Admittedly, I was already a Disney World fan before we took this trip. But doing Disney with two 2.5-year-olds? A BLAST.

They were primed, of course. They had gotten hooked on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when my dad brought them a DVD of it at Thanksgiving, so they know and have developed an attachment to the main core of characters. They’ve seen a few of the movies (some Pixar, plus a recent screening of Peter Pan), and M has been reading Winnie the Pooh (the original) to them at night.  They were all kinds of excited to go see “Mickey’s castle.”

It did not disappoint.  Despite a 4:30am wake up call for our flight to Orlando, they were buzzing with excitement.  Even the bus from the airport had them absolutely ecstatic.

The Daisy & Donald Duck figures on the way to our room put them straight over the edge.

The next morning, we hit the Magic Kingdom and made a beeline for Fantasyland.  The Peter Pan ride was the first, and freaked Rebecca out, but she eventually got over it and asked to go again.  The carousel never had a wait. The Winnie the Pooh ride was an obsession (every 10 minutes: “I wanna bounce with Tigger!”).  Dumbo was a hit, regardless of the fact they’ve never seen the movie. It’s a Small World.  All of them, right there.  We parked the stroller outside of one ride and just popped over to the rest.

There’s even a train that circles the park, complete with a costumed conductor. What else could you possibly want?  We made brief trips into Animal Kingdom and Epcot, but Magic Kingdom is definitely where it’s at with this age.

I wasn’t sure how they’d react to the costumed characters. They’re rather large, after all, and plenty of kids have been known to freak out.  But mine loved them. ESPECIALLY Rebecca.  The girl nearly tackled Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore.

Someone suggested I make a reservation for a Character Breakfast, and it was totally worth the high price and mediocre buffet to see this look on Rebecca’s face:

She was so excited every time a new character approached the table, I’m impressed she managed to stay in her seat.  Daniel was not as over-the-moon as his sister, but did enjoy talking with Mickey and Goofy about what he was having for breakfast, and offering them bites of oatmeal and waffle. They politely declined.

It wasn’t a very long trip, really only three full days. There was a ton of stuff we didn’t do, either because the kids were too small or there just wasn’t enough time. But I’m really, really glad we went. The kids were absolutely enthralled, and they still get excited talking about what they did and who they saw. Can’t wait for the next time.

For anyone wanting tips on Disney World with the under-3 set, here’s the advice I came away with…

THINGS WE DID RIGHT

• Brought the double umbrella stroller (our Maclaren). Folds up much better than the BOB, but still pushes nicely. Baskets were useful, kids did a fair amount of riding. And beats the crap out of the $30+/day to rent a plastic one at the park.
• Stayed on Disney property. I know people say you can save money if you stay outside the park. But I think staying in a Disney hotel is totally worth it for the convenience. You get the FREE bus shuttle from the airport (which includes THEM picking up your bags at baggage claim and delivering them TO YOUR ROOM). The park buses take you wherever you need to go, and while sometimes you wish they were faster, I still think it beats the hell out of renting a car.
• Got two connecting rooms. A bit of an indulgence, perhaps. But it meant we didn’t have to sit silently in the room while the kids were napping. Plus, M snores like a chainsaw, best not to wake the kids up.
• Respected the schedule, sorta.  We left the parks around lunchtime every day and took the kids back to the hotel for a nap.  OK, so it often ended up being closer to 2:00 instead of our usual 12:30. But they got a nice, long nap each day. Not only did they desperately need it after all of the running around and over-stimulation, but it also meant we left the parks at the very busiest time of day.  Bedtime also ran a bit later than normal, but not too bad.
• Get to the parks EARLY. It only gets more crowded as the day progresses. If you can get there right as it opens, you’ll be able to walk right onto two or three rides before you hit your first line. We never even bothered with a FastPass.
• Respect that you’re there for the kids. If they want to go on the same ride 5 times in a row, just frigging do it. If you get caught up in the fact that YOU want to go on this or that ride, you’ll end up dragging them around and everyone will get cranky. Push them a little to try new things, but pay attention to what freaks them out and what they enjoy, and you’ll have a much better experience.

