Indiana Ace and the Tower of Terror

Day two at Disney started with a trip to the Indiana Jones ride. At the end of day one, we agreed that that particular ride was the number one thing we wanted to do that we were unable to get to. Despite the fact that I had read all about Fast Passes, we really didn't figure out how to work the passes until it was too late in the day. By the time we got to the Indiana Jones ride the wait time was 2 hours or you could get a Fast Pass and come back and cut to the front of the line between 11:30 p.m. and midnight...

Ace could hardly wait! It was all he could talk about. The line was short and the next thing we knew we were exploring the temple and getting in line to take our ride. It was exciting and bumpy and Charlie tried his best to take a picture of us as we bumped and turned through the tunnels. This is our favorite picture of the entire vacation. The eye says it all...

Despite the look of terror, he loved it! Later as Peach and I were waiting in the Princess line, Charlie texted me that he and J and A were riding the Tower of Terror and E and M were gone to do something else. I looked at the text and put my phone back in my pocket. About 15 minutes later I realized what I had read and I called him back and said, "Did you just say ACE rode the Tower of Terror?" "Yea! He LOVED it!"

(The Tower of Terror is the "Elevator" that goes to the top floor and plummets back down to the bottom.) When we met up with the boys it's all he could talk about, "Momma, you HAVE to ride the Tower of Terror!" "Well, I don't know if the Tower of Terror is for Momma." "You'll like it!" "Well, I don't think I would like it." And he went on and on for the rest of the day. Later as we got close to that side of the park they decided to go get some Fast Passes for it and Charlie, John and Ace were pushing for Melee' and I to ride it so I said, "You can get me a pass, but I'm not guaranteeing that I'll ride it." But the three Tigger's persisted and the two Eeyore's were talked into riding.

We were standing in line with an older couple who were riding with their son who had some type of disability, she said "Oh, we rode this at Disney World and he just loved it!" and I saw some other kid in a wheelchair who was being pushed into line and I thought. Well, surely I can ride this ride if it's not too scary for kids with disabilities! And if that old broad and her husband can ride it, so can I! So we get in the "elevator" and I'm sitting next to Charlie, but separated by an isle, Ace is sitting on the other side of me and I'm trying to think about how I can hold on to him, but not crush him if I hold on too tight. Ace held on to my arm, I held onto the handle with one hand and clutched Charlie's hand to my chest with his arm outstretched over the isle. The "elevator" goes up and drops a little and then back up and down just a touch and then all the way to the top where you can see outside and then all of a sudden, you're plummeting to your most certain death. I screamed so hard that my throat hurt, we went up and down like that three times, each time I screamed like a girl and when it came to it's final stop I said "Oh, God, please let that be the last time!" and Ace said, "I think it's over Momma." and Charlie said, "You can let go of my hand now." (I think I left fingernail marks.) As I shakily unbuckled my seat belt, Ace hopped in front of me and said, "See Momma. I told you it wasn't scary." I could have punched that boy. John said "That was YOU screaming? I was looking around for a teenage girl!"

Thankfully for Melee' and I, there is no picture to show you of the Tower of Terror.

Princesses and the Peach

The first day at Disneyland we found out there was a Princess Walk, we went over so that Peach could meet the Princesses and as we got in line one of the cast members said, "Just to let you know, the wait is about an hour and a half. " Well we hadn't been there very long and we didn't want to burn an hour and a half, when the boys didn't have ANY interest in anything that wasn't a ride, so we thought, "Eh, we'll come back later." So later we dropped by and they said the wait was two hours and that was as good as it would get for the rest of the day. Can you believe it? So we rolled in on Disney Day Two, ran straight to Indiana Jones and then Peach and I hightailed it over to the Princess Walk, where the wait first thing in the morning was only an hour! We were very patient for the first 20 minutes. Then she decided she was hungry. Of course I couldn't get out of the line to get her something, although one of the concession stands was within sight, I couldn't leave her alone in the line. So the whining started. Then the little girl behind us got a bag of Doritos. Then the mother in front of us went to get her little girl some popcorn while her friend held their place in line. The whining grew louder. Then she got tired from standing. Cause you know, we've been standing for at least 25 minutes now. It turned out to be a grueling hour and twenty minute wait. A wait in which at approximately 40 minutes in, you could have heard me say "NO! We're not leaving! You wanted to see the Princesses and we're gonna see the princesses!" There was some pouting a little more whining, some cajoling, and then FINALLY, it was our turn for this....

