California Adventures

 We were on the plane when I realized I left Owen's device plugged in at home and we only had my phone and one external charger.  I had downloaded some Disney movies for him but he wanted me to watch with him.  We each had one AirPod and watched Guardians of the Galaxy.  I almost never have the patience to watch a full movie and especially not a superhero/sci-fi, but maybe Owen leaning on my shoulder the entire time, or knowing we would be on the ride the next day (and I would finally understand all the references), or just the anticipation of the experience with my youngest made the movie one of my favorite plugged-in experiences of all time.

Owen was so excited about our convertible and said he planned to stay awake the whole way to the hotel.  It was already midnight and he lasted 7 minutes.  The car wouldn't connect with my phone without a cord, my phone was brand new, and I did not have a converter for the car, so the drive reminded me of navigating around Honolulu for IVF appointments with delayed GPS and printed out maps.

After a 2am bedtime, we did not make it to park opening right at 8am, but it was not too much later when we popped through the gates and went straight for Owen's most anticipated ride: Incredicoaster.  He walk/ran the entire way to the ride, complaining loudly when I asked him to snap this quick pic:

I had a nervous tummy for him and hoped he would enjoy it.  He talked about this coaster for weeks in anticipation, and he has never ridden it.  It seemed like an intense way to start Disney but he knew what he wanted.  I hoped it would not wreck him for the rest of the day.

Nervous smile!

The second it ended, he begged to hop back in line, this time more confident that he would not fall out while upside down.

This picture of a lady's hair covering up my little guy shows how small he looks on this ride.

We walked around Pixar Park to ride the swings but he could hardly wait to go back for more.

Between Incredicoaster laps, I talked him into Toy Story with our magic pass.  

5 times in only a couple hours.  Whew.

The single rider lane saved us.  We never waited more than 20 minutes, and sat together several times.

I really think he would have done the coaster 12 more times in a row but he was anxious to know what else the park had and I had passes for other rides.  Off to Avengers Campus for Web Slingers.

Cars Land: something I thought he'd never grow out of.  His fixation on Cars over the years made me assume he would love it.  When I asked him if he wanted to ride it again, he said, "Nah.  Once is enough.  Let's go back to Incredicoaster."

From my journal that night:

Incredicoaster total 8 times.  "I want to kill you off."  He's definitely heard me say that before about Zachary riding it 22 times in one day.  I wondered if Owen really cared as much as he claimed that it was all he wanted to ride the remainder of the night, but he really was so bummed that it shut down the last three hours of park time.

The theme of this Disney experience has been Guardians.  Watching it on the plane with him snuggling against me throughout and hearing him giggle at every "I am Groo," has sealed that character into my heart along with Ariel from Kate's Little Mermaid trip.  Owen is thrilled I liked the movie and teased me that I screamed hard the first time we were on the ride.

He asked to call Kate so many times while she was in school so he could tell her about his rides.  He knew she would be proud of him and happy for him.  What a sweet relationship.  

He hated the cotton candy and thought the Cars ride was ok but nothing great.  Same with Web Slingers.  We were both surprised by the 3D Philharmonic experience--delightful!  He laughed and laughed.

24,000 steps for me (11.3 miles).  More for Owen.  I did carry him in the lines at times to give his feet a break.  I also suggested 8 times that we go back and rest at the hotel.  "Hard no, Mom.  I don't want to waste time!"

I loved the the struck up conversations with other kids today.  At least three times, he engaged completely on his own!