THINGS I’D DO DIFFERENTLY

• Hotel upgrade. Normally I’m of the persuasion that you don’t go to Disney World to sit around in your room, so the low-end resorts are just peachy. And they are. Perfectly comfortable, kid-friendly, etc.  The flaw in my logic is that, with kids who nap and go to bed (somewhat) early, you actually do spend some time sitting around the hotel. We were at the All-Star Movies, and the down-side is that the low rates tend to attract large travel groups (there were several teenaged dance teams and at least one high school marching band) and an otherwise… interesting clientele. Without quite as many perks and amenities as some of the other resorts. This might have been the time to spend the extra little bit of cash and go up a level. I mean, really, we didn’t go into this one as a bargain vacation. Who are we kidding?
• Plan meals ahead of time. That’s one area where my planning really fell down. I didn’t scope out restaurants enough, or make hardly any reservations ahead of time. So we ended up kind of scrambling/winging it for each meal. And at 7:15 on a Saturday night, you ain’t getting in anywhere. Enjoy the lukewarm quesadilla from the quick-service vendor while you attempt to find a place on the sidewalk to sit. I think I hesitated because I didn’t feel like I knew where we’d be in the parks for each meal. But even making a call earlier in the day for dinner that night will yield better results.
• Bring more snacks from home. While I don’t advocate doing what some friends of ours once did (an ENTIRE suitcase full of food), I can say that reasonably healthy and toddler-friendly snacks are not super easy to come by. A few more boxes of raisins, bags of goldfish, and juice boxes would have been smart. You can even request a mini-fridge in your room if you want to bring something perishable.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Kids under 3 do not have to pay to enter the parks. They will not charge you for kids under 3 when you eat at a buffet, and if you want to have them eat off your plate at a table-service restaurant, you are welcome to do so. So if you’re debating whether to take the kids now (at 2.5) or wait until they’re 4? There’s a reason to go now.  (Not that they ask for proof of age…)
• Taking the shuttles from hotel to park and back eats up a LOT of time.  Think a minimum of 30 minutes from when you get to the bus stop to when you arrive at your destination. Often more like 45-60.  You really have to think ahead on that one. That was a big factor in our consistently late naps and bedtimes. You just can’t get anywhere all that fast. Plan accordingly and accept it.
• Cast Members (Disney employees) are your friends. Be kind to them, they work hard. And most of them are super sweet, and often have a little stash of goodies to give to kids who look like they need a treat. A man at the Peter Pan ride handed us stickers, the cashier at the All-Star food court gave us beaded necklaces, and a bus driver gave Daniel a pirate scarf and Rebecca a little green ring.  Yes, it’s their job to be nice to you, but return the favor.
• There are designated meeting places for different characters, but the lines can be outrageous. Especially in the Magic Kingdom. But there was no waiting to see Pooh and his crew at Animal Kingdom, and the big names come right to your table for the Character Breakfast. Beats wasting half an hour in line to get a picture with Pluto.

In a scant two weeks, we are hitting the house of the mouse for a mini family vacation and my big race.  I’m pretty excited, and I think the kids are going to have a blast.  But I turn to you, dear internets, for tips on handling Disney World with two 2.5-year-olds.

We are staying on resort property (not on the monorail). We will be there basically 3 1/2 days.  I know that, as the kids are under 3 years old, they do not require park tickets and can even eat off of our plates at restaurants (thanks for that tip!).  I have every intention of coming back to the hotel for nap each afternoon. For this trip, I do not plan on leaving WDW to see other Orlando attractions.

Any spots or rides that we should make sure to visit? Just as importantly, any we should absolutely avoid?

While we almost never use a stroller day-to-day anymore, I’m thinking one is critical for the parks. Is it worth it to try to bring the BOB? I know the daily stroller rentals in the parks are pricey ($27/day if you pay in advance), but is it worth it to avoid the hassle of bringing our own?

I did go ahead and make reservations for a character breakfast. They may love it, they may freak out, but I’m taking the chance.

What are your favorite tips and tricks for Disney World with the under-3 set?

Is there anything more fun than holiday airline travel with two toddlers? Only when you get to do it by yourself.

That’s right, our frequent-flying family marked a new milestone over the weekend: our first flight with only one adult.  And we survived.

