Maddox and I were fortunate enough to take a trip to Disneyland a couple of weeks back. It was a much needed getaway for two busy dudes such as us. We went down with my dad, and my brother. I learned a few things about my son, and about traveling with a 3 year old. First of all, being a dad at Disneyland is so much cooler than being a kid at Disneyland. I was so excited to see his reaction to everything. We laughed so hard at stuff together. I loved watching his face as we spun on the tea cups, floated passed the pirates, shot lasers at Buzz Lightyear's enemies, shot around the matterhorn, and enjoyed the $13 chocolate muffins we ate for breakfast or the $40 corn dogs we downed for lunch. He was such a little stud, attached is a video I took of us having fun on the autopia cars. When Maddox is grown up and I'm old I'll sit in my rocking chair watching this video while "Matlock" re-runs are going in the background. And I'll remember a time when my little dude and me laughed together at Disneyland. Another thing I learned, it's impossible to explain the concept of standing in a line to a 3 year old. Luckily it wasn't too busy there that day. Maddox liked lines about as much as he likes nap time. One more thing, little moments with your child are what life is all about. I have a clear picture in my mind of that entire day. It's still making me smile when I think about it. I think about his laugh at certain moments of the day when we'd go on certain rides. Luckily I went into the day with the mindset that I was going to take mental snapshots of everything. And I did, and it's been so great.
Some other lessons I learned from the trip include: Hand sanitizer is a freakin must. I about died having to take Maddox to use the bathroom in gas station bathrooms, I would hold him with one arm wrapped around his thighs the other around his chest, squeezing his chest and holding his arms to his side, so as to keep his hands from touching anything. Everytime he touches anything in a gas station bathroom I lose my shit. I freak out, that's seriously the only time that I ever yell at him. It's actually funny how he pees being held in the air, stiff as a board. So ya, hand sanitizer just in case he does touch anything and you don't think the trucker soap in the bathroom will do anything but make him smell like a cheap air freshener. We took Maddox to the Yankees/Angels game the last night we were in CA. It was so fun to see him and how he loved that game, and that beautiful park, such a great place to watch a game. But I learned that it's important to time your bathroom breaks around the time when the Angels (or the weaker batting lineup) are hitting. We almost missed A. Rod's mammoth bomb luckily we'd taken a break to left field so it actually landed right by us, had it happened one minute later or earlier we would've missed it. I was so concerned about him not peeing himself that I didn't think that through. Sun screen!!! I kept Maddox covered all weekend. He came back looking like his usual white self. I got killed by the sun and look like one of those old guys I see at the gym that think they look younger because they're reddish orange.
One last thing a friend once told me that your kids just get cooler to you as they get older, each new age brings with it new exciting things. I thought 2 was awesome but 3 is even better. When we pulled into our driveway after our trip to California, Maddox looked at me with his big "blue eyed beauties" as he calls them, and said "dad, thanks for going on the fun trip." That made the whole trip even sweeter. He was so grateful and loving. The conversations we have now are real conversations. The questions he asks me about my day and my life are real and sincere questions. When I pick him up he'll ask, "hey dad, how was your day at work?" He can sense when I'm feeling a certain way, if I'm down, he'll make sure I know how he feels about me. He almost always thanks me for little things we do, "dad thanks for taking me to shoot hoops, thanks for going swimming with me, thanks for going to church with me." One funny thing he does too is talk about which of The Beatles is his favorite. He always says, "dad, I'm George, you can be Paul or John." He never involves Ringo, he's already learned that Ringo was the worst Beatle. I was texting his mom the night we got back from California to make sure he was doing well after the trip, not too tired, behaving, etc. And we both couldn't help but getting emotional about how much he is growing up. I can't even talk about it without crying, and she's the same way. Both of us will just start crying the nights we don't have him at our respective houses and we talk on the phone with him. We're starting to get that feeling that our baby is becoming a little boy and it's so bitter sweet. I always hang up and cry and pull up some video I've taken of him and just sit back and laugh to get over the tears.
So...yah, that's pretty much where we're at. I swear I'll upload some of the video and pics that I've taken.
Some other lessons I learned from the trip include: Hand sanitizer is a freakin must. I about died having to take Maddox to use the bathroom in gas station bathrooms, I would hold him with one arm wrapped around his thighs the other around his chest, squeezing his chest and holding his arms to his side, so as to keep his hands from touching anything. Everytime he touches anything in a gas station bathroom I lose my shit. I freak out, that's seriously the only time that I ever yell at him. It's actually funny how he pees being held in the air, stiff as a board. So ya, hand sanitizer just in case he does touch anything and you don't think the trucker soap in the bathroom will do anything but make him smell like a cheap air freshener. We took Maddox to the Yankees/Angels game the last night we were in CA. It was so fun to see him and how he loved that game, and that beautiful park, such a great place to watch a game. But I learned that it's important to time your bathroom breaks around the time when the Angels (or the weaker batting lineup) are hitting. We almost missed A. Rod's mammoth bomb luckily we'd taken a break to left field so it actually landed right by us, had it happened one minute later or earlier we would've missed it. I was so concerned about him not peeing himself that I didn't think that through. Sun screen!!! I kept Maddox covered all weekend. He came back looking like his usual white self. I got killed by the sun and look like one of those old guys I see at the gym that think they look younger because they're reddish orange.
One last thing a friend once told me that your kids just get cooler to you as they get older, each new age brings with it new exciting things. I thought 2 was awesome but 3 is even better. When we pulled into our driveway after our trip to California, Maddox looked at me with his big "blue eyed beauties" as he calls them, and said "dad, thanks for going on the fun trip." That made the whole trip even sweeter. He was so grateful and loving. The conversations we have now are real conversations. The questions he asks me about my day and my life are real and sincere questions. When I pick him up he'll ask, "hey dad, how was your day at work?" He can sense when I'm feeling a certain way, if I'm down, he'll make sure I know how he feels about me. He almost always thanks me for little things we do, "dad thanks for taking me to shoot hoops, thanks for going swimming with me, thanks for going to church with me." One funny thing he does too is talk about which of The Beatles is his favorite. He always says, "dad, I'm George, you can be Paul or John." He never involves Ringo, he's already learned that Ringo was the worst Beatle. I was texting his mom the night we got back from California to make sure he was doing well after the trip, not too tired, behaving, etc. And we both couldn't help but getting emotional about how much he is growing up. I can't even talk about it without crying, and she's the same way. Both of us will just start crying the nights we don't have him at our respective houses and we talk on the phone with him. We're starting to get that feeling that our baby is becoming a little boy and it's so bitter sweet. I always hang up and cry and pull up some video I've taken of him and just sit back and laugh to get over the tears.
So...yah, that's pretty much where we're at. I swear I'll upload some of the video and pics that I've taken.
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