the magic kingdom and a sweet end of day

As I began writing this post Tuesday night, both boys were snoring and asleep in their beds. They were almost in unison on opposite sides of the room. Wish I'd gotten a picture of it. They were beat...here's why: 

The Magic Kingdom brought tears to my eyes as we entered the gates together that morning. I heard the famous music playing, felt the warm morning sun baking my skin and saw Mickey and Minnie waving as we skipped in slow motion into the famous gates. (Well, maybe not the skipping part, but it felt like a dream.) Insert reality - I also had a bit of a headache, TJ didn't want his picture taken because the sun was in his eyes, I sat in my own gum on the monorail en route and I had to pee like crazy but the bathrooms were on the inside - and we had to wait in line for tickets, etc. 

All in all however, the day was incredible. The park was decorated for Fall and Halloween and it was absolutely gorgeous. We spent time in Fantasy Land, Adventure Land, Frontier Land and did just about all of the rides. We didn't see as many characters as I thought we would and we had to wait in line to get pictures with them. TJ hugged Woody and kissed Jessie, high-fived Donald and waited in line to see Pluto but he left to take a potty break before we got to him. Mickey and Minnie must have been hiding out because we never actually saw them. That was a little sad for me, but TJ didn't know the difference so it was just fine.

The Snow White ride was fun and TJ thought the Mirror, Mirror was scary but cool. His favorite was Peter Pan's Flight and I might have to agree with that too. I was really surprised at how well done it was. T also loved It's a Small World and I loved that he thougth it was awesome. As we sat in our little boat together, he kept saying, "Look at that! Look at this! Look, Daddy! Look, Mommy!" at every bend and every turn. Thunder Mountain Railroad was a rough roller coaster for T but he was proud for doing it and being tall enough. Splash Mountain was a huge hit - and I knew it would be. It's a Purdy family favorite and I was excited to go on it with Tim and TJ as their first time. We went back to it at the end and rode it again. It's an event - not just a ride. I took lots of pictures of TJ and Tim on that ride, just looking at each other having a great old time. I loved watching them!

The Haunted Mansion was one we were looking forward to too, especially TJ. And he loved the spooky graveyard before the doors opened for the mansion. But once they scooted us into the second dark, scary room it was over for TJ. He literally went from saying, "This isn't scary!" to doing his sharkmouth cry and sobbing. We were escorted out the emergency exit. : ) We had him shake it off and then got a treat and went along without saying another word about it. He brought it up to me 3 days later when we were looking at our trip pics, and asked if I took any pictures of him crying about it. Ha!

Space Mountain was a ride I originally said I wouldn't do - but then changed my mind for fear of missing out on fun with my boys. I'm giggling as I write that because it was rough. TJ just met the height requirement so he was pumped to do it. Since the roller coaster cars only sat one and not two side by side, TJ had to ride alone with Tim ahead and me behind. He was so excited - and we took off in a flash. I had forgotten how pitch black the whole thing was though! You could not anticipate the next turn or drop or curve so your neck and your brain went every which way. I kept worrying about TJ but couldn't yell up to him because it was so loud. I grabbed his shoulders whenever I could but my hands got thrown off with each new turn. It was a long minute or two. At the end, TJ turned around and I was pleased to see no tears. But he was white as a ghost. He said he'd like to not do that one again. What a trooper! Tim and I are laughing about it as I write this...

Buzz Lightyear's ride was sweet. You actually shot at aliens with lasers on your moving car and earned a score. The aliens all glowed and TJ asked if they used highlighters to color them that way. Dumbo was fun and so was the carousel. The pirates ride was neat too, but even better than the ride was the show. Captain Jack Sparrow and his side kick were dead on as characters. The actors who played them did a great job and gave Johnny Depp a run for his money. TJ got called up on stage thanks to Tim's quick actions and was sworn in as a true pirate. So cute. That boy loves his pirate stuff.

We did so much at the park but missed a lot too. It closed at 7pm so it wasn't dark enough for the castle to light up or to see fireworks there. We didn't get TJ's hair cut at the Harmony Barber Shop or get pixie dust and colored hair gel either. There was no parade either. But we had such an adventure that I didn't really miss it. We were so tired at one point that TJ asked to go back to the hotel and "play Lego's". Ha! So, we did. We left almost an hour before the park closed for the day and I was truly ready too. There's too much to do for just one day.

We met a friend at the Polynesian (where we were staying) who we hadn't seen in quite awhile. Pat came over for pizza and TJ and I scoped out a place to sit at the pool. We decided to go further and venture out to the beach and I'm glad we did! They were playing a movie on a screen on the beach and it was a beautiful, hot night. TJ had recovered from the day and just rolled around doing head stands in the sand. (He STILL has sand in his hair.) As we were finishing up, a light parade began on the water, then fireworks of the castle set to music. Disney does fireworks incredibly well. Best I've ever seen! TJ had a bath and some cocoa and was out light a light. Snoring...