Of course, I suppose I wouldn’t have done it in the first place if I didn’t feel confident that I could do it.  Not only do we already have 15 or so round-trips already under our collective belt, but the kids are older now and (at least theoretically) able to comprehend and follow simple instructions.  So, when we had to plan the trip with M heading home five days before the rest of us (stupid on-call schedule), I was OK with it.

Then, I got lucky.  Turns out my mom and stepdad had a flight to Florida, on the same airline as us, leaving within half an hour of ours.  Brilliant! Two extra (adoring) adults to help us through security! The stars have aligned!

Or, not. My flight was canceled.  My options were to fly out the same day on the 9:50pm flight (arriving at 1 in the morning), or go the next morning at 8:30am.  Desperate as I was to get home, the late night flight just screamed of disaster.  So we stayed over, and I got to get the whole crew (and all of our crap) moving before sunrise.

The long and short of it is that we did fine. I psyched myself up to keep my happy cheerleader/lots-of-praise mom face on. Such good cooperating! Great listening! What big kids you are! I did my very best to remain sympathetic to tired, whiny requests to be picked up. I took advantage of the skycaps, and looked pathetic and desperate enough that someone moved me to the shorter security line and no one blinked when I said the carseats needed to be hand-inspected. The Travelmates remain one of the greatest inventions of all time, and we have gotten more than our money’s worth over the last two years. I couldn’t have made it to our gate without them.

A well-placed Starbucks with Odwalla smoothies and bananas made for a “special treat” kind of breakfast.

With two kids and one adult in the same row, there’s not enough space for both carseats.  Thankfully, we “practiced” going sans carseats for the first time on the way in, when we still had a second adult. This time, we were ready for the gate-check, and the kids carried their own backpacks.

As an aside, if you’re considering doing this for the first time, check to see what plane the airline usually flies on your chosen route.  I’m a die-hard JetBlue fan and fly them whenever possible. But the plane that does the Boston-Chicago route is only four seats across (two and two), so it simply wasn’t an option.  We switched to American simply because the plane in question had three seats together.

Anyways, the usual bag o’ snacks was a good hit, as were carefully-rationed treats. Daniel kept himself busy with two of our favorite iPhone apps (Wheels on the Bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider).  Rebecca was entertained for most of our ground delay (woo, de-icing) by the “stories” conveniently available in the pocket in front of her.

And then, of course, there is the savior of parents everywhere: the portable DVD player with two headphone jacks and Cars.  Rebecca watched the entire thing, only getting antsy and tired as we approached the end of our flight (and naptime).  Daniel was on headphone strike, but still watched most of it without audio.

A super-friendly and helpful flight attendant let them play with an empty plastic coffee pot and the flashlight on his keychain while we waited to get off, and even held their hands all the way out of the jetway while I wrangled the carseats.

And when we walked through the doors past security and the kids ran shrieking to Daddy, I almost burst into tears from joy and exhaustion. My four-hour nap that day was well-earned, and I can now check off another accomplishment.  While I wouldn’t say it was exactly easy, I now know I can do it.

Staying at your parents’ house as an adult is a weird thing, isn’t it? Some things you see with fresh eyes, and other times you revert back to an awkward preteen.  I’ve noticed some habits working both for and against me this week.

On the positive side, it would seem that 4+ months of regular exercise is actually becoming an ingrained habit.  Oh sure, part of it is that I’m only about three pounds away from my first weight-related goal, and I don’t want to get completely sidetracked while I’m here.  But really, when have I ever brought an exercise DVD with me to (either of) my parents’ house(s)?  When have I ever used the treadmill they have in their basements?  That would be a big, fat never.

And yet, here I am.  I have done the Shred. I have progressed to Week 3 of the Couch-to-5K program (yes, I’m trying to run… more on that later).  I have exercised more days than not.  And I’m glad.

I’m particularly glad, because the flipside is that old eating habits die really hard.  I’ve been reasonably good with my eating these last few months (hence the 3-pounds-from-first-goal thing). But much of my success has come from controlling what foods I have access to. I haven’t purchased a pint of ice cream since the summer. I have baked shockingly few cookies (by my standards). I don’t keep crap in the house, so I can’t eat it.  I have a pretty limited menu, but it works for me.

