Thursday, May 22, 2008
Savannah and I slept together in the "parents" room, the boys slept in the "kids" room, and my uncle slept in the living room area on the sofa sleeper. They were all gone fishing when the vocally challenged rooster woke us up. No fish kissing stories when they returned...just a buncha talk about "the one that got away."
Not sure if I already said this, but some breakfast items alternate. For example, if there is sausage one day, there's bacon the next. For kids who have discriminating tastes, this can be frustrating for them. The chemo has changed Evan's taste buds; many foods he just cannot tolerate. When he finds something he likes, he will eat only that item for weeks at a time, then one day it doesn't taste good any more and he moves on to something else. He was very upset about there not being any sausage at breakfast Thursday morning, but his mood immediately changed when I told him that he would ride "Spiderman" today.
Me - "Evan, we get to ride Spiderman today!"
Evan - "Cool! What about Men In Black? Do we ride that today, too?"
Me - "Yep!"
Uncle Foster - "Didn't you say that those rides are at two different parks?"
Me - "Yeah. We gotta do IOS and US in the same day."
Uncle Foster - "Are you sure I can't just stay in the room?"
Evan decided that he wanted to ride Men In Black first, so we headed straight to US. We rode it twice. The ride operator noticed Evan's GKTW badge and asked if he wanted to ride again. Uncle F chickened out the second time. Bummer, because US gives you the ride pictures free, as long as the wish child is in the photo. This is a great savings! Those pictures are expensive! Get all of them!
The Simpsons family came down the street on a bus and the kids got to take pictures with Homer, Lisa, Bart & Marge. Again, one of the workers saw Uncle F's GAC and pulled the kids out of line. First in line for character photos at US, too! US also gives you one family picture at no cost as well. This is usually the one you take just before entering the park at the archway or in front of the US globe.
The Simpsons Ride is WAY COOL. The screen action is a bit fast and hard to follow; since Evan only had vision in one eye, it gave him a bit of a headache. (I am pleased to report that Evan has use of his left eye again. Hasn't been able to see out of it since he was diagnosed in June 2006!
)
US replaced "Earthquake" with "Disaster" The kids were a bit wary of going on it, because they thought it sucked before. Since the ride has be updated, I figured we'd give it a shot. If you are taking a child with you that has no mobility problems, be sure you get to the front near the podium and get him/her to volunteer for the kid portion of the show. Savannah was picked and it was one of the greatest trip memories. If you want the ride's surprises spoiled, continue reading. If not, skip the
blue section.
Savannah was picked as one of the actors, and I was her "agent." They put a blue rain coat on her and stood her in front of a green screen. There was a rock hanging from a rope attached to the ceiling. The director asked her to "look at the rock" until they yelled "cut." We all expected the rock to do something...it did nothing. Then they asked her to jump off a platform onto a soft foam mat. Later, thru some creative editing, Savannah appeared in the "Disaster" movie. She jumped off a building and landed on Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. They both fell and she laid there on the pavement, looking at "The Rock." Get it? It was super funny. For the rest of the day she told people that she landed on "The Rock." Wait till you see what happens to the lady gardening...
You can purchase a wristband that allows you to eat all day at certain restaurants. Alphonso is the world's biggest eater, so we figured that buying him one would save us some money. He was so excited to be at US and IOA that he ate nothing all day! Uncle F bought a pizza at lunch, and we all ate some, but Mr. Snack Man didn't take advantage of the wristband as much as we thought he would. It is a good deal if you eat a lot; if not...don't bother.
We had just as much fun at IOA. One of Evan's favorite rides is Spiderman. I wonder how he felt about the 3D with only one eye?
I took Savannah and Al to ride the Hulk Coaster. Evan won't do anything that goes upside down. He did, however, ride the Flying Unicorn about 12 times. There was no line at all!
We ate dinner at Bubba Gump's. That was the best meal we had the whole trip. We all really love seafood, and Bubba's Bucket of Boat Trash was super delicious! We were all so stuffed that we all had trouble walking to the car. Pushing Evan's wheelchair gave me an excuse to be bent over...so stuffed.
I was so stuffed that I almost forgot that it was Thursday Night. We rushed back for the Christmas Party that everyone has told me should not be missed. We jumped in the car and got back just in time for Mayor Clayton's Parade. Along the parade route are things for the kids to do. Outside of the move theater there is cotton candy and snow cones. Just a little ways away from that is a cookie station. Kids get to decorate sugar cookies with frosting and such. There's a chance for pictures with Santa and shelves of toys to chose from. Each child gets to take one. All three of the kids picked MP3 players. Thank God there were different colors! At the end of the parade route, just in front of the Gingerbread house, Mayor Clayton made it snow. Yep! Snow in Florida. All the kids had fun playing in snow under the tree. They partied themselves right to sleep. Everyone was right...the Christmas Party should not be missed.
Everytime we came home, there was a different surprise on the kitchen table. While the kids slept, my uncle and I tried to start packing some of the stuff. There were games and toys and movies and all sorts of stuff. PACK AN EXTRA BAG. I had a suitcase packed inside of a suitcase and used it to bring goodies home. It was totally full when we left. If you don't have an extra bag to bring, no worries. One of our treats was a GKTW duffle bag.
Only two more episodes left!
Stay tuned for...
"They burned us and then froze us...that was cool!"
"Wow you can really smell pine trees!"
"Evan, are you gonna eat all of that?"
"Look Daddy, there are so many stars here, and one of them is mine."