Disney - Day 3

We eagerly anticipated a whole day in the park today. Forecasts before we traveled said we'd enjoy mid-60 degree temps and clouds. Perfect. Little did we know, we'd bring the rain with us... And it would wait until Friday to pour.

We were up early for Matt's follow up appointment and everything went smoothly. Good progress, said the doc, but some kind of surgical procedure is likely necessary. (And it sounds gruesome, so I'll spare you the details.)

It was lightly misting when we got to the park, the kind of rain a Seattle-native finds refreshing. We laughed at the people in their ponchos.

We were tickled at ourselves for finally being at the park an hour early, excited to use our Magic Morning pass. As we neared the gate, I read the fine print on the back of our ticket only to find that Friday is not a magic morning day. Humph. The only morning we could actually be at the park. go figure.

Not all was lost. Knowing we hate shopping when we're tired, Matt suggested we head over to Downtown Disney and buy some gifts. We found me an iPad case, a hoodie and a tote bag, as well as gifts for a few of our favorite kids.

It was a few minutes after opening when we got into Disneyland. Immediately we spotted Goofy - Matt's favorite - so we stopped for pictures and autographs. I think that was Matt's biggest vacation goal. We found a locker and stowed our stuff, and headed off to Fantasyland for pictures in front of the castle, then to find Rapunzel who was rumored to be in her tower. 

Rapunzel is a popular gal, so we kept tabs as the 30 minute wait turned to 60 minutes. I was about ready to abandon the notion. 

Then the real rain started in. It poured. We soaked. I was on the brink of tears more than once, and my wonderful husband reeled me in with extra optimism and tons of patience. We hoofed back to our locker thinking I'd change into my new hoodie, but we bought ponchos instead. It took me an hour to realize I could stay even drier if I kept my arms inside the poncho. (Seattle-natives don't wear ponchos.)

Wanting to see the lands we hadn't yet visited, we wandered through ToonTown in the pouring rain, enjoying the architecture and the homes of our favorite childhood characters. Now we'd been in the park for over two hours and hadn't done a single ride. It was time for Big Thunder. We got in line, and got close to the boarding deck, just as they closed the ride because the tracks were too wet. Later we heard from a couple of girls who'd ridden it just before it closed that it was going faster and looser than they'd ever experienced - so maybe it was good that it was closed.

Tears threatened again, just as my sympathetic mother texted "You know what you need? The Tiki Tiki room." I could take or leave the tiki birds, but its a family favorite for a 15 minute (dry) rest. I got her text, looked at Matt and tearfully said "Follow me. We're going to the tiki room. And we are eating a Dole Whip." And that's what we did.

We knew a surefire dry ride, since the doctor said no wet rides, would be Pirates. Again we got front row - my favorite place to be. As we fussed with the backpack, I suggested Matt just leave his poncho off for the ride. I kept mine on for convenience. The first drop had us soaked, tasting the river water. Yuck! We laughed, as Matt recounted "Take off the poncho, you said. You won't need it, you said."

It was in line for our next ride, Peter Pan's Flight, of which I have no recollection from previous trips, that I overheard a guy say "You accept it, let it soak in, and go about your day." I adopted his perspective, and started feeling better immediately. Oh, and Peter Pan was amazing. I only wish it had been longer.

Eventually, the wait to see Rapunzel whittled down to to a mere 20minutes. It felt good to get her autograph to make a very special 4 year old very happy, and she was so sweet in talking with me, and very convincing - I think I have a new favorite Princess.

We grabbed fast passed for space mountain and then rode AstroBlasters again. I never get tired of the interactive rides. Or the rollercoasters. Space Mountain didn't let me down. This time I broke the rules and left my glasses on. What an amazing difference to be able to see everything. So gorgeous.

