Another Holiday Amelia May Never Truly Love Like I Do

Since most of my blog is fluff, I decided to blog about just that today, FLUFF. This is the time of year when we start to convince ourselves that we need to fill our closets, houses, and stomachs full of fluff and this is the one holiday that I say, YES. Aisles lined with brightly colored shredded fluff to fill baskets, little plastic eggs waiting to be hidden and packed full of jelly beans or other chewy delights, fluffy bunnies and chicks begging to be snuggled, shelves filled with pastel wrapped chocolaty goodness with layers of creamy fluff and caramel or something to resemble an uncooked egg, fluffy little sugar coated ducks and bunnies begging to be eaten because "it's a tradition" even though you know after you finish it you will immediately say to yourself or even others in the room, "I've made a horrible mistake", racks filled with dresses covering layers of fluffy petticoats and matching ribbons or shoes, or for a real find, little white gloves. Yes, I love the colors, the treats, the clothing, the everything. I realized this fully when I went to Target to and got swept up from the moment I stepped in the store and saw the whole Easter SECTION. I immediately turned in and caught myself thinking, "why yes Veronica, you do need an egg dying and glitter kit, even though Amelia is ALLERGIC to hard boiled eggs" or "$2 is a screaming deal for a package of Milky Way eggs because they never have any left when they go on sale AFTER Easter" and then, "my whole basket is filled with candy Amelia can't eat, so I better pick up one of these and one of these.....". There was just one more thing to make my holiday binge complete, Peeps. I searched everywhere and I was seriously questioning the patriotism of this store when I couldn't find them. You don't dedicate a section to a holiday and not include the basics, Cadbury creme eggs, Peeps, traditional big hard jelly beans, etc. It's like having Valentine's day without the conversation hearts, Christmas without candy canes, St Patricks day without green food coloring. Seriously Target. I managed to get over it, but they better get it together. Easter is still weeks away, and you better believe that I will be back to see. In the mean time, I typically make Amelia an Easter dress, but my trusty sewing machine is on the fritz, so I have to buy off the rack, how low brow. I was a little hesitant, but I was just out and about and managed to find a really cute and much more practical dress, so that will leave me a lot more time to do something like check on Target to see if they will be carrying Peeps.


Oh and Ben is pulling himself up, but still not crawling (just army crawling) and climbs everything. And Amelia is mostly potty trained. Goes without reminding, dry when we go out, and even woke up this morning dry!!!! Yeah.

Conversation this morning

Me: What do you want to do today?
A: I want to go to "newtah"
Me: That's too far away
A: I want to go to newtah and see the snow
Me: That would take a really long time to get there
A: We can go in dad's car and drive really fast


This is of her in newtah in the snow

2 new pics

Phil just sent me his pics from his phone and they are pretty good, so I had to post again. This is Ben on the tea cup ride about to puke and this is Amelia getting ready to board one of her trains.

Travel Log of Disneyland

We went to Disneyland yesterday, so here is a post with all the pics, funny stuff that was said or we saw and some videos. If you want to know what we liked, read the next post. If you want to know why I did not get an annual pass, read the 3rd post.

First off in the park, the carousel. Amelia had fallen asleep on the way there, and then had to wait in the ticket line for about 45 minutes, so when we finally got in, she was not truly excited about it. She said she wanted to go on "that one" and then when she finally got on the horse she wanted to get down. We coaxed her to stay up by showing her that Ben was doing it, so of course she stayed on.

She seemed to be more interested, so we headed to Mr Toad's ride, right next door. She was terrified and told us after we came out, "I don't like that one. It's too scary."

Next, on to Dumbo. She had to wait a long time, and was not so interested in being on it and didn't like going really high, but she didn't scream. She later will tell us vehemently that she did not want to go on that one again.

Lunch and then on to Casey Jr's Circus Train. It was a fun little train that goes around a little miniature village and river. It pretends to not make it up a little mountain while saying, "I think I can". Amelia liked tooting like a train.

Walked over to Mickey's Toontown where we saw "a mouse" (Minnie) from the street. Amelia and Phil climbed aboard a ship play area.

On to the Alice in Wonderland area where Amelia and I went on the tea cups. I coaxed her on to this ride by letting her pick a pretty pink one to sit in. She loved it. She told me while we were going that, " a boy's screaming. No screaming" I told her on this kind of a ride, she can scream because that's what makes it fun and I proceeded to scream. I think she loved it so much because she got to scream as loud as she could for the whole time and wasn't in trouble for it. She said immediately she wanted to do it again.
Next, Alice in Wonderland ride. You sit in a caterpillar and ride through the dark, terrifying, loud, psychedelic story of Alice in Wonderland, some sort of fiery demon/devil area, smoking caterpillar, crazy queen and all. When we got outside of the tunnel she yelled, "yay, it's all done". Touche!

