This summer has gone by in a blur. The weather had been just awful, with lots of rainy days and unbearably humid ones. But it was Hannah's first real camp experience, and Max's beginning days at the JCC. Here are the highlights.
Hannah attended two camps, T-ville Trails and Kaleidoscope. The former is run by Newton Parks and Rec, the latter by the JCC. T-ville was located at the elementary school that Hannah will be attending, and it was great for her to get the lay of the land. She spent time in the art room, gym, and library, and learned to climb "The Spider" structure on the playground. After 3 weeks there, she spent 4 at the JCC, and got to see her brother there on occasion. She had both swim lessons and free swim, loved the science and art projects, and as predicted, didn't really enjoy the sports at all. She did her first play on a stage, "Mr. Gumpy's Boat" and clearly enjoyed herself and felt very proud. I think she had a great time.
Max has had a more difficult adjustment, but I think he has the routine down now. He's really enjoyed swimming and has brought home some interesting craft projects. It sounds like his best friend is a boy named Avi, since that's the name he shares with us most often. It's so frustrating not to be able to talk to him about his day, but his vocabulary is growing every day. Last night he asked, "what's this?" for the first time, frustrated that he knew the word for teeth, but couldn't remember it. Max had his first turn as Shabbat Helper, and his versions of the prayers and the way he says "Amen!" is totally adorable. He's only had 5 other kids in his class, but that number will grow in the fall. I'm sure he'll be excited to go back.
The kids are both on vacation until September 9th, which is just absurd. They'll first be spending a few days with their grandparents in CT, and then Marc and I are alternating days, with a few at Bright Horizons back-up center at my office thrown in. It'll be a bit exhausting, but we'll get through it. Hopefully we'll have a great time at Storyland - one more week until we go!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Clothing
I don't know why I do this, but I have a habit of thinking at some point during the day, of the kids and what they're wearing today. Maybe it's an irrational thing, but if something happened and I needed to describe them, can I remember what they're wearing? Just now, I couldn't picture Hannah. I kept thinking of yesterday's dress, why can't I figure this out, I know I took it out of the drawer, helped her put it on this morning. Then it dawned on me. Pajama day.
(A side note in case you didn't notice, this is a shorter post. I'm thinking about trying to do more of these, trying to update more frequently than my 1x/month. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll get discovered.)
(A side note in case you didn't notice, this is a shorter post. I'm thinking about trying to do more of these, trying to update more frequently than my 1x/month. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll get discovered.)
Friday, July 31, 2009
A Quieter Month
July has been so sleepy, by our standards, that I actually had to do some digging to remember what we actually did for one of the weekends this month! I scoured our Google calendar, then the credit card statement, and finally my old facebook statuses until I found details of that lost weekend. Here's what we were up to:
- We spent a few hours at Houghton's Pond in Milton, having a picnic lunch, swimming in the pond, and hiking a bit. It was one of the rare good weather days that we've had this summer. (We hadn't planned this in advance on the calendar, nor used credit for any purchases, so it was almost like it didn't happen...)
- The following weekend Fillis and John came for a visit with the kids, but really it was to watch them so Marc and I could go pick out a new mattress. We quickly settled on one despite our mutual dread about the process, and have been enjoying it since.
- Marc and I also attended a book reading by my favorite writer, Jennifer Weiner, promoting her new book. It was a fun and funny hour, and I'm thrilled to have a personalized copy of her latest.
- Last weekend we went on an adventure in Providence, RI. For a decade, Julie and I have discussed attending WaterFire, an event held during the summers there. Marc and the kids and I first went to the Roger Williams Zoo, then walked along a beach and had a great Italian dinner (thank goodness for GPS, Yelp and smartphones) before meeting up with Julie and Mike for the lighting. I was really, truly excited to go to this, but in the end it was a bit of a letdown. It took so long to get stated, and was so crowded and inconvenient to access with a stroller in tow. I guess there was more to see than we saw, but all six of us left feeling like we'd done enough. Plus, the Providence Place mall where we'd parked was needlessly complicated. I've definitely got the Providence bug out of my system, and am not sure we'll be heading back there anytime soon.
So that was July. Tomorrow we'll be having dinner with our friends Allie and Mark, who are expecting a baby boy in a few months. Hannah is prepared to tell them all about little boys, and Max is, well, prepared to be himself and show them all of the wonderful and terrifying things he can do.
- We spent a few hours at Houghton's Pond in Milton, having a picnic lunch, swimming in the pond, and hiking a bit. It was one of the rare good weather days that we've had this summer. (We hadn't planned this in advance on the calendar, nor used credit for any purchases, so it was almost like it didn't happen...)
- The following weekend Fillis and John came for a visit with the kids, but really it was to watch them so Marc and I could go pick out a new mattress. We quickly settled on one despite our mutual dread about the process, and have been enjoying it since.
- Marc and I also attended a book reading by my favorite writer, Jennifer Weiner, promoting her new book. It was a fun and funny hour, and I'm thrilled to have a personalized copy of her latest.
- Last weekend we went on an adventure in Providence, RI. For a decade, Julie and I have discussed attending WaterFire, an event held during the summers there. Marc and the kids and I first went to the Roger Williams Zoo, then walked along a beach and had a great Italian dinner (thank goodness for GPS, Yelp and smartphones) before meeting up with Julie and Mike for the lighting. I was really, truly excited to go to this, but in the end it was a bit of a letdown. It took so long to get stated, and was so crowded and inconvenient to access with a stroller in tow. I guess there was more to see than we saw, but all six of us left feeling like we'd done enough. Plus, the Providence Place mall where we'd parked was needlessly complicated. I've definitely got the Providence bug out of my system, and am not sure we'll be heading back there anytime soon.