We felt like we were nearing the end of our day, and decided that a trip on Splash Mountain couldn't be that bad, as long as Matt kept his eye covered with his eye patch and wore his hat. We ended up in the back of the log anyway. I had only very fuzzy memories of this ride - not remembering the story parts at all, so I'm glad we did it. And also, the ride broke down as soon as we rounded the bend after the big drop - and we sat under the open sky in the pouring rain, for a good 5 minutes. Good thing we were already wearing our ponchos.

It was time for a snack so we grabbed a funnel cake and decided to make a slow exit and call it a day. We happened to just be on main street to see the tree lighting of the evening, adding a romantic and Christmassy feeling to our evening. I talked Matt into seeing Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, which was beautiful and inspiring. 

We wanted to end on a high note, so we headed over to California Adventure for one last trip on Soarin'. We walked, we waited, we got into our seat... And then we were informed that our "flight had been grounded". Seriously? Determined not to let it end that way, we decided to hoof it over to Screamin' for one last thrill. The wait was minimal and it was so worth the extra walking. 

Having watched Mickeys Fun Wheel, I felt like we should just do it for the sights, high above the park, with a little swinging involved. Matt admitted to having never ridden a ferris wheel. This experience was hilarious and horrifying. The swinging is so extreme and there's no seatbelt - you're just contained in your gondola. I spent a good amount of time clinging to the cage, and thinking positively. This was easily the scariest ride in the park!

And with that, we were done! Ready to go back to the hotel, soak in the hot tub and say our final goodbyes to California.

Disney - Day 2

We were disappointed to say the least when Matt woke up feeling worse - not better - this morning. He couldn't open his eyes but a blink, which made darn near everything extremely difficult. Character building for sure. (My character, mostly.)

I brought breakfast up to our room as we weighed our options. My conversation yesterday with our eye surgeons back home led to a referral to a local eye surgeon. We decided an appointment was our best choice - we obviously wouldn't be going to Disney if he couldn't open his eyes.

A quick phone call and we had a 1pm appt. I cried at the thought of sitting around for 4 hours, feeling Disney slip through my fingers. But we put on a movie, rested, and made the best of it. 

An expensive cab ride took us to Anaheim regional medical center, where a really great doctor gave Matt a hard time and a contact lens bandage. The outlook isn't great: there's a sore shaped like Africa on the surface of his cornea, and every time he wakes up, the trauma of the eyelid opening rips off the healed layers (great mental image, right?!) So we learned today that diabetic bleeding in the eye is the leading cause of blindness in America - and Matt has it. Time will tell what the result will be, whether he'll lose vision in that eye or not, we just don't know. It will most certainly involve more advanced procedures, not the least of which included words like "laser" and "retinologist", when we return home. Did I mention eyes make me queasy?

There was a whole lot of hassle involved in the trip to the Dr, but I'll spare you the details of how we spent a half hour trying to sort out Matt's insurance info, only to find his insurance card in my wallet...

A taxi took us from the hospital to the hotel and then to Disneyland. We were just plain in a hurry and the few extra bucks to the taxi seemed worth it.

Today's Disney docket was California Adventure. There's not a lot to draw me to California Adventure but there are a few must-sees that we wanted to hit...

And then there was our little agreement. I wanted Matt to go on Tower of Terror with me - but he hates sudden drops. He wanted me to go on California Screamin' with him, but I hate upside-downs. We compromised and agreed that we would each overcome our fears for one another. Romantic, eh?

But first, we walked the path to Paradise Pier to find Goofy - Matt's favorite - conducting an imaginary orchestra. I took a bazillion pictures and then talked Matt into riding the Ariel ride. What a blast from my past - I teared up a few times at the beautiful scenes from one of my childhood favorites.

After Ariel, we headed toward California Screamin' and I couldn't shake the nerves. I kept telling myself that no one had died yet, and I wasn't likely to be the first. The wait seemed to take forever and the nearer we got, the more of my obituary I had composed in my head. I was tempted to back out, but I knew how disappointed Matt would be and I just couldn't do it to him. I finally asked the couple in front of us - who were talking like they owned the place - about the ride, and they were at least a bit reassuring. Matt told me later that he had his own hesitations about the ride and I'm sure glad he didn't share them with me - I'm not sure I could've gone through with it if I'd known he was nervous.