Back on the tea cups one more time, this time all of us. Philip was hesitant to go on it, that's why I went first. I convinced him it really wasn't that bad, and even Ben could do it. Halfway through, Philip looks at Ben and said he looked like he was going to puke, and it made him think he was going to puke. This is why we don't do roller coasters folks. It was fun. Check out the video in the sidebar.



Next was Nemo's submarine ride. Since Amelia LOVES Nemo, we had to wait in the 45 minute line for this, but it was one of my favorites. Well worth it. She kept herself busy by climbing the rocks while you wait. You get to go in a submarine and "dive" deep into the ocean and see the characters from Nemo interacting in the water around you. It's kind of long and hard to explain, but it was really well done. Amelia was so scared. First off it's really dark and they make it really loud and they simulate you dropping, so it gives you a little sea sickness feel. She made me hold her and cover her ears like I did when she watched fireworks last year. At one point, they simulate hitting an explosive and the sub shakes and bubbles everywhere and sirens and red lights. I think she really thought we were sinking. Ben managed to stay asleep the entire ride.

Next we went to the Innoventions attraction(is that what you call something you have to stand in line for but it's not a ride?) You go in this room and it's all this technology. It is mainly a house that is run by computers. It is pretty cool and you get to do a lot of interactive things. Upstairs is an entire gaming area including lots of xbox's and arcade like games. Amelia had fun doing some driving one and Philip attempted the guitar hero, but the controller was broken, or so he says. We emerged just about dusk and made our way back to "It's a Small World". This was by far Amelia's favorite ride. It wasn't scary or dark and it was painfully cheery, just her style. She bounced her head, clapped her hands, tried to hula and was overall mesmerized by the whole thing. And to tell you the truth, so was Ben. It's a nice long 10 minute relaxing ride. We came out when the sun was just setting, so it seemed really magical.

Finally, to end the day, we hopped on the train that goes around the park. The kids were winding down and snuggly, so we rode the train around the park and saw what we missed from distance. When we got done, we asked Amelia if she wanted to go back on "It's a Small World". I truly expected her to say yes, but she said,"no, I want to stay in the double stroller". We walked around the park to the areas we missed, hopped on one last ride, Winnie the Pooh, and walked down to the New Orleans area. As we neared Pirates of the Caribbean there were a number of people sleeping on the ground. I asked Phil if Disney provided bums to give you the real effect of the area. We laughed but as we kept walking there were more and more. I asked someone what they were doing, not crazy bums, just waiting for the water/fireworks show 2 hours early!! Are you kidding me? Finally Amelia was conked out, so we went in search for anything milky. We kept walking down the street thinking that looks good,when's the last time you had cotton candy, there's got to be a churro cart around here somewhere, maybe the lines will be better at the next one, yes I would like hand scooped ice cream, etc. Next thing we knew we were at the tram and didn't get one treat. At that point, we were done, we loaded up the kids and went home. Amelia did not wake up once even when I changed her diaper, put her in her seat. Set off the car alarm while we were in it, Ben screaming, changed her into jammies and put in bed. (But she did wake up at 4 in the morning telling me, "Nooo, I don't wear socks in my bed!!!" My mistake, I'll try not to let it happen again.)
What an enjoyable birthday. Thank you Phil, Amelia, Ben and Disney. Here's my never ending need for a photo collage of the rest of the pics from the day. Check out the videos on the sidebar.

The Joys of Disneyland

We finally made it to Disneyland. All in all, it was a nice day. Disneyland is closer to our house than I realized, about 45 minutes with no extreme traffic. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm with a nice breeze, I even managed to sunburn my neck. We stayed until 8pm or so, so we watched the sun set and the lights come on in the park. Here are some of the things we really liked about Disneyland.
It was my birthday, so you get into the park for free. It was a great treat and brilliant marketing tool. Kids under 3 are free, and you get to bounce back another day for free when you get a ticket, so for our family to go 2 days, it was a very good deal. Amelia loved "It's a small world", the 2 trains, and the tea cups. When we would get off a ride, we would ask Amelia if she liked the ride and she would almost always say yes. Then we would ask her if she wanted to do it again, and every time the answer was no, except for the tea cups. The wafting smell of fresh baked churros and kettle corn everywhere from the minute you step off the parking tram, to every corner of the park. It smells delicious. There are beautiful trees and flowers everywhere. Amelia loved waiting in line and looking at flowers. Ben loved that he got to be held all day. So glad that we stayed until dark, because the park seems so much more magical at night with the twinkling lights every where. Every staff member seemed happy to be there and it was spotless. It was nice to be able to take Ben on everything we would go on. There was only 1 ride we wanted to go on without kids, Splash Mountain, so some day we will return when our kids are older and enjoy that together. I also loved that Amelia had no idea about concession stands, gift shops or any of that, so we managed to walk past a million of those and not once did we hear, "I want that". This might be the ONLY time we can get away with that. It was nice to spend an entire day together. Amelia kept her diaper dry almost all day. When we would ask her about a ride, she would tell us that it was scary 7 out of 10 times.

