Magical Moments at Disney

Grumpy Parking

When our first day's attempt at free parking didn't turn out right, we were all a little ornery. We finally gave up and drove straight to the park and paid our $12 per car. As we were about to board the shuttle, we realized we needed to make a note of where we parked. The Magic Kingdom lots are named after dwarfs and we had somehow, fittingly, parked in "Grumpy".

Something's Fishy

We were all enjoying the aquariums at Epcot, but my mom especially liked a wall-sized tank full of fish. She commented on how interesting it is that fish swim in schools and how beautiful the fish looked. She might have been wondering why she was the only one enjoying that particular fish tank when my dad explained to her that it was just a cartoon projected on the wall. She said, "But it looks so real!" and we were all like, "Yeah.....totally."
(p.s. When Andrew walked by it, he immediately said, "That's fake.")

The Water Valve

If my mom has trouble deciphering what's fake, my dad must have troubles figuring out what's real. We were eating lunch at the Backlot Express which looks like a big barn, and my dad points to an exposed water valve and says, "So do you guys think that valve is real or fake?" Dave says, "Real." And my dad is like, "Nope. It's fake. Do you want to know how I know? They would never put a valve within reach of kids." To prove his point, my dad turns the valve until a loud hissing noise convinced him to quickly tighten it back up.
That was our cue to go.

What is the Word for Ambidextrous?

While we were driving one day, the kids were trying to think of the word for the ability to use both hands. Rachel suggested 'quadrepalegic' and Megan said, "No, it's 'aquamarine'!"

Water Technology

Andrew was riding on his dad's back in the pool and yelled out to me, "Look at me, Mom! I'm surfin'! I'm surfin' the web!"

Getting Soft

We were pretty pampered on our trip. We each had a large bedroom, comfy bed, and our own TV. I realized just how pampered we were one night after I'd tucked Andrew in. I could hear him in his room calling for Megan, so I went in to see what he needed.
He said, "Megan's gone and she left me with all the work!!"
Baffled I said, "What work?"
With all the exasperation he could manage he said, "I had to turn off the TV!"

Metaphorically Exhausted

We had a few long days at the parks and one day Andrew poetically announced:
"I'm as tired as a pig! I mean, I'm as tired as a dinosaur!"
(But not too tired to express his fatigue using really bad similes.)

Sausage Snack

Every day we went to a park, Dave carried a pickled sausage in his shirt pocket. (He chose that snack not only for its protein content, but for the fact that no one would ever want to share it with him). Finally, I saw him eat it. The next day I was surprised to see the package still in his pocket. I pulled it out and saw that he had one bite left and I was thinking, good thing he held onto that. I mean, you never know when you're going to have the sudden need for one bite of pickled sausage. You just never know.

Public Display of Affection

We had three sets of grandparents with us on this trip which was a blast, but could also get a little confusing. Andrew would say things like, "You mean that grandma, or that one?" Anyway, I guess the grandparents got themselves mixed up sometimes too. On our first day at Magic Kingdom, my dad was walking along and reached his hand out behind him to hold my mom's hand. My mother-in-law saw the opportunity and seized it (literally) by holding his hand as a joke. It took him a second to realize he had the wrong grandma.
After that, he looked behind him before he held hands with anyone.

Splashy Mountain

My father-in-law, Dave, got soaking wet every day at the parks. The water always seemed to be aimed at him (which totally entertained the rest of us). But one day, the splash mechanism in Splash Mountain wasn't working, so Rex took it into his own hands to get Dave wet. Every time we went by a splash zone, he scooped up some water and threw it directly at Dave. Dave kept saying things like, "The water seems to be aiming right at me!" and "I thought I wouldn't get wet sitting in the middle, but I'm getting more wet than usual" and "I'm even getting wet when there's not even splashing." The intense giggling never even clued Dave in, but Rex finally confessed his misdeed on our last day there.