The ride was nothing short of incredible and exhilarating. They knew just when to slow it down to show us the most magnificent views of California Adventure, and I forgot about that beautiful principle of physics called centrifugal force that kept me firmly in my seat the whole time we were upside down. It was in the middle of that loop that I thought to myself "we're going to need to ride this again!" Matt loved it as much as I did.

We moseyed toward Tower of Terror, crossing through Carsland and enjoying the scenery, but opting out of the rides. We were starving but wanted to get the big rides out of the way before adding food to the mix of our already churning stomachs.

The look on Matt's face the whole time we waited for Tower of Terror said "Feel free to change your mind, ANY time now..." But I was set. This was my favorite California Adventure ride when mom and I visited last year, I wasn't about to let him miss it. Lucky for me, he loved it - or he might never trust my opinion again!

We were ready for dinner, so we headed through Hollywood and over to Soarin' Over California. We ate and then soared - what fun! Even though I'd done it before, I still felt like my feet would be dragged through the river, that I'd fall out into the dessert, and the golf ball would graze my head. There was a lot of positive self talk happening, you know the kind: "Self, if it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be here. Self, you're only 10ft off the ground. Self, no one has died yet, and you won't be the first. "

After Soarin’, we thought we'd stay for the Color show so we headed toward Paradise Pier again, hoping to get one more ride on Screamin'. The wait said 25 minutes, and Midway Mania said 30. Midway Mania was on my list, so we jumped in line - even though 30 is over my usual limit for waiting in a line. It was worth it! Midway Mania, with its hybrid of beautiful scenery and interactive games, definitely makes my list of favorites. And I love the premise of being inside a toy!

We hopped off Midway Mania and Matt talked me into going the long way around PP so he could get ice cream. We were shocked to find no line at Screamin', and that they were admitting people for just 2 more minutes. So we hopped in again, and it was just as brilliant the 2nd time. I think Space Mountain just got bested on my list of favorites.

Finally we found the ice cream Matt had been waiting for, and realized how tired we were. We'd only been in the park for 4 hours or so but the anxiety and stress of the day were catching up to us. Standing around to wait on a show that didn't start for a half hour was more than we could tolerate, so we wandered off to buy some gifts and get to bed early... But here it's 11:09pm and I'm just finishing up my account of the day. So much for early.

Disney - Day 1

Matt woke up with his recurring eye pain today. We were smart enough to pack his drops so we started him on the most basic one hoping it would help. We had breakfast and headed to Disneyland just in time for opening. 

Our strategy was to start in Tomorrowland and then ride the train to New Orleans Square. We picked up fast passes for Space Mountain and rode AstroBlasters, loving the interactive video game style and the awesome attention to detail. 

Space Mountain is my favorite, so I was eager to ride it but as we returned with fastpass in hand, we found it temporarily closed. So disappointing! No use standing around though - there were pirates and ghosts awaiting us after all, so we jumped on the train and headed to New Orleans Square. I had no idea there was so much to see along the railroad - I loved it!

First off, we thought an eye patch might help Matt, and I knew there was a pirate store, so we bought the patch, skull/crossbones and all, knowing we were at the only place in the world where he could wear it without attracting any attention.

Our plan was to see Pirates next, but Matt's pain was increasing by the minute. I was devastated as months of expectations and excitement melted before my eyes, and my husband suffered while I was powerless to help. We finally decided to head back to the hotel, having been at the park for less than 2 hours. 

Among our stash of eye drops, I found a topical pain killer, so a strictly scheduled dosing of that, and a nap had Matt feeling like he could tolerate some fun. We were back to the park by 4pm - and we were determined.

