Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (Mother's Day Edition)

For 8-and-a-half years, I have had a problem with Mother's Day.  It never seemed natural...I always felt like my family (well, really, the burden was mostly on Jeremy) tried so hard to make the day special and it never quite worked out due to expectations, lack of sleep, shortage of funds, and the fact that it is always on an actual day of the week and there are still actual children to feed and get dressed and attempt to lovingly transport to church (since Mother's day always occurs on a Sunday).

This year, I felt that the holiday (holiday?) actually hit the spot.  After 8+ years of the family waiting in the car while I cried and tried to put on mascara or spent the afternoon feeling terrible about feeling jealous of the baby who got to sleep whenever he wanted and be carried around in his "bed" (infant carrier) all day long (true story), I bring you the Mother's Day that finally put my expectations to rest.

Evan's class had a special event called "Muffins for Moms" (though I heard one mom accidentally call it "Muffin Tops for Moms")

The kids each read a poem and shared a picture with their mom and then we had muffins.  It was cute!

The kids are finally old enough to make things completely on their own.  My two little crafty-pants boys made these creations for me.  Sam's was a flip book...loved it.

Evan gave me this along with 3 of his favorite toys wrapped up for me.  Aw!

Hurray for teachers who help kids write sweet poems and funny memories for us (because the dads try but...)

Sam went on a field trip to hear the Disneyland Band and got a free child's admission to Disney Parks (along with a paid adult admission).  I did the math and the only real way to have that actually be a good deal was to buy just one ticket instead of trying to bring the whole family.  So I told Jeremy that what I wanted for Mother's Day was to surprise Sam by taking him out of school and going to California Adventure to see the new Cars Land together.

I had grand ambitions of deep, heartfelt conversations while standing in lines and exuberant expressions of elation when we told him where I was taking him.  Neither happened quite as I expected, but what I gained was actually a day full of wonderful memories, fun with my oldest son, and a much better understanding of who he is as an individual person (and likewise some reflection on my part about how to mother this individual person as he gets older and more...individual).

One of the first rides we rode was Tower of Terror.  We indeed experienced some terror.

I can't remember if it was after this ride or the next one that he said, breathlessly, "My life will never be the same!"

California Screamin'...less than 10 minute wait each time.  The first time, Sam had his eyes shut the whole ride and I hurt my neck trying to strain against the G's to look over at him to see if he was still alive.

Then he rode with his eyes open but still on the verge of terror...

We took a break from riding (my stomach is not quite as steady as it used to be and we needed some ice cream to make it better).

We watched a show here and then this funny lady made a big deal and gave Samuel a telegram from Mickey.  Know-it-all-ish sidenote:  When going to a Disney Theme Park, my advice is to interact with cast members (any employee, including custodial or street vendors) as much as possible because you can find out really interesting tidbits, advice, heads up on what celebrities just might be walking by, trivia, and even get special treatment.  We got onto at least 3 rides faster than we would have because of talking to cast members.  We also found out important info like the fact that you can return souvenirs if you are 8 years old and slightly impulsive and you buy an airplane and then later want a Mickey hat instead (well, anyone can return something to any store, but you get my drift).

I wanted Sam to get Mickey to sign his telegram, but alas, even though I used to work at Mickey's house in Toontown and usher people by the thousands in to see him, I overlooked the fact that you needed to provide your own pen.  Bummer.

We spent some time in the air-conditioned indoors at the animation studio thingy...we saw a surprisingly cool show with Crush, the sea turtle from Finding Nemo (which we would have overlooked if not for the advice of a cast member).  If you go to CA Adventure, you must go see it!  We recorded our voices with Ursula the sea witch, animated our own drawings, and found out who our Disney alter-egos were:  Sam was Genie (hero) and Syndrome (villian) and I was Alice in Wonderland (yay!) and Malifecent (boring).

One of my favorite places at CA Adventure is the wilderness exploring area.  It used to be themed with Brother Bear which was a lame, slightly new-agey Disney movie that no one cared about.  Now, they've themed it all with the movie Up.  Sam followed a map and did some challenges and got to get a Wilderness Explorer badge from Russell himself.  It was so sweet!

"Caw-Caw, Rar!"

We went on Goofy's Sky School (which used to be Mullholland Madness) 3 times in a row and I think 5 times total.  Again, my heart and mind were loving it, my stomach...not so much.   

My son surprised me with his suggestion of getting a salad for a snack.  What what?!?  We watched the Pixar play parade while we ate.

Elasti-girl (i.e. the mom from The Incredibles): my new favorite character.  I love her reflexes (which I've often said I lost half of my brain cells after having 3 children but I have developed an uncanny ability to catch glass cups before they shatter on the floor or stop a slice of bread smothered with pb from landing facedown). We just watched the movie recently and it was funny to me how much I related to the family in it...even how the mom kind of yells at the kids for not meeting her expectations...yeah.

One more time on California Screamin' and this time he actually put his hands up.  I was joking,  people, not terrified.  Joking.

I convinced Sam to go on the dorky bakery tour because I like Colin from "Whose Line Is It Anyway" so much and he is the tour guide.  Sam was reluctant but then I couldn't get him to leave early.

If you have not been to Cars Land and you have Cars lovers in your family, you need to go!  It was so beautiful...so much detail, which is what I love about Disney...despite the ever-increasing prices and crowds, there is just no one who does it with such care and attention to the smallest detail.

This ride is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous!  And we loved it.  It is basically  Bumper Cars but you are on tires and they are small hovercrafts.  Seriously.  And you direct them by throwing your body this way and that and there is no way to look cool doing it but everyone is just sort of laughing in disbelief.

There is also a tractor square-dancing ride with Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) as the caller and it is totally funny.  But the crown jewel in Cars Land is the Radiator Springs Racers.  Now, this ride could have been cause for tears and gnashing of teeth because of the ridiculous lines (we were informed before the park opened that if you hadn't already gotten in line for a Fast Pass, they would have already run out for the entire day, so we rushed (politely) to the ride and commenced waiting in an already-90-minute line) until I realized that Sam was tall enough to ride on his own, so we skipped the line by going in the Single Riders line and waited less than 15 minutes.  

The ride captures the essence of the movie!  The second time we rode, it was sunset and sooooo pretty!  Though it felt ironic being in such everyday Northern-Arizona scenery at (expensive) CA Adventure.

Cars Land isn't just about the rides

Here's our last ride on Tower of Terror.  People are so random!  

Ending the day with World of Color, which was really good...not the same as Fantasmic! but nothing will ever be as good as Fantasmic!

So my mother's day present of going to CA Adventure with my oldest son was special and fun, even though it went a little differently than I expected.  I had high hopes for heart-to-heart conversations while waiting in lines, but more often than not, we just enjoyed standing by each other in silence, making observations here and there.  Some of those observations were pondered quietly in my own heart...taking note of what my son likes and doesn't like, how he thinks for himself (I mean, he didn't want to just follow my ride-planning strategies, he wanted to do what looked fun in the moment, go figure), how he reminds me of his dad, and how he is independent and not a needy little kid (in the physical sense) anymore.  And some of the observations were made by him...like when I said how exciting Tower of Terror was and he said, "Yeah, Mom, I saw your arms flying all around in the air," with a tone of embarrassment.  There is a growing separation between us because he is becoming a young man with a mind of his own...and that is a good thing.  The challenge will be to continue to enjoy each other's company and support him in his own decision-making as needed (like in choosing a souvenir!) and in that way, keep connecting our hearts together as the years pass.

But still, he did draw this picture of us.  Warms my heart.