WARNING: The Not So Good

WARNING: If you feel Disneyland truly is the greatest place on earth, do not read this. You will feel sorry for me, or angry at me for posting this and I don't want Disneyland to come between me and any of my friends. Here's the part of my posting where I will justify why I do not want to return to Disneyland for a very long time.

First and foremost, I am not a crowds person. Waiting in snake rope lines for anything longer than 10 minutes with 2 squirmy kids seems insane. It might very well have been the day of the week we went, but I cannot even imagine being there during peak time or a weekend.
Second, Amelia, Philip and I are not roller coaster people, but we fear Ben is. Yes, even the kiddie rides terrified Amelia. The second ride we went on that was to set the mood for the day was "Mr Toad's Wild Ride". We chose this for the close proximity and the short line plus from the outside, it looked fun. You sit in an old fashioned buggy type car and drive around London, or so the sign says. It is really loud and very dark, with flashes of light and scary psychedelic characters. We will learn that is the problem with most of the "kiddie rides". Disney stories are freaky and the characters are just as creepy. Amelia screamed almost the entire ride and most of the subsequent similar rides through out the day. I was holding her and squeezing her tight to try and appease her and I could feel her little heart ready to jump out of her chest. Knowing that, we decided to skip most of the rides that may have scary characters or go in a tunnel. Hmm, what do you go on then?? Ah yes, the ever nice cheerful dumbo ride. You go up and down and around in a cute little elephant with a nice waterfall and a cheery song. And it's outside, so no creepy tunnels. A great ride for skittish Amelia. Keep in mind, this is our second ride to take her on. I decided to watch this one so I could feed Ben and take their pics and video. After waiting for 30 minutes, finally they get on, and what does Amelia want, to get off. The ride lasts for about 60 seconds. So you have approximately 1 minute of waiting time for 2 seconds of fun. (Side story: When we finished the Dumbo ride, we headed across the street to have lunch. When we were done, we started walking towards the Dumbo ride because it is the only direction you can go. We told Amelia we are going to go on more rides and she stops, points her finger at Phil, and in a very angry and loud voice states, "NO DAD, I DON"T GO ON THAT ONE" pointing to Dumbo. We both cracked up while trying to assure her we would not go on it again) Philip has just brought to my attention that this includes the time it takes to get up to speed and slow down to get on and off the ride and that was not much fun, which changes your ratio to a lot less desirable. (you figure it out) This leads right into our next category.
Third, you are constantly trying to maximize your fun/money ratio. Luckily, our ratio was much better since you get in free for your birthday, children under 3 are free and when you buy a ticket you get to come back a 2nd day for free, so the overall cost was very reasonable for 2 days and 4 people. But when you go back to the line/ride ratio it's grim. For example, the "It's a Small World" ride is a classic. We went to it and the wait was like 45 minutes. We went somewhere else and came back at dusk (a really pretty time to be there) and the line was much shorter, so we went. This ended up being Amelia's favorite ride. But back to our scenario, if you hypothetically waited in the line for "It's a Small World" for 45 minutes, went on the ride, disembarked and found your stroller again, you have spent 1 hour on 1 ride. And you have the song stuck in your head for the next 24 hours. Depending on your feelings about this song, the ratios can vary drastically. The wait time for most of the non-kiddie rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, etc) were always about 45 minutes.
Fourth, Philip felt like if he didn't have the kids with him at all times, he was some creepy old man at Disneyland watching the kids. Needless to say, he did not use the restroom the entire day.
Fifth, Amelia has no idea or interest in Disney characters unless they are a Pixar Disney character (Nemo, Cars, Monsters, etc). We kept trying to teach her that the "mouse" she kept seeing is named Mickey.

Rain Day

Yesterday it was rainy, so we had to get creative inside. I pulled out the trusty tent and what a hit that was. Amelia coaxed Ben in the tent and made him a nest of blankets and toys and the 2 of them entertained themselves for the better part of an hour just laying there gabbing and giggling with each other. It was really sweet. Thanks grandma for the tent.