What could we squeeze into just 4 more hours? I'm glad you asked. They say the average visitor hits 10 rides in one day, so I think we did pretty well hitting 6 in 4 measly hours.

Pirates was the highest priority, and we loved every second from the front row in our boat!

Haunted Mansion was next, and I was amazed by how changed it is for the holidays. Like a totally different ride!

We hopped the train to Tomorrowland, so we could see the rest of the railroad. It was dark and the Christmas lights were on so the view of the park was spectacular, particularly as we drove behind Small World. (And yes, I'm counting the train as a ride.)

Space Mountain was our only object in Tomorrowland and we were glad to see it up and running again. Worth the wait!

Then, the Matterhorn. Is there any ride in Disney capable of making you feel more like an old giant? So lurchy, and rickety! I'd be ok not doing that one ever again I think. Matt loved it though!

Since we were in Fantasyland, I insisted on Small World. I hadn't ridden it in at least 13 years and I knew things had changed. Matt agreed to go only for my sake, and I was pleased to see it decked out inside and out for the holidays. Beautiful. Different. Gorgeous. Worth it. (Also, they work in a Christmas medley, so it's not just the one sound track that makes you want to stick forks in your ears.)

We came out just in time to see the fireworks starting - perfect since we'd heard them from our hotel the night before. What a beautiful show. And then they made it snow in Disneyland.

What a beautiful, memorable, romantic evening. It made the dark shadow of our day fade away and we felt like a rough day had been redeemed.

Disney or Bust

We've been planning this trip since April, and it's finally here! Today we hop a plane to Disneyland! Standby for excruciating detail.

For My 30th Birthday

Dear Friends,

In less than 2 months, I turn 30. I live a blessed life - my needs are met, my wants are met, and I'm surrounded by friends and family.

Eight thousand miles away, there is a community in Somalia that needs my help. Children are starving, and they don't have the resources to help these kids. You know how I feel about kids.

"Project Peanut Butter" is raising $13,500 to treat 300 malnourished children in Mogadishu, Somalia. You can read more about Dr. Abdi and her team's project here.

For my 30th birthday, I want to make a dent in Project Peanut Butter's fundraising goal. Would you help me impact 300 lives by giving to Project Peanut Butter? Here's how:

• Go to https://www.purecharity.com/treatment-of-child-malnutrition-in-somalia
• Click the green "Fund This Project" button.
• Create an account. Once you're registered and signed in, visit the link above and click the button again.
• Enter the amount you're able to give. You can help with as little as $5, but maybe you can give more. Walk through the process of contributing to your giving fund and completing the transaction.

Want to make even more of an impact? Register your debit/credit card with PureCharity, and when you shop online or in stores with selected vendors, a percentage of your purchase is added to your giving fund automatically, for you to give to the project of your choice!

My goal for my 30th birthday is to bring 30 new backers to Project Peanut Butter. If 30 more people contribute to Project Peanut Butter's fund, they'll be that much closer to their goal.

Thanks for helping me celebrate my 30th birthday by impacting 300 lives!
Kate

October Snapshot

October went fast! Here's what I remember of it.

• We held the 3rd Annual Trunk 'r Treat last night. The warmer-than-usual Fall meant we weren't quite as miserable during the inevitable Halloween rain. And I had this hair-brain idea at 9pm the night before to dress our car in a candyland theme.
• Our Kids Ministry broke an attendance record on Sunday: 175 kids at both campuses. This was largely in part to the halloween party our kids planned and hosted as a part of their "Community" focus this month - so proud of them and their leaders! Great turnout!
• I've had an awesome cold for the last 10 days - second one in two months. Hope this isn't a trend.
• We're counting down the days to our Disney trip. Now that October is gone - 26 days and counting!
• We've planned a redesign of the PreK&K rooms at Creekside and work has started! The first wall looks amazing, and I can't wait to see how the rest of our plans unfold.