And then I get here. Without even thinking, I walk into my dad’s kitchen and open the doors to the pantry to peruse the junk food. Cookies. Chips. All variety of things that I don’t ever buy, but find almost impossible to resist when they’re right there in my face. No control over what is served at big family dinners. Dad buys a dozen bagels (from my favorite bagel shop) for breakfast.  Ugh.

I’ve tried to keep some of my go-to items on hand, and have tried to stick to my 8PM rule.  But, clearly, four well-behaved months have not cured me of 30 years of bad eating habits.

But still, I will try to keep fighting the good fight, and not beat myself up too much for what happens here, away from home.  Just a few more days, and I’ll be back in my own space.  In the meantime, pass the cookies…

Oh, the fun things you get to do.

Play an improvised game of ping pong ON TOP of the ping pong table.

Have smoothies for breakfast on the kitchen floor with grandma.

Dig in to extra baby shower cake with grandpa.

Visit an aquarium way cooler than our own.

Hang out with seldom-seen (or never-before-seen) family.

And wear goggles at any time of day or night.

Yesterday, I left my kids.  My husband, too.  Walked out the door, drove to the airport, got on a plane, and flew most of the way across the country. I ran away. And I’m glad I did.

It was about a month and a half ago that I was nearly crawling out of my own skin with the need for a break. Within a few days, I found out about a quilting retreat and booked the trip before I could have second thoughts. Just what the doctor ordered.

Last week, I was making small talk with a woman at my local quilting shop about the fact that I was looking forward to going on this trip, and made some comment about being just as excited to get away from my kids for a few days.

“You’re so bad!”, she said.

I know she was partly just teasing me, but I also know that there is some truth behind most jokes.  I could tell there was a part of her that was chiding me for being excited to leave my children.  And there was a part of me that was doing the same thing.

I got home from that shopping trip and vented to M. Don’t judge me, lady! Moms need a break, too! Taking care of kids full-time is stressful! M nodded at all the right times, reaffirmed my right to a weekend of my own, and mostly just let the issue drop.

But I would be lying if I said I felt no guilt as I packed for my trip. Part of it, I think, was the fact that I know this all came about as a way to run away. Escape my responsibilities. All of a sudden, I felt overwhelmed. I’m so lucky to have really wonderful, sweet, smart, healthy, happy kids. I’m so lucky that I get to be at home with them full-time. How could I act so thankless and just leave them, as though they’re nothing but a burden?

Intellectually, of course, I know that’s faulty logic. The fact that raising two kids is an enormous source of stress does not negate the fact that it’s also an enormous source of pride and joy.  Being a stay-at-home mom is an incredible opportunity. But even people who work at their dream jobs still go home for the weekend and take vacation days.  This weekend away is an indulgence, but not an undeserved one.

And so, here I sit. In my four-poster bed in a quiet room at an inn in Colorado. Downstairs, the innkeeper is making pumpkin french toast for breakfast. There’s a dozen or so of us who started chatting and sewing and geeking out about fabric from the moment we got here yesterday, and we will spend all of today doing the same.

M is at home with the kids, rocking the “dad about town” thing. He took them to the Children’s Museum, a bookstore, and out for dinner yesterday. Today they’re going swimming (after they get their H1N1 shots). M will be exhausted by the end of the weekend, but everyone is having a great time.

Tomorrow evening, I’ll fly back home. I’ll sneak into the kids’ room when I arrive and be so happy to see their sweet, sleeping faces.  And Monday morning, though I’ll be tired from my late flight, I’ll have a little more energy and patience.

Guilt or no guilt, we will all benefit.

So, yes, we were in Florida again this past weekend. I’m not even sure anymore how many trips we’ve taken with the kids. My best guess is that it’s about 13. Which works out to a round-trip plane flight every two months of their lives. It’s pretty crazy, but the upside is that they’re generally good travelers and we’ve got the process down pretty well.

Anyways, this trip was to visit M’s family, both because it was Rosh Hashanah and because his grandmother is not well and could use the pick-me-up of some great-grandchild visits.  There were some late bedtimes, some disrupted sleep, a fair amount of crankiness, and a broken air conditioner.  But there was also a lot of pool time, the kids’ first matzo ball soup and challah, and a truly impressive stint at an Italian restaurant where the kids were cooperative and well-behaved for over an hour and a half and Daniel ate a ton of ravioli.  All in all, not a bad trip.

