The Grown Ups Meltdown on Day 4

Day 4:

I can not believe Heather waited this long, but today was Magic Kingdom day.  I woke up this morning feeling much worse.  Then, I realized we came equipped with a pretty strong antibiotic that we are giving Ethan. I took one this morning, and I am feeling better. Far from healthy, but better nonetheless.  The day started with a little hardship. I did not handle the start of the day well.  We walk inside the Magic Kingdom and head down Main Street. (first time you can see the castle) Most families get to experience joy and excitement during this moment. We were once again greeted with wet pants and a constant hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry…..   It was a hard moment for me. Perhaps, it was the sickness that caused me to lose it, or maybe it was the cumulative 3-day cycle of constant wet pants and hunger obsession, but I had a minor meltdown.  I just wanted this “normal” happy moment.  After my breakdown, we actually ended up having a pretty good day. Heather and I planned this day perfectly. We hit the entire park before 3. Our lunch plan worked to perfection. One of the major stressors of the trip centers on meal times. They have to prepare Ethan’s meals specially, so that means it takes a lot longer. (Ethan is not good at waiting particularly with food) Today, we ate lunch early (10:30), and Heather went to talk to the allergy chef while I took the boys on the teacups. Timing was perfect.  It really helped minimize the pain of ordering meals.  Shortly after lunch, Heather had her breakdown. I think her breakdown was triggered by mine earlier in the day.  Mom and Gavin went to Small World to regroup. While they were gone, I figured out a strategy to deal with the wet pants and the hunger obsession. The tough part about the constant wet pants was the hopelessness. We couldn’t figure out what to do to help stop it.  It’s not going to stop the behavior.  At least we have a plan, and maybe it will mitigate it some. We rallied after that and had a pretty good rest of the day.  We took the boys on Splash Mountain. Ethan loved it. Gavin hated it. He started crying before we even started down the big hill.  Like all good parents, we bribed Gavin with a new toy to go on it again!  Turns out though, it was a good parenting move. Gavin actually really liked it the second time around. We then went to Gavin’s first real roller coaster, Big Thunder Mountain.  This time, Ethan hated it and Gavin loved it.  We all shared some pineapple treats before leaving the park before 5. It was very nice to leave the park before we all got tired and cranky again. We just had a quite night tonight.  Heather and I are off to prep for our 2^nd day at Hollywood Studios.  Then, off to bed. (once we fold the laundry of course)

Animal Kingdom

Day 3:

We spent the day at Animal Kingdom. Heather and I took the time to plan last night, so we knew when and what we were doing with little vamping in between. It really helped us throughout the course of the day make sure we did everything everyone wanted to do, and know exactly which restaurants could accommodate Ethan’s special dietary needs.  Looking passed the obsessive hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry…… or the got to go potty, got to go potty, got to go potty….. the constant wet pants(doing laundry again tonight), and the fact that I woke up sick this morning,  I’d say it was an overall good day. Not great, but good.  We had some good times and pretty much knocked out the entire park by 5:00.  Both boys LOVED the safari. Gavin played little tour guide as we went along the “savannah”.  We were able to hit all the main characters today who were decked out in their Christmas gear.  Some were better than others, and we did have to take a potty break in between each of them.  Gavin and I got soaked on Kali River Rapids. I laughed while Gavin turned into the hulk.  “I do NOT wanna ride this again”! He said with a snarl. As payback on the boys, we took them on Dinosaur and they were both super scared.  Ethan and I even went on Expedition Everest where we sat in the very first row. It was awesome! I couldn’t tell if Ethan liked it. He had his head buried into my chest most of the time, but seemed to be happy when we got off, so I’m thinking he liked it. Although, maybe he was just happy to be off and safe on the ground.  We endured some mean people while waiting in line for the parade. We waited for 30 minutes when a Mom tried to plop he kids down in the 1 square foot area between the line and our stroller where the boys were sitting.  We were not about to let that happen. As they walked away, I heard the mom say, “lets just get outta here. This guy has no concept of decency. “ Of course, being a sensitive guy, I let that get to me, but was able to brush it off after Ethan and I hit Everest.  We got back to the hotel by 6:00 and the boys fell asleep by 9:00. Heather and I are about to prep for the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.  Here’s hoping that I wake up and magically no longer have a cold and stuffed sinuses!!