So that was July. Tomorrow we'll be having dinner with our friends Allie and Mark, who are expecting a baby boy in a few months. Hannah is prepared to tell them all about little boys, and Max is, well, prepared to be himself and show them all of the wonderful and terrifying things he can do.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Ch-ch-changes Abound in June
Well, I did say in my last post that June would be a busy month, and I guess it was since I didn't get around to posting at all! Shame on me! Now I'll just have to catch you up again (especially since my loyal reader Fillis just posted comments on my last entries!).
So as the title suggests, lots of changes happened in June. Some were pretty minor: Hannah moving on from her Cinderella bed to cool IKEA stripes, Max moving from his high chair to a booster seat at home, starting a new cleaning service and me getting regular massages to help with my back pain. But the more major shift was Hannah graduating from her preschool program and Max starting his.
Hannah had been in full-time daycare from the age of 13 weeks until mid-June, so nearly five and a half years. She spent close to two years in family daycare, then six months at Sunshine Academy, two years at Gan Yeladim and finally one year at the JCC. All told, we spent close to $100k just on daycare costs alone. I feel so very fortunate and grateful that she had such a great experience, always having good friends and being well-cared for by teachers and staff. Given Hannah's personality, she's been offered many teaching jobs at her centers even at these young ages. I'm so proud of her, and of me and Marc for having successfully navigated what can be a very stressful experience.
And now Max has moved from family daycare to his first (maybe only?) center experience. It's been a difficult transition for him, with lots of tears every morning at drop off, but it seems like he's having a great time once he's there. He's had a few dips in the pool (the weather here in Boston did not cooperate for most of June, and July isn't off to the greatest start!). His teachers are great, and at night we "talk" about his new friends and how his day went. Max's vocabulary is just exploding now, with new words like "school" and "happy." He loves to sing, and I never thought I'd find mangled versions of the "Bob the Builder" theme song as adorable as I do.
But our real June highlights were the wonderful visits we got to have with Grandma Susan, Uncle Ryan and Allison! Uncle Ryan had two weekend weddings in Boston in June, so he got to spend an entire week hanging out with us. We had a lot of fun together, and it was great to have an extra set of hands at times! We spent a Sunday in Boston, going to the aquarium, walking all over, getting ice cream and riding a carousel. A few days later, Grandma Susan joined us. Grandma, Ryan, Hannah and I had a fun lunch at the American Girl store and Hannah got fully-stocked on the latest AG doll and accessories. Then Allison came for a couple days of fun. We had a nice Shabbat dinner all together, then toured the Wenham Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts over the weekend. Hannah spent two days at home with Grandma Susan, going to Plaster Funtime and hanging out in the village. It was wonderful to have everyone come visit us, and we promise that we'll provide better weather the next time they're all here!
Since Hannah had a few weeks off before camp began, she also got to spend a few days with Grandma Fillis and Grandpa John, going to the beach and having a very busy social calendar! Hannah especially liked getting to feed cousin Evie (cousin Nate was sleeping). And then the four of us had a fun extended 4th of July weekend, hanging out at home and going to see the fireworks.
Now it looks like we'll have a pretty quiet July. Hannah's at camp for the first time, and I'm so excited to teach her to make lanyards. Max's is sailing along at the JCC, bringing home multiple shirts each day due to messy snack times. Laundry is harder than ever with two kids going swimming each day. Our July weekends should be on the quieter side, but we're looking forward to a full August with beach time and a return trip to Storyland!
So as the title suggests, lots of changes happened in June. Some were pretty minor: Hannah moving on from her Cinderella bed to cool IKEA stripes, Max moving from his high chair to a booster seat at home, starting a new cleaning service and me getting regular massages to help with my back pain. But the more major shift was Hannah graduating from her preschool program and Max starting his.
Hannah had been in full-time daycare from the age of 13 weeks until mid-June, so nearly five and a half years. She spent close to two years in family daycare, then six months at Sunshine Academy, two years at Gan Yeladim and finally one year at the JCC. All told, we spent close to $100k just on daycare costs alone. I feel so very fortunate and grateful that she had such a great experience, always having good friends and being well-cared for by teachers and staff. Given Hannah's personality, she's been offered many teaching jobs at her centers even at these young ages. I'm so proud of her, and of me and Marc for having successfully navigated what can be a very stressful experience.
And now Max has moved from family daycare to his first (maybe only?) center experience. It's been a difficult transition for him, with lots of tears every morning at drop off, but it seems like he's having a great time once he's there. He's had a few dips in the pool (the weather here in Boston did not cooperate for most of June, and July isn't off to the greatest start!). His teachers are great, and at night we "talk" about his new friends and how his day went. Max's vocabulary is just exploding now, with new words like "school" and "happy." He loves to sing, and I never thought I'd find mangled versions of the "Bob the Builder" theme song as adorable as I do.
But our real June highlights were the wonderful visits we got to have with Grandma Susan, Uncle Ryan and Allison! Uncle Ryan had two weekend weddings in Boston in June, so he got to spend an entire week hanging out with us. We had a lot of fun together, and it was great to have an extra set of hands at times! We spent a Sunday in Boston, going to the aquarium, walking all over, getting ice cream and riding a carousel. A few days later, Grandma Susan joined us. Grandma, Ryan, Hannah and I had a fun lunch at the American Girl store and Hannah got fully-stocked on the latest AG doll and accessories. Then Allison came for a couple days of fun. We had a nice Shabbat dinner all together, then toured the Wenham Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts over the weekend. Hannah spent two days at home with Grandma Susan, going to Plaster Funtime and hanging out in the village. It was wonderful to have everyone come visit us, and we promise that we'll provide better weather the next time they're all here!
Since Hannah had a few weeks off before camp began, she also got to spend a few days with Grandma Fillis and Grandpa John, going to the beach and having a very busy social calendar! Hannah especially liked getting to feed cousin Evie (cousin Nate was sleeping). And then the four of us had a fun extended 4th of July weekend, hanging out at home and going to see the fireworks.
Now it looks like we'll have a pretty quiet July. Hannah's at camp for the first time, and I'm so excited to teach her to make lanyards. Max's is sailing along at the JCC, bringing home multiple shirts each day due to messy snack times. Laundry is harder than ever with two kids going swimming each day. Our July weekends should be on the quieter side, but we're looking forward to a full August with beach time and a return trip to Storyland!
