with my husband for the ride (not typical) and he promised me that it was the last.time.ever that he would be on a roller coaster:( When I was a little girl and I was at my mom's for summer visitation we always went to an amusement park every summer - I love amusement parks. When my husband I met 24 years ago I took him to the amusement park and he hated it from the first ride. Therefore, I am VERY impressed that I got him on these 2 today and will consider it enough lol!
Our family went separate directions at that time. We got to see a partial singing/dancing parade earlier in the day and I had hoped for the electric parade we saw last time, but they didn't have it. I took the 3 youngest kids on the People Mover. Oh dear. Not a good choice. It was supposed to be this fun but relaxing time of sitting in a booth like seat with the kids, not being strapped in, giving my feet and back a rest, and relaxing. But...1/2 way into the ride it stopped! In the middle of Space Mountain! Where it is pitch black while listening to people scream as they are riding the roller coaster through the dark lol! After awhile they turned the lights on. We waited about 15 minutes before someone came and escorted us off the track and down to the ground. I have never had that happen before - what a memory lol! Of course JJ and Grace did not handle being stuck on a ride for 15 minutes very well and got a bit rowdy. It was almost the end of the night... I had told JJ that it was the last ride of the night as the fireworks were going to start, so when we got off he started in with "I want to go on another ride" since that one did not finish. He said it over and over and over...and over and over again. I about lost my mind. He used to have a terrible time with perseverating like that and it is actually one of my most vivid (and worst) memories of the last time we went to Disney World. He has been soooo much better with that - until tonight. We found the rest of the clan who had found awesome spots from which to watch the fireworks. He finally settled down and ate another bucket of popcorn and got distracted by the fireworks. Eventually.
Another highlight - after going to the Laugh Floor from Monster's Inc. JJ said to one of the kids "you want to hear a joke? Who's there?" Yeah...that was funny;) Now he thinks he is a jokester lol!
It was even warm enough today for short sleeves and we still sweat! I got a little red on my face and reveled in the awesome January weather;)
The fireworks were great - of course. They did not seem to be what I remembered from last time. I think that the new Star Wars fireworks display at Hollywood Studios was better. It was still amazing.
Grace had a hard time by the time we were leaving the park. I decided to try something different since last night's drive home was a nightmare. I put Superman and Faith in the front bench seat with JJ and I sat in the back with Grace so there couldn't be any fighting. During the day we also kept one of us adults between the girls at all times. Usually I lead the way with Grace and my husband heads up the rear of the 9 of us so that no one can get lost in the shuffle. As you can imagine I haven't gotten to see him much these past 2 days lol! When we didn't keep the girls apart it was nuts how much they fought with each other. Once we got in the van (the worst part of last night) I handed her her kindle and warned her of what she would lose if he kept talking at all (nothing kind was being said). She did well once we got in the van. Standing in line and taking the ferry all took an hour after the fireworks and that was...touch and go. But we got it done.
You know, I spent a lot of time analyzing Grace today. ADHD is just a very difficult disorder. It is a terrible one that I don't think people really appreciate in terms of the intricacies and pervasive influence of it unless you have to live with someone who has it. Her impulsivity kept her wanting to be first and in front all of the time - even though that meant she did not know what direction we were going since she wasn't following us and would go off in crazy directions. Or she would look behind her to see where we were going and then would run into people/things since it was crowded. Her distractibility kept her head spinning with all of the many distractions so she would not be tracking with us. Her oppositional attitude kept her arguing with us whenever we would try to reign her behavior back in or keep her in our group. All of it keeps her from tracking conversations or following the line of instruction so she asks questions over and over that were just answered. All of that is exhausting. Add to it constantly counting heads over and over and it is a stressful experience. I finally decided that it was easier to count 3 boys and 2 girls (I stopped trying to keep up with Beautiful and her husband figuring they could keep up themselves...then we lost them lol!) than trying to count to 5 over and over. Otherwise I kept losing track of who I had lost track of lol! I finally concluded that corralling my kids is not as much like herding chickens with their heads cut off like I used to feel - now it is more like trying to corral a swarm of angry bees...
Anyway, waiting in line to get on the tram to find our van I finally initiated our son in law into the family for good. I went to call his name (the more stressed I am the less able I am to find words and names accurately). I looked at him and called out "Ja, Jo, Ad.....ahhhhh" before I finally got his name out right. Since I am constantly calling my kids the wrong names and sometimes just stop and say "you over there - come here" and I ran through all of the my boys before I got to my son in law, I figure he is now fully indoctrinated into our family;)
Well, today is my last day of being...this age. Tomorrow is my birthday. I get to turn, um, 29 while at Epcot. It is my favorite park so I get to do it on my birthday. I told the kids that the greatest present would be for them to all get along and not fight. We will see if it get it or not;)
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