We had a late flight last night, which meant the kids didn’t get to bed until 10:45PM, three hours later than normal.  So how late did they sleep in today?  7:03. Earlier than usual.  Awesome.  But man, were they full of energy!

They’ve been a bit on edge today, what with the sleep deficit, the new space, the lots-of-people-up-in-their-business, and the heat.  Plus, the air conditioning may have broken.  But their presence makes an awful lot of people happy, so there you have it.

L’Shana Tovah to the members of the tribe out there.  Happy 5770!

I’m here, I’m home.

Been home for days, actually.  And yet, have written nothing.

I’m in that slightly crazed, disorganized post-vacation mode. Getting back into the swing of things, shopping for groceries, doing laundry. You know, boring stuff that needs to be done before you can feel settled again.

Except, I’m feeling very un-settled.  For one thing, my house is making me crazy.  Maybe it was two weeks with my parents, who not only have larger houses than I do, but also keep them a hell of a lot cleaner. Happy as I was to be home, I walked in my door and felt claustrophobic.  Smaller space, yes, but oh my god the clutter! So much crap! You know how you live with something long enough that you just stop seeing it?  Well, I was away for long enough that I see it again.  With a big, glaring spotlight on it.

The trouble is this: when do I deal with it?  Most of my waking hours are with the kids, who are not exactly helpful when it comes to purging a house of all of its excess crap. Indeed, they seem to be magnets for the stuff.  That leaves me with the 2-ish hours that they nap, and the 3-ish hours between when they go to bed and when I do.

That should be plenty of time, of course, but I end up doing other things. Eating lunch, taking a shower, lots of sewing, blog reading, and hiding in my bedroom with it’s blessed air conditioning window unit (holy crap, summer has finally arrived).  Alas.  Sometimes I wish I could either send the kids away for a day or two in order to get things done, or pay one of those people who make it their profession to throw out other people’s shit.

This all feels even more pressing to me than before, I think because in my own head I would like to imagine that we’ll be trying to sell our house sometime in the next year or so.  I have no practical reason to believe that’s true, but it’s in my head, so there you have it.  And it most certainly could not go on the market in its current state.

More tomorrow on other stuff that’s bugging me (I know, aren’t you excited!), but in the meantime, a few of my favorite pictures from our trip.

We’re back from the lake, with a few more days in my hometown before we fly home to Boston.  The lake was great in a lot of ways. Until yesterday.

Becca is a dog lover, and was in dog heaven up at the lake.  There were three or four dogs there at all times, and she hugged them all.  My mom’s dog, in particular, is a long-time favorite whom she always asks to see when we call Grandma on Skype.  They were back to being BFFs.

Then, I’m not sure what happened. Maybe she wiggled the wrong way, but this 120+ pound dog barked like he was in a dog fight and bit my daughter on the face.

To jump to the “end” of the story, she’s OK.

But, not surprisingly, she was hysterical. I was hysterical. My child was bit by a dog, how could I not be beside myself?

My mom said almost nothing.

A minute or so later, she did bring the dog into another room. But there was no consequence. No reaction to the dog’s behavior.  Yes, I know that dogs are animals and you always have to be careful. And yes, I know my mom is really into her positive training methods.  But are you kidding me? Nothing?  As you might imagine, I’m livid. I barely spoke to my mom the rest of the day, and not much at all today before we left.

She did make a concerted effort to keep the dog away from the kids for the rest of our time there. And I know she was upset and felt badly. And I know she’s under a lot of other stress at the moment. But I’m pretty darn furious.  And I get even more mad every time I look at my sweet girl and the red cut on her ear.

Or when I looked over at the carseat on the drive home today and saw that deceptively deep bruise in the middle of her cheek.

Thankfully, she’s just fine. It could have been much, much worse. It doesn’t seem to be bothering her in terms of pain. And much to my relief, she did not display any fear around any of the dogs after it happened, even wanting to give more hugs to the offender himself.  The last thing I want is for my little animal-lover to be afraid of dogs.

But, yeah. This mama bear is pretty damn pissed right now.