Friday, May 29, 2009
April and May Notes
The past two months since our trip have gone by rather quickly. Here are some of the details:
- Max and I both picked up a stomach bug and got sick the week we came home from WDW.
- We had a great playdate with Hannah and Max's friends, Anais and Max, featuring a trip to the village playground.
- Passover seder at Grandma Fillis and Grandpa John's house was wonderful, and Hannah was a great helper getting things set up and making salt water. I joined her for singing the four questions, since Hannah and I were actually the youngest people available!
- Unfortunately, over the first few days of Passover I began having escalating issues with my back, including a trip to the ER. I've since been diagnosed with sciatica and am now having lots of fun going to PT and dealing with that.
- Max and I have been taking a baby swim class at the JCC, in anticipation of him starting daycare there in June. I'm not sure he's enjoying the class much, but he's learned to say "JCC."
- I took Hannah to see the "Hannah Montana" movie, and recently downloaded some of the soundtrack for her. During the movie, there's a touching scene between father and daughter featuring a song called "Butterfly Fly Away." My Hannah grabbed my arm and snuggled close during it, and now it's one of "our" songs.
- Julie joined us to attend a sheep shearing festival at Gore Place in Waltham, MA. It was a gorgeous day, and neat to see that done up close.
- That same day we decided to purchase a backyard playset from Creative Playthings. The kids have already enjoyed it a lot, and I know it's going to get a lot of use this summer and many to come.
- I won free tickets to a Boston Pops show featuring the music of Billy Joel, sung by Michael Cavanaugh. It was a great show, but I had to go alone since it was a last-minute thing. I hope to get to go again sometime with Marc.
- I got two nights in a row out of the house, going to a party at Carol's and a dinner at Allie's. It was great to spend time with these friends, and especially to hear Allie's exciting baby news!
But the most wonderful event occurred on May 4th, with the birth of Nathaniel and Evelyn, making me an aunt for the first time! Marc got to go to New Haven and meet them while they were still in the hospital and congratulate Rachel and Jon in person. We all went to the bris and naming a week later. Hannah held both babies and Max was surprisingly sweet and gentle with them. It was such a treat to get to hold and help take care of these tiny new people, and I was so lucky to go back again and get to spend a day with them. Rachel and Jon are doing a fantastic job, and I can't wait until they're big enough to play with their cousins!
Looking ahead to June, we've got some big transitions coming up. Max will be leaving family daycare and entering Hannah's JCC center just as she leaves it. Next week is her preschool graduation (sob, sob). But we're looking forward to visits from my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Allison, as well as Grandma Susan's annual summer visit. It should be another busy month!
- Max and I both picked up a stomach bug and got sick the week we came home from WDW.
- We had a great playdate with Hannah and Max's friends, Anais and Max, featuring a trip to the village playground.
- Passover seder at Grandma Fillis and Grandpa John's house was wonderful, and Hannah was a great helper getting things set up and making salt water. I joined her for singing the four questions, since Hannah and I were actually the youngest people available!
- Unfortunately, over the first few days of Passover I began having escalating issues with my back, including a trip to the ER. I've since been diagnosed with sciatica and am now having lots of fun going to PT and dealing with that.
- Max and I have been taking a baby swim class at the JCC, in anticipation of him starting daycare there in June. I'm not sure he's enjoying the class much, but he's learned to say "JCC."
- I took Hannah to see the "Hannah Montana" movie, and recently downloaded some of the soundtrack for her. During the movie, there's a touching scene between father and daughter featuring a song called "Butterfly Fly Away." My Hannah grabbed my arm and snuggled close during it, and now it's one of "our" songs.
- Julie joined us to attend a sheep shearing festival at Gore Place in Waltham, MA. It was a gorgeous day, and neat to see that done up close.
- That same day we decided to purchase a backyard playset from Creative Playthings. The kids have already enjoyed it a lot, and I know it's going to get a lot of use this summer and many to come.
- I won free tickets to a Boston Pops show featuring the music of Billy Joel, sung by Michael Cavanaugh. It was a great show, but I had to go alone since it was a last-minute thing. I hope to get to go again sometime with Marc.
- I got two nights in a row out of the house, going to a party at Carol's and a dinner at Allie's. It was great to spend time with these friends, and especially to hear Allie's exciting baby news!
But the most wonderful event occurred on May 4th, with the birth of Nathaniel and Evelyn, making me an aunt for the first time! Marc got to go to New Haven and meet them while they were still in the hospital and congratulate Rachel and Jon in person. We all went to the bris and naming a week later. Hannah held both babies and Max was surprisingly sweet and gentle with them. It was such a treat to get to hold and help take care of these tiny new people, and I was so lucky to go back again and get to spend a day with them. Rachel and Jon are doing a fantastic job, and I can't wait until they're big enough to play with their cousins!
Looking ahead to June, we've got some big transitions coming up. Max will be leaving family daycare and entering Hannah's JCC center just as she leaves it. Next week is her preschool graduation (sob, sob). But we're looking forward to visits from my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Allison, as well as Grandma Susan's annual summer visit. It should be another busy month!
The Disney World Post
I recognize how long overdue this is, seeing as we visited the happiest place on Earth back at the end of March, but I wanted to spend some time kicking it around for a while in my mind before writing it. There is so much I want to share, so you're going to have to indulge me as it's going to be a long post. But hey, it's my blog, and there's only 3 dedicated readers of which I'm aware (feel free to prove me wrong in the comments).
I've been wanting to go to WDW as soon I became a parent really, but it was cemented during a business trip to Orlando I took when Hannah was only 4 months old. Since she was so little, Marc and Hannah came along. During an afternoon off, and after lots of discussion, we spent an afternoon and evening at Epcot. We had a fabulous time, and I couldn't wait to go back.
