Sea World - A Vacation from Disneyland

It seemed a little much to spend 5 whole days in Disneyoland so on day 3 we took a vacation from Disneyland ... at Sea World. We loved feeding the dolphins, seals and batrays and probably spent more buying fish to feed them than it cost to get into the park! We also saw the seal and Shamu shows. Both were great, but we have to recommend getting lunch reservations for Shamu. It was so nice to saunter in a few minutes before the show to our reserved seats and delicious sack lunch. Braden's even came in a Shamu lunch box! And all of that for about the same cost as eating lunch at the food stands elsewhere in the park. Does it make up for the amount we paid for the fish . . . no, but it was a nice start!

Turtle Talk with Crush

If anyone were to ask us for Disneyland advice - we would first provide a huge list of rides and shows that 2 1/2 year olds should probably avoid (too bad we didn't a comprehensive list ourselves) and then strongly recommend taking time to see Turtle Talk with Crush - a digitally animated show in which Crush actually participates with the audience.

After a quick introduction, Crush singled out audience members to talk to. And who did he pick first? The "mini man" in the front row - aka Braden. He asked Braden his name which Braden stutterred back to him. Crush laughed and stuttered the name back but then used the name correctly from then on. He got Braden to say totally sweet (with took some effort but made the audience go wild). He also asked Braden where his parents were - and when he saw we were sitting right next to Braden, responded “Short leash, man.” Crush answered other questions like if he had any dumb relatives (he talked about his in-laws) and whether he could swim outside his shell (at first he said no, then said he wasn't sure and began trying to do it by pushing against rocks and stretching as hard as he could which had us all rolloing with laughter.) It was one of the highlights of the trip!

Disneyland - Playing with Pluto

Needless to say - there were other parts of the Disneyland vacation that didn't get photographed (or at least photographed well) but are stil worthy of mention - Turtle Talke with Crush (my next blog entry), and the night we played with Pluto.

After our first long day at Disneyland, we stumbled across Pluto while leaving the park. Since Braden LOVED the characters, he started giggling almost instantly. In no time at all he and Pluto had developed a game where Braden would put his hand in Pluto's mouth and then both of them would laugh hysterically (albiet silently on the part of Pluto). After a few minutes we told Braden that it was time for other kids in the now growing line to have a chance to see Pluto as well. We grabbed his hand to pull him away and someone had a fit. Was it Braden? No - it was Pluto! He must have been infected by Braden's contageous laugh - because he kept pulling Braden back and begging for Braden to keep playing with him. It took us several minutes to convince Pluto that he NEEDED (perhaps because it was his JOB) to give attention to the other kids as well. Needless to say, Pluto is now Braden's favorite Disney character!

Disneyland Vacation

In April we decided to take our first Disneyland vacation - and what a great vacation it was! Even though we misjudged Braden's readiness for certain rides/shows, most of the time was an absolute blast. In fact, if it weren't for having caused his new fears of monsters and the dark (perhaps it WASN'T the best idea to take him in the Bugs Life theather where they told him they were gointg to spray him with acid and then let him be devoured by spiders) the trip would have been perfect!

So what did Braden love so much? The family, the characters and the rides:

We went with Braden's Christensen grandparents. We also met up with the Schlepps and Gallis - but weren't smart enough to take pictures with them. We just aren't rocket scientists, are we?

Braden at breakfast with Minnie and friends. The best breaksat we have ever had - possibly because Minnie made the waffles!

Stealing a hug with Donald before anyone had noticed he was there.

Riding Dumbo with daddy.

Protecting the universe from the evil forces of Zurg - with the help of Grandma dn Grandpa Christensen. (Buzz Lightyear was Braden's favorite ride)

Grandparents are the BEST!

Even though this picture was taken at Disneyland (I'll get to that in a later blog) I loved the photo so much that I thought it ought to have its own entry. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to know that Braden has other people in his life that love him as much as Aaron and I do - his grandparents. Growing up I only had one that lived close enough (and survived long enough) to be a major part of my childhood. Braden still has 5! And what does he think of them? The smile in this photo says it all. He loves each and every one and talks about them constantly. So, in case we don't say it often enough, thank you Grandparents. We love you!

Lynn and Braden - proving that even waiting in a Disneyland line can be the most fun thing ever . . . if you do it with your Grandpa!

Absense Makes the Heart Grow Stranger . . .

OK - so it has been a while since I have blogged. Sorry - but in order to have blogs worth reading (something I have not really focused on in the past) it becomes requisite that you DO things worth blogging about. For the last few months, we have been dedicated to enhancing your reading experience by first having fun experiences of our own. See? We were REALLY only thinking of you!