EEEK! It's Sleeping Beauty! And she gave Peach a big hug and said "Look at your cute hair, you look like you could be my little sister!"

And then we went and met Snow White and in a very high little "Snow White" voice she said "How old are you?" and Peach said "Seven." and she said "Ohh! That's my Favorite number!"

And then we went and met Belle, Peach's favorite. She told her she was one of the bravest little girls she knew for riding on the Indiana Jones ride.

And they were all so sweet and she was so sweet and it was all so sweet that I got teary and started to cry...

Then we went and had her face painted with swirly glitter paint with little pink hearts and a little pink on her lips and if I'd had all the money in the world we would have bought one of everything in the "Princess Boutique" starting with the $50 white Belle gown. Walt Disney was an evil genius.

In Flagstaff with a Fever of 102 @ Four in the Morning

It wouldn't be vacation without somebody being sick! Peach already threw-up at my sister-in-law's on the carpet. You know, the house that's for sale.... Charlie had to go fogging around Flagstaff at four in the morning for a pharmacy for the fever. (Alliteration is fun.)





So without further ado... another vacation photo...

Notice the absence of teenagers?

(Charlie says I should clarify. Those were 2 seperate occurances of Peach being sick. The first was a combination of too much junk food and sun. Today's occurance is yet to be determined, she has a cough that has grown steadily worse for the last three days and I suspect she may have an infection. It better not be pneumonia.)

An Old Adage

You can take a teenager to Disney, but you can't make him smile...

The Caverns

Got into Carlsbad at about 11:52. That's New Mexico time, those of us who are from Texas had the feeling it was a little more like 12:52. Pulled into the Best Western and rolled around to our two rooms. It was old school but the beds were comfy. Ace slept with me and around 2:00 I woke up to discover that he was sleeping with his feet on his pillow, I tried to turn him around but he was sleeping angry. At around 4:00 he got cold and turned himself around and got in the covers. I woke up every hour or so and gave up around 7:00 to find Charlie loitering outside our door with bedhead. Everyone slept well and after a little free breakfast boo-fay as John likes to call it, we headed to the Caverns. We got there just shy of the 10:00 guided tour so we had to do the self-guided tour.

When they say the tour is "strenuous" they're not just whistling Dixie. Like a workout you start and after twenty minutes you think "Crap, what have I done, I can't finish this." As we started down the main walkway down into the Cavern and Peach started to cry and said she'd changed her mind and didn't want to go in the cave, I was right there with her. But we persisted through the scary decline and the smell of bat poo. For the record, it was cool and awesome and all that, don't get me wrong...but after you've seen the first hour of stalactites the next hour and a half becomes an exercise in not scaring the crap out of yourself thinking about possible earthquakes or cave ins. And all I wanted to know about the history of Carlsbad Caverns was, "How many people have died in here?" Melee' and I hugged with joy when we finally made it to the elevator that took us back out. (I'll have to show ya'll the pics at a later date as I forgot to pack my cord. But we're not lamenting anything we forgot to bring. Charlie said so.)

The other thing that happened right as we walked into the cave was that I discovered I didn't have my phone. I didn't know if I had dropped it, or left it in the car. The most upsetting thing about that was that I cannot tell you how many steps I walked in Carlsbad Caverns, I'm a little addicted to the pedometer feature of me cell phone. It was safe and sound in the car when we got back. I spent the next hour and a half tapping my phone up and down on my knee to try to simulate how many steps I might have taken, but it's ruined. And I can pretty much say that was probably my one shot at the Caverns.

We're back on the road at 5:58 New Mexico time, my watch says it's 6:58 Texas time and the borrowed GPS says we will arrive in Tempe AZ at 10:04, but I don't know if Arizona time is another hour off. I'm starting to get confused. If I'm right, that would be 12:04 a.m. Texas time. Praise God Charlie likes to drive!

On the way to Cali...

And we're off as of 3:30 p.m. Texas time....

Our first car-sick stop coincides with a tornado warning at approx. 6:00 p.m.

Back on the road after large portions of the most deliciously bad for you truck stop food you've ever seen on a plate at approx. 7:30 p.m.

Clear skies deteriorating to a pounding rain at around 7:46.

Estimated time of arrival in Carlsbad according to the GARMIN, 11:52.

Rolling Out!

I'M ON VACATION,

I'M ON VACATION,

I'M ON VACATION,

I'M ON VACATION!