But we did wait, almost exactly four years. We don't get a lot of vacation time, and a great deal of it is spent managing gaps in childcare schedules, so it had been a while since we took off a chunk of time for anything other than visits with family. Marc gave me the okay to start planning in December. Thanks to Julie and Mike, who bought us both the official and unofficial Disney guides for Hanukkah, I was able to dive right in.
I actually didn't use the official guide much, but the unofficial guide was priceless. Not only was it incredibly thorough, it also included access to additional features on the book's website. While I didn't follow one of the touring plans it provided, it helped us to determine what we wanted to see and do in each park, and really managed my expectations of the trip. Some of the details were just crazy (where to stand to get the best picture of your kid on Dumbo – hello, I wanted to be on Dumbo myself!), but some really did pay off (buying glasses strings for our sunglasses, since they need to be removed so often, which Hannah and I both enjoyed). At any rate, if you're planning a trip, get the book.
Before we did anything else, we made dining reservations. We knew we wanted a meal at Cinderella's Royal Table in her castle at the Magic Kingdom, and reservations here are very difficult to get. We made a lunch date with the princesses, and then also booked dinner at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel. With the dates finally nailed down, we booked very early flights leaving Boston on Wednesday and returning home on Sunday. We rented a car, figuring the additional cost was worth our peace of mind at having access to one, and then found our hotel.
Through poking around on hotels.com, I stumbled across a hotel that featured family suites. A little more digging revealed that the All-Star Music Resorts, one of the Disney Value hotels, featured these suites that included two bathrooms, a small kitchen area, and a separate master bedroom. The most amazing feature was the price – hotels.com offered the suite at 45% of the price offered booking it through Disney. So our hotel ended up being one of the cheapest parts of our trip, seeing as the flights and park-hopping tickets cost us more.
Hannah was so, so, so excited to be going to WDW. She made her own version of Mickey Mouse hats for us about a month before the trip, and she worked hard to get Max excited too. This trip really was for her – she'll remember so much of it. She is already getting past her princess phase, but when she was there and in the moment, it was all so real. Hannah didn't complain as much as I had expected, and was a real trooper regarding all the walking we did. I think it also helped that she couldn't read yet – there was no fighting about rides she couldn't go on, since she didn't really know that there were things she missed.
Obviously, Max had no idea what was going on, and parts of the trip were hard on him. At 15 months, he wanted to walk everywhere, and got very frustrated about waiting in lines. He would pull off Marc's hat and glasses, fight and struggle against the stroller, and wait too long between diaper changes. Naps were irregular at best. But there are moments that I know he really enjoyed, and even though he can't remember them, I hope that somewhere he retains the memory of our first trip as a family of four.
Thanks to my BlackBerry, I was able to send emails each day that detailed our adventures, so I'm not just drawing on memory here. Again, it'll bore the rest of you; this is more for my own re-reading pleasure down the line. (And apologies if I get any of the names of things wrong!)
On Wednesday morning we got up and left the house around 4:30 to make our 6:50 am flight. The kids were up and excited, and had fun playing in an area near the gate before we boarded. It was Max's first flight, and he slept the entire flight sitting next to me. Six rows away, Hannah peppered Marc with a million questions for the entire flight. We splurged and used a skycap to help us get everything to our rental car, which was a big red boat (Chevy Malibu) that Hannah helped pick. Hannah was fascinated with everything just driving out to WDW – she loved everything about Florida. We changed the kids into summer clothes and then boarded the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom, and suddenly our vacation had begun. Marc wanted to buy a new hat, so we went straight to the hat shop and Hannah designed her Mickey ears – purple cap, Hannah Montana sticker, pink jeweled ears. While waiting for the embroidery, a parade began outside. Marc and the kids got swept up in it, and I eventually found them dancing with Donald Duck and Goofy on Main Street USA. What a way to get started with the Disney experience. We had lunch in Tomorrowland at Cosmic Ray's, and while Max finished Marc and Hannah rode the Motor Speedway car ride. Next Hannah and I rode the Astro Orbiter, a very high space-themed ride, and she screamed her head off but totally loved it. Then all four of us used our first Fast Passes on the Buzz Lightyear ride (ALWAYS USE FAST PASS WHEN YOU CAN!!!). Next was the Monster's Inc. show, which incorporated people in the audience, including Max! Mike (the one-eyed monster) asked if anyone wanted to see something cute, and they flashed Max's image on the screen. He was wearing an Izod shirt with large letters, and Mike yelled "look at this baby named Izod!" One of the funniest parts of the show for sure. Next we walked over to Toon Town and toured some of the character houses. Hannah also got an elaborate face-painting done, which turned her into a mermaid. Next Hannah and I rode the tea cups, which we both really enjoyed, especially because we got a pink cup. Hannah then played in a little water area outside Ariel's Grotto while I waited in line for her turn with the Little Mermaid. Hannah loved meeting Ariel, and thought she was incredibly nice. We finished our afternoon at the park with the scary Snow White ride, and then hopped on the monorail to the Contemporary Hotel for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. We had a long wait since we'd arrived an hour before our reservation, but it was good to be out of the sun a bit. Our dinner was fun – both kids loved meeting the characters, especially Max. The food was okay, but I think we were all pretty tired from such a long day. We finally made it to our hotel around 9, and after getting settled Marc went back out for a diaper run and a little exploring. A jam-packed but amazing first day.
