Disney Recap.

It's been almost a month since we've been home from California-a whirlwind of a month. I can't believe I still haven't blogged about Disneyland...So here it goes.It was so incredible; Disney is loads of fun. I can speak for everyone I traveled with that it was a total blast. The weather couldn't have been prettier, mid 70's, a little breeze and a lot of sun. We loved it. Mason loved it so much. He might have had a bit more fun at four, but I'm still so glad we took him this year, because who knows if he'll still love Mickey at four. At three, I know he loves him. A LOT. Heck we all loved Mickey this March. I really hope we can go back soon, maybe with just Mason. I have a plan brewing that I'm hoping my sugar daddy (er, my husband) will fund for Mason's 5th birthday. Talk about the best birthday ever. I know, I know I'm a kick ass mom. Kidding.
Here's the rundown of Mason's Disney faves:

1st place ride: Dumbo.

Mason requested the green dumbo, because green is his favorite color. Good pick Mason, I think it's mine too (sometimes). Anyway, go figure Walt Disney had this grand idea to have 4 yellow elephants, 4 pinks, 4 blues, 3 oranges, and ONE GREEN ELEPHANT. I was so scoping out the six-ish couples/families in front of us in line like yeah okay I can totally beat that old lady but damn that young dad with those twins is going to be some fierce competition. There were a few kids on my "may beat us radar" that I was so not above accidentally knocking down. We're determined people. GREEN. Needless to say (as shown in the picture), we are lightening fast, we got the green elephant and all crises were averted. The line was deceivingly short, because it looked like it'd take ten minutes, max, it was more like forty five and it was the worst shaded line I've ever stood in. I must have forgotten that elephants are slowwww. But totally worth the wait. He wanted to wait again, but we moved on to second rate, spinning teacups after Dumbo. Sorry Mase we were trying to broaden your amusement park riding horizons, next trip you can ride Dumbo fifty billion times.

2nd place ride: It's a Small World.

Okay so maybe it isn't a ride, more like an attraction. But it's a bad ass attraction at that. Who skips It's a Small World when they come to Disneyland? No one. It has so many perks; it's air conditioned (not that outside was brutally hot or anything), you get to sit down and relax for 3 whole minutes, the line goes super quick, the music isn't half bad and all those tiny little people are so damn cute. I want to LIVE in the small world in my next life. I loved watching the boys expressions as the boat kept moving through the little world, they were amazed.

1st place character: Why, Mickey Mouse, of course. There is something to be said about a character coming to live. Mason isn't huge in to most cartoons, he can take or leave Super Why and he doesn't really have the Yo Gabba Gabba obsession like a lot of preschoolers (Hallelujah for that!), but he's always been drawn to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was the first licensed cartoon character he fell in love with. I was trying to explain to my sister how weird and enthralling it must be to watch some guy on TV every morning, have idolized figurines and stuffed animals of this character and then one day be eating breakfast with him. Total rush. I couldn't really explain this, but thankfully my mother said "Like if you got to meet the Kardashians, Emma!" Yes, exactly Mom. Sans Kim, Kourtney and Khloe figurines, pretty much, exactly. Mickey was breathtaking and Mason wasn't totally in to being all lovey-dovey with him. He wouldn't hug him or anything exciting but he didn't cling to Michael for dear life like he did when a lot of other characters approached. Because Mickey is numero uno for Mason and I think he might always hold a special place in Licensed Character Heaven for my little boy. Thanks for kicking ass and being awesome Mr. Mouse, you made someone's day this March. Probably even his whole month.

2nd place character: Cinderella

Say whaaaat? Yup, Cinderella is crowned as the runner up. It's actually funny because she was one of the few unrecognizable (to Mason) characters at the breakfast that morning. We never knew about the Disney princess phenomenon well because he's a boy and I don't know I just figured he'd be way more in to other characters like a talking, rusted tow truck and stuff. And don't get me wrong, for the most part he totally is. But when he saw her, his eyes kind of lit up in a special way. And well she is a princess you know. And well I flash forwarded fifteen years from now when he's at prom with someone all dressed up like Cinderella was. And well I got all weepy. In the next fifteen years I need to teach him one thing before dating; dating 101, via your mother- when your date is smiling with you for a picture, you may not want to stuff yet another piece of bacon in your mouth. I mean Mason you are adorable and a charmer and I think that will get you really far, but the bacon technique probably won't. If we would ask him later in the day about Cinderella he would blush. My THREE YEAR OLD has his first celebrity crush. I guess I can approve of Cinderella. Would that make me a Queen? Holla.

Favorite meal: Mickey Shaped...everything.

Then there was this...After one bite of gummi worms and peanut butter pizza he politely asked for scrambled eggs and strawberries.I was slightly relieved, because if he'd consumed even 1/4th of that breakfast pictured above we would've been kicked out of California for disturbing the peace. I think he was overwhelmed and totally stoked that he could have anything he wanted for breakfast, including dessert, that he got a little crazy with his picks. He doesn't like sweets that much, so I was surprised with his round one plate. He was equally amazed with the cereal bar as he was with Mickey Mouse himself.

The Pixar parade was a huge hit. It doesn't have a fancy category favorite to fall under, but it was really cool and showcased basically all the favorite movies in our house. A little Nemo, some Incredibles, lots of Toy Story and what better way to end a day than with a life size Lightening McQueen?Mason's not so favorites were...traveling (I think this would be the case for all of us), leaving Disney and the beach, characters actually touching you (stranger danger). He was so excited with the idea of meeting Mickey and well with Mickey he stayed excited, but when B-list characters like Jasmine from Aladdin and Buloo from Jungle Book came up to greet us at breakfast he was all "I'm gonna devour this bacon so I can ignore you" style. Everything else he loved. We all loved it. I mean what is there not to love about sunshine and Disneyland? Let's be real.

PS. And just so I'm not the most unfair mother ever, here's some proof that my poor neglected, under photographed second child was in attendance at our first big family vacation. He really liked Mickey too...he kind of totally violated Mickey's personal space, something we'll have to review during dating 101 also. Max also got a huge kick out of the Pixar parade and he's never seen even a snippet of Monsters Inc. Sully is just that good. Sorry Max, but when you can tell what your favorite parts of the day were I will totally write it down, because you're special too. So damn special your smile looks like this.