Any mother who has raised a boy knows, there are ups and there are downs, and though the ride is bumpy, its full of excitement and great joy. My son Jordan will be 8 years old at the end of this month, and today we took a day to ourselves. Its the end of our Spring Break week , and my only vacation day during the holiday week. For him, it was a day to go to Disney World with his Mom, just me and him. To do whatever we wanted, without worrying about little sister. I told him we could do whatever HE wanted to do. For me, it was a one of those shooting star moments to reconnect with my son. Of course, this can happen anywhere – a trip to the Target, maybe over a dish of froyo. But every chance I get to put the gloves down and just be together, I take it. 2014 is the first year that we’ve had Annual Passes, and I fully intend to use them as much as possible. So today, our time together was spent in the home of another great man, Walt Disney.
I’m so thankful that Jordan loves Disney. He still loves the movies, even the Princess ones (he’ll never admit that). He watches the shows and cheers and waves at the parades. My son is NOT an outgoing kid by any stretch of the imagination. You have to strain to hear your first conversation with him, and he’s a man of few words. But he gets excited to see random characters in the park; to take photos in different spots (even though I may have to say poop or stinky socks to make him cheese), and to find hidden mickeys. He’s ridden the people mover probably 20x but every time it makes those sharp turns he giggles. Here’s a few People Mover selfies, and a spin on the Tomorrow Land Speedway – another one of his faves.
He had lunch at one of my favorite snack spots. Sleepy Hollow is home to the famed Nutella Waffle sandwich. I die. I decided to try the savory waffle sandwich this time. Its a big ole’ belgian waffle with Ham, Prosciutto, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato. Jordan and I could’ve EASILY split that, but there is no way I’m going to Sleepy Hollow and not getting the Nutella goodness. We ate during Dream Along with Mickey, so we got a cool side view of the show. Jordan liked seeing the Cast Members behind some of the props and all the Characters exiting. Who won the waffle battle – Nutella hands down. The ham was good, but that Nutella waffle still reigns as my favorite MK snack.
Look and drool:
We added a few firsts to this trip. It amazes me that as many times as I’ve visited the World, theres still stuff I haven’t done. Things that are old or outdated that get passed over time and time again. As a family we added Country Bear Jamboree, the Riverboat Cruise, Carousel of Progress and Hall of Presidents late last year and early this year. All things I’d done in my younger years, but my hubby and kids hadn’t. Today, Jordan and I added Tom Sawyer Island and Swiss Family Tree House. The tree house…eh….I can take it or leave it. One good view (see photo) but other than that, I don’t need to do it again. Jordan didn’t really care for it either. Tom Sawyer Island however, he really liked!! I didn’t realize there was such a large area to explore. And as always, details details details. Rocking chairs along the river, picnic tables, and plenty of benches to rest on make it a place you can really spend some time. Even bring a bag lunch and hide out under the shade of the trees. Jordan loved “shooting” the guns in the fort (yes they really make a shooting sound), and crawling through the dark caves and escape shafts. I watched him run and jump in front of me, and I smiled thinking, yup this is why. This is why I brought him. We found something new, something he really enjoyed, and he’s always going to remember that the first time we did Tom Sawyer Island, it was on that day over Spring Break when me and my Mom had a date at Disney World. At least thats how it goes in my mind 😉
While on Tom Sawyer Island Jordan had a little bit of an epiphany. One more thing you have to know about Jordan. He’s a chicken. Jordan doesn’t like Disney for the rides lets put it that way. While on TSI, he stood on the bridge watching Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and I asked as I have many times before “You wanna go on?”. To my surprise, he said yes. Well, it wasn’t quite that easy. He said yes and then he said he wanted to watch a video of it on YouTube, which we have before. Then I had to compare the speed and velocity to that of every ride he has ever been on. Then, he had to poop. He said he had to use the restroom and then, we could go get in line. I couldn’t Fast Pass, but I wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass by, so I greed to wait in the then 70 minute wait. We talked and talked and talked. I wanted to keep the conversation going to keep his mind off his nerves. We talked about WWE, 2nd grade, and what rides he could conquer now that he was taking on BTMR. Splash Mountain maybe? We played Heads Up, and he started to get a little bit restless. The 2nd train broke down, so our 70 minutes turned into 90 minutes. But finally the time had come. We sat in the first car, because its notoriously the slowest.
HE LOVED IT! He was nervous, but there were no tears – he didn’t once try to chicken out. He looked around as we went up the Mountain, checked out the goats and all. He was so proud of himself. He got off the ride and the first thing he wanted to do was call his Dad. We went to the Briar Patch store and can you believe there are no Thunder Mountain tee shirts?? That was a little disappointing, but nothing could take away this moment.
I love this day. We will surely fight about homework, cleaning his room, tearing him away from the Xbox, and to STOP MESSING WITH YOUR SISTER! But through all of that we have our trips to Target, our afternoon dates over froyo, and this day. The day he went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time, and he beamed all the way home. Thank you jesus. Thank you thank you thank you for this boy of mine. XO
~N