Thursday was similarly busy. We started the day at the food court at our hotel, along with several hundred high school students. We had read that our hotel was often used for school trips, and it made the food court a nightmare. I waited in a huge line to get Mickey waffles for everyone. Fortunately, that was the only time we were barraged like that, as we went to the food court a little later the following morning. After breakfast, we headed to Animal Kingdom, which none of us had been to before. I had read that it was a smaller park, and as expected, we finished everything we had wanted to see around 2:30. Since we were there right after the park opened, we went right into a character greeting with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Then we headed to the dinosaur area, and went on Triceratops Spin twice and poked around a bit before Nemo: The Musical. This show was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and was truly fantastic. The costumes and sets were very well done, and we all enjoyed this show. We went a short train ride, had lunch and then used our fast passes on the safari. Hannah got into it, thinking there really might be poachers and that we needed to keep the animals safe. Seeing animals living in a set-up like that was really interesting. The last thing we did there was the Lion King show, which included some amazing gymnasts and was a lot of fun. We then headed back to the hotel for a swim break. I'd read over and over how beneficial it would be to take a break from the parks in the middle of the day, and it was. Max had his first official swimming experience in the baby pool, and we each took turns with Hannah in the giant guitar-shaped pool. Her swimming skills have really improved over the last year, and she enjoyed making new friends as she played around. After we dragged the kids out of the pool and got dressed again, we arrived at Epcot around 5. They had an amazing topiary display at the entrance with all the princesses made from flowers, which was very cool to see. We made a beeline for the Kim Possible game, which had been heavily promoted on the Disney Channel. Unfortunately, the timing of the game conflicted with our dinner reservations in Morocco, so we promised to come back the following day. We went into the Living Seas exhibit and Max seemed to want to dive in with the sting rays. We saw Turtle Talk with Crush (Hannah was too shy to ask a question), but she liked it so much that she bought a stuffed turtle. Our Moroccan dinner was good, but Max had a meltdown there which seemed to entertain some nearby guests. After we got some very good pastry in France, and then Marc and Hannah took in the Canada film while I sat outside with a sleeping Max. Hannah bought a cool Sleeping Beauty light toy, and Max awoke just in time for Illuminations. Watching the fireworks reflected in their faces was one of the trip highlights for me.
Friday began with a much easier, later breakfast (no lines!) and we still made it to Hollywood Studios just as it opened. We immediately went to the Playhouse Disney show, which combined four of Hannah's preschool show favorites. Even Max got up at the end and danced around in his toddler ways. Then we saw the High School Musical 3 "Block Party." Hannah sat down near the front, and as the show ended I waved frantically to "Troy," who saw me and waved back to Hannah. She was so thrilled about that. We next went to the Beauty and the Beast show, which had some amazing costumes. The only downside to all of these shows is that Hannah kept asking when they'd start. My answers of "when you see people on stage" didn't seem to appease her much. We saw a quick movie on Prince Caspian and then the Little Mermaid show. After lunch we went to the new American Idol Experience show. We got taped in the waiting area outside the theater and got to see ourselves incorporated in the show later. Hannah really liked voting for her favorite teenage girl singing a song from "Camp Rock!" even though she didn't win. We then went back to Epcot, as we'd promised Hannah, but it was a disaster. The Kim Possible game wasn't available until the park was nearly closed, and that caused a lot of tears for Hannah. We convinced her to go on Spaceship Earth by promising to leave right afterward and get dinner at McDonald's. We followed through on that by going to a McDonald's we'd seen on the Travel Channel. It was definitely tricked out, with tons of games and lots of different food options, but it was so tacky that we left as quickly as we could! We headed back to the hotel for more time in the pool, and Hannah stayed out quite late, playing in the water while High School Musical 3 was projected on a giant screen. I think swimming at the hotel was really her favorite part of the trip. Max enjoyed the line dances they organized poolside as well - he tried hard to dance along, especially to YMCA and the Macarena.
Saturday was the last day of our trip, since our flight home on Sunday was around 6:30 am. I brought breakfast back from the food court to our room, unfortunately spilling Marc's coffee just before I got there. He refilled his cup on the way to take Hannah for one last swim, this time in the piano-shaped pool. We headed back to the Magic Kingdom later in the morning, this time taking the hotel shuttle. This worked really well for us, especially at the Magic Kingdom since it avoided the need to use the ferry or monorail to get in to the park. We went straight to Fantasyland and got in line for Dumbo, which I took both kids on. The wait for this ride was one of the worst - it took a long time, and you're not in the shade for a lot of the wait, and then it's a pretty short ride. But still, it's a must-do. Then we went on It's a Small World, which has a faster moving line but was very challenging for Max. Once on the ride, he calmed down, and Hannah really loved it. She tried hard to identify all the different countries as we wound through it. We then used our fast passes on the Peter Pan ride, and then moved on to Belle's Story Time. Just Hannah and I went, since it was in a tiny alcove of the park, but it was great. Hannah got to meet Belle afterward, and I think that was possibly the cutest picture of the trip. Hannah and Marc then rode the carousel right before our lunch at the castle. Now, if you've got someone in your family that loves the princesses, I cannot underestimate how wonderful this experience was.We first got to take a family picture with Cinderella, and multiple copies of it were included with the price of our meal. The decorating throughout the castle was beautiful, and included small details like a little Jaq and Gus (Cinderella's mouse friends) hiding out on a ledge. The waitstaff was incredibly attentive and gracious, and the food was very good. Marc had salmon, I had a beef pie dish, Hannah had chicken fingers and Max some pasta. The kids meals were served on giant Mickey plates, and Hannah even ate some of the green beans that came with hers! Hannah was given a magic wand, and Max was given a sword (which we had to confiscate almost immediately). They both got little stars for a special "wishing ceremony" as well. Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine all visited our table, and Max flirted with all of them. Sleeping Beauty was so taken with him that she left a big lipstick kiss on his forehead. The whole experience was just wonderful. The afternoon was more rides: Haunted Mansion, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, the Enchanted Tiki Room (the one time we had to remove Max from an attraction), and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a nice relaxing dinner at Pecos Bill's (relaxing since Max slept through it!), saw the Philharmagic show (a 3-D movie featuring a lot of the characters), and then Hannah and I went on our last ride, Winnie the Pooh. We saw the SpectroMagic light parade and the fireworks, then took the bus back to our hotel. The kids didn't want to go to sleep, but we had to since we'd be getting up around 3 to head back to the airport.
Poor Hannah didn't want to go home and cried a bit the next morning. We tried our best to explain that we can't always be on vacation, that we're so fortunate that we even got to go, and she seemed to understand. She told me, "it was a really good four days, Mommy." We arrived back to cold and rainy Boston, and were lucky to have most of the day to unpack and get our lives back in order, but it was a tough transition.
I can't express just how much this trip meant to me. Even though there were difficult moments where someone was upset or frustrated, the vast majority of the time was fun and entertaining, and I loved getting to be together as just the four of us. In the hectic day-to-day life we live, we don't get a lot of moments to just be with each other. There's always some distraction. I'm sure a trip anywhere might have yielded similar results for me, but knowing how much fun Hannah had, and the bonding time we had with Max, it might not have been accomplished some place else. It'll be a while until we can get there again, but I can't wait to go back.
I've been wanting to go to WDW as soon I became a parent really, but it was cemented during a business trip to Orlando I took when Hannah was only 4 months old. Since she was so little, Marc and Hannah came along. During an afternoon off, and after lots of discussion, we spent an afternoon and evening at Epcot. We had a fabulous time, and I couldn't wait to go back.
But we did wait, almost exactly four years. We don't get a lot of vacation time, and a great deal of it is spent managing gaps in childcare schedules, so it had been a while since we took off a chunk of time for anything other than visits with family. Marc gave me the okay to start planning in December. Thanks to Julie and Mike, who bought us both the official and unofficial Disney guides for Hanukkah, I was able to dive right in.
I actually didn't use the official guide much, but the unofficial guide was priceless. Not only was it incredibly thorough, it also included access to additional features on the book's website. While I didn't follow one of the touring plans it provided, it helped us to determine what we wanted to see and do in each park, and really managed my expectations of the trip. Some of the details were just crazy (where to stand to get the best picture of your kid on Dumbo – hello, I wanted to be on Dumbo myself!), but some really did pay off (buying glasses strings for our sunglasses, since they need to be removed so often, which Hannah and I both enjoyed). At any rate, if you're planning a trip, get the book.
Before we did anything else, we made dining reservations. We knew we wanted a meal at Cinderella's Royal Table in her castle at the Magic Kingdom, and reservations here are very difficult to get. We made a lunch date with the princesses, and then also booked dinner at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel. With the dates finally nailed down, we booked very early flights leaving Boston on Wednesday and returning home on Sunday. We rented a car, figuring the additional cost was worth our peace of mind at having access to one, and then found our hotel.
Through poking around on hotels.com, I stumbled across a hotel that featured family suites. A little more digging revealed that the All-Star Music Resorts, one of the Disney Value hotels, featured these suites that included two bathrooms, a small kitchen area, and a separate master bedroom. The most amazing feature was the price – hotels.com offered the suite at 45% of the price offered booking it through Disney. So our hotel ended up being one of the cheapest parts of our trip, seeing as the flights and park-hopping tickets cost us more.
Hannah was so, so, so excited to be going to WDW. She made her own version of Mickey Mouse hats for us about a month before the trip, and she worked hard to get Max excited too. This trip really was for her – she'll remember so much of it. She is already getting past her princess phase, but when she was there and in the moment, it was all so real. Hannah didn't complain as much as I had expected, and was a real trooper regarding all the walking we did. I think it also helped that she couldn't read yet – there was no fighting about rides she couldn't go on, since she didn't really know that there were things she missed.
Obviously, Max had no idea what was going on, and parts of the trip were hard on him. At 15 months, he wanted to walk everywhere, and got very frustrated about waiting in lines. He would pull off Marc's hat and glasses, fight and struggle against the stroller, and wait too long between diaper changes. Naps were irregular at best. But there are moments that I know he really enjoyed, and even though he can't remember them, I hope that somewhere he retains the memory of our first trip as a family of four.
Thanks to my BlackBerry, I was able to send emails each day that detailed our adventures, so I'm not just drawing on memory here. Again, it'll bore the rest of you; this is more for my own re-reading pleasure down the line. (And apologies if I get any of the names of things wrong!)
On Wednesday morning we got up and left the house around 4:30 to make our 6:50 am flight. The kids were up and excited, and had fun playing in an area near the gate before we boarded. It was Max's first flight, and he slept the entire flight sitting next to me. Six rows away, Hannah peppered Marc with a million questions for the entire flight. We splurged and used a skycap to help us get everything to our rental car, which was a big red boat (Chevy Malibu) that Hannah helped pick. Hannah was fascinated with everything just driving out to WDW – she loved everything about Florida. We changed the kids into summer clothes and then boarded the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom, and suddenly our vacation had begun. Marc wanted to buy a new hat, so we went straight to the hat shop and Hannah designed her Mickey ears – purple cap, Hannah Montana sticker, pink jeweled ears. While waiting for the embroidery, a parade began outside. Marc and the kids got swept up in it, and I eventually found them dancing with Donald Duck and Goofy on Main Street USA. What a way to get started with the Disney experience. We had lunch in Tomorrowland at Cosmic Ray's, and while Max finished Marc and Hannah rode the Motor Speedway car ride. Next Hannah and I rode the Astro Orbiter, a very high space-themed ride, and she screamed her head off but totally loved it. Then all four of us used our first Fast Passes on the Buzz Lightyear ride (ALWAYS USE FAST PASS WHEN YOU CAN!!!). Next was the Monster's Inc. show, which incorporated people in the audience, including Max! Mike (the one-eyed monster) asked if anyone wanted to see something cute, and they flashed Max's image on the screen. He was wearing an Izod shirt with large letters, and Mike yelled "look at this baby named Izod!" One of the funniest parts of the show for sure. Next we walked over to Toon Town and toured some of the character houses. Hannah also got an elaborate face-painting done, which turned her into a mermaid. Next Hannah and I rode the tea cups, which we both really enjoyed, especially because we got a pink cup. Hannah then played in a little water area outside Ariel's Grotto while I waited in line for her turn with the Little Mermaid. Hannah loved meeting Ariel, and thought she was incredibly nice. We finished our afternoon at the park with the scary Snow White ride, and then hopped on the monorail to the Contemporary Hotel for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. We had a long wait since we'd arrived an hour before our reservation, but it was good to be out of the sun a bit. Our dinner was fun – both kids loved meeting the characters, especially Max. The food was okay, but I think we were all pretty tired from such a long day. We finally made it to our hotel around 9, and after getting settled Marc went back out for a diaper run and a little exploring. A jam-packed but amazing first day.
Thursday was similarly busy. We started the day at the food court at our hotel, along with several hundred high school students. We had read that our hotel was often used for school trips, and it made the food court a nightmare. I waited in a huge line to get Mickey waffles for everyone. Fortunately, that was the only time we were barraged like that, as we went to the food court a little later the following morning. After breakfast, we headed to Animal Kingdom, which none of us had been to before. I had read that it was a smaller park, and as expected, we finished everything we had wanted to see around 2:30. Since we were there right after the park opened, we went right into a character greeting with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Then we headed to the dinosaur area, and went on Triceratops Spin twice and poked around a bit before Nemo: The Musical. This show was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, and was truly fantastic. The costumes and sets were very well done, and we all enjoyed this show. We went a short train ride, had lunch and then used our fast passes on the safari. Hannah got into it, thinking there really might be poachers and that we needed to keep the animals safe. Seeing animals living in a set-up like that was really interesting. The last thing we did there was the Lion King show, which included some amazing gymnasts and was a lot of fun. We then headed back to the hotel for a swim break. I'd read over and over how beneficial it would be to take a break from the parks in the middle of the day, and it was. Max had his first official swimming experience in the baby pool, and we each took turns with Hannah in the giant guitar-shaped pool. Her swimming skills have really improved over the last year, and she enjoyed making new friends as she played around. After we dragged the kids out of the pool and got dressed again, we arrived at Epcot around 5. They had an amazing topiary display at the entrance with all the princesses made from flowers, which was very cool to see. We made a beeline for the Kim Possible game, which had been heavily promoted on the Disney Channel. Unfortunately, the timing of the game conflicted with our dinner reservations in Morocco, so we promised to come back the following day. We went into the Living Seas exhibit and Max seemed to want to dive in with the sting rays. We saw Turtle Talk with Crush (Hannah was too shy to ask a question), but she liked it so much that she bought a stuffed turtle. Our Moroccan dinner was good, but Max had a meltdown there which seemed to entertain some nearby guests. After we got some very good pastry in France, and then Marc and Hannah took in the Canada film while I sat outside with a sleeping Max. Hannah bought a cool Sleeping Beauty light toy, and Max awoke just in time for Illuminations. Watching the fireworks reflected in their faces was one of the trip highlights for me.
Friday began with a much easier, later breakfast (no lines!) and we still made it to Hollywood Studios just as it opened. We immediately went to the Playhouse Disney show, which combined four of Hannah's preschool show favorites. Even Max got up at the end and danced around in his toddler ways. Then we saw the High School Musical 3 "Block Party." Hannah sat down near the front, and as the show ended I waved frantically to "Troy," who saw me and waved back to Hannah. She was so thrilled about that. We next went to the Beauty and the Beast show, which had some amazing costumes. The only downside to all of these shows is that Hannah kept asking when they'd start. My answers of "when you see people on stage" didn't seem to appease her much. We saw a quick movie on Prince Caspian and then the Little Mermaid show. After lunch we went to the new American Idol Experience show. We got taped in the waiting area outside the theater and got to see ourselves incorporated in the show later. Hannah really liked voting for her favorite teenage girl singing a song from "Camp Rock!" even though she didn't win. We then went back to Epcot, as we'd promised Hannah, but it was a disaster. The Kim Possible game wasn't available until the park was nearly closed, and that caused a lot of tears for Hannah. We convinced her to go on Spaceship Earth by promising to leave right afterward and get dinner at McDonald's. We followed through on that by going to a McDonald's we'd seen on the Travel Channel. It was definitely tricked out, with tons of games and lots of different food options, but it was so tacky that we left as quickly as we could! We headed back to the hotel for more time in the pool, and Hannah stayed out quite late, playing in the water while High School Musical 3 was projected on a giant screen. I think swimming at the hotel was really her favorite part of the trip. Max enjoyed the line dances they organized poolside as well - he tried hard to dance along, especially to YMCA and the Macarena.
Saturday was the last day of our trip, since our flight home on Sunday was around 6:30 am. I brought breakfast back from the food court to our room, unfortunately spilling Marc's coffee just before I got there. He refilled his cup on the way to take Hannah for one last swim, this time in the piano-shaped pool. We headed back to the Magic Kingdom later in the morning, this time taking the hotel shuttle. This worked really well for us, especially at the Magic Kingdom since it avoided the need to use the ferry or monorail to get in to the park. We went straight to Fantasyland and got in line for Dumbo, which I took both kids on. The wait for this ride was one of the worst - it took a long time, and you're not in the shade for a lot of the wait, and then it's a pretty short ride. But still, it's a must-do. Then we went on It's a Small World, which has a faster moving line but was very challenging for Max. Once on the ride, he calmed down, and Hannah really loved it. She tried hard to identify all the different countries as we wound through it. We then used our fast passes on the Peter Pan ride, and then moved on to Belle's Story Time. Just Hannah and I went, since it was in a tiny alcove of the park, but it was great. Hannah got to meet Belle afterward, and I think that was possibly the cutest picture of the trip. Hannah and Marc then rode the carousel right before our lunch at the castle. Now, if you've got someone in your family that loves the princesses, I cannot underestimate how wonderful this experience was.We first got to take a family picture with Cinderella, and multiple copies of it were included with the price of our meal. The decorating throughout the castle was beautiful, and included small details like a little Jaq and Gus (Cinderella's mouse friends) hiding out on a ledge. The waitstaff was incredibly attentive and gracious, and the food was very good. Marc had salmon, I had a beef pie dish, Hannah had chicken fingers and Max some pasta. The kids meals were served on giant Mickey plates, and Hannah even ate some of the green beans that came with hers! Hannah was given a magic wand, and Max was given a sword (which we had to confiscate almost immediately). They both got little stars for a special "wishing ceremony" as well. Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine all visited our table, and Max flirted with all of them. Sleeping Beauty was so taken with him that she left a big lipstick kiss on his forehead. The whole experience was just wonderful. The afternoon was more rides: Haunted Mansion, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, the Enchanted Tiki Room (the one time we had to remove Max from an attraction), and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a nice relaxing dinner at Pecos Bill's (relaxing since Max slept through it!), saw the Philharmagic show (a 3-D movie featuring a lot of the characters), and then Hannah and I went on our last ride, Winnie the Pooh. We saw the SpectroMagic light parade and the fireworks, then took the bus back to our hotel. The kids didn't want to go to sleep, but we had to since we'd be getting up around 3 to head back to the airport.
Poor Hannah didn't want to go home and cried a bit the next morning. We tried our best to explain that we can't always be on vacation, that we're so fortunate that we even got to go, and she seemed to understand. She told me, "it was a really good four days, Mommy." We arrived back to cold and rainy Boston, and were lucky to have most of the day to unpack and get our lives back in order, but it was a tough transition.
I can't express just how much this trip meant to me. Even though there were difficult moments where someone was upset or frustrated, the vast majority of the time was fun and entertaining, and I loved getting to be together as just the four of us. In the hectic day-to-day life we live, we don't get a lot of moments to just be with each other. There's always some distraction. I'm sure a trip anywhere might have yielded similar results for me, but knowing how much fun Hannah had, and the bonding time we had with Max, it might not have been accomplished some place else. It'll be a while until we can get there again, but I can't wait to go back.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Red Sox Fans Riding the Rails
I know I owe my lovely reading public (the whopping 3 of you) a full post on Disney World (fabulous) and what we've been up to this month (lots), but that will require more time and effort than I have at the moment.
So what I will address is a topic near and dear to my heart - riding the Green Line when the Red Sox are at home. Hopefully some wayward fan will find this post useful as they prepare for what will surely be an interesting adventure.
Red Sox Nation, please keep in mind that the Green Line doesn't run well, even on it's best days. It's usually crowded and hot, and there's too long of a delay between trains. So when thousands of you show up for your few stops of fun, it just gets worse. Thankfully, the Kenmore station is the last one before the B, C, and D trains go their separate ways, and the rest of us can continue our commute in peace.
By the way, you can walk to Fenway from the E line's stops like Symphony or even Museum of Fine Arts, should you totally screw up and get on the wrong train.
And yes, the Kenmore station is the stop you want to use. Don't waste time waiting for the D line only, thinking the Fenway stop is closer/correct. When the train arrives at Kenmore, the conductors will be expecting a mass exodus and will wait for everyone to get off. No need to try to leave your seat before getting to the stop, as trust me, there will be no place for you to go. Note as well that the train usually makes a few pauses between Hynes and Kenmore, and that doesn't mean we've arrived at the station. Stay in your seat. But you should be advised that outbound C and D trains will have exits on the left side of the train. That means if you're standing next to the conductor, you're going to have a great time pushing past the remaining commuters to get to the exit. Don't worry, we've seen you and your buddies do this before, and we'll see it happen again.
Along the way, you'll find many new friends among the crowd who share your similar love of the Red Sox. You'll want to loudly discuss your plans for the evening, and even better, complain bitterly about the T experience. Try to refrain from doing so, and remember that there are many other people who do this everyday, who will not be going to the game, and find your additional participation to be the true burden.
I hope I've helped you understand a bit more about riding the T. You WILL make it to the game - there is no need to panic, push, or regale me with stories of how much worse the T is than when you used to ride it (you know, when they still used tokens), since you clearly have no idea what you're doing now. So store some value on your Charlie Card, and we'll somehow get through the amateur hour that is April-October evening commutes on the Green Line.
So what I will address is a topic near and dear to my heart - riding the Green Line when the Red Sox are at home. Hopefully some wayward fan will find this post useful as they prepare for what will surely be an interesting adventure.
Red Sox Nation, please keep in mind that the Green Line doesn't run well, even on it's best days. It's usually crowded and hot, and there's too long of a delay between trains. So when thousands of you show up for your few stops of fun, it just gets worse. Thankfully, the Kenmore station is the last one before the B, C, and D trains go their separate ways, and the rest of us can continue our commute in peace.
By the way, you can walk to Fenway from the E line's stops like Symphony or even Museum of Fine Arts, should you totally screw up and get on the wrong train.
And yes, the Kenmore station is the stop you want to use. Don't waste time waiting for the D line only, thinking the Fenway stop is closer/correct. When the train arrives at Kenmore, the conductors will be expecting a mass exodus and will wait for everyone to get off. No need to try to leave your seat before getting to the stop, as trust me, there will be no place for you to go. Note as well that the train usually makes a few pauses between Hynes and Kenmore, and that doesn't mean we've arrived at the station. Stay in your seat. But you should be advised that outbound C and D trains will have exits on the left side of the train. That means if you're standing next to the conductor, you're going to have a great time pushing past the remaining commuters to get to the exit. Don't worry, we've seen you and your buddies do this before, and we'll see it happen again.
Along the way, you'll find many new friends among the crowd who share your similar love of the Red Sox. You'll want to loudly discuss your plans for the evening, and even better, complain bitterly about the T experience. Try to refrain from doing so, and remember that there are many other people who do this everyday, who will not be going to the game, and find your additional participation to be the true burden.
I hope I've helped you understand a bit more about riding the T. You WILL make it to the game - there is no need to panic, push, or regale me with stories of how much worse the T is than when you used to ride it (you know, when they still used tokens), since you clearly have no idea what you're doing now. So store some value on your Charlie Card, and we'll somehow get through the amateur hour that is April-October evening commutes on the Green Line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)