Merry Christmas!

I'm still not sure about the future of this sad and neglected little blog, but I did want to share the cutest little boy meeting Santa at school, and share a brag from his teacher. 

 

 

She wrote to his mom with a picture of him doing a color matching game, and reported to his mom that after she showed the kids the colors a couple of times, he matched every color without any mistakes, said all the color names, and also added the signs for the colors. Because his school also teaches sign language. 

 My daughter was remarking that he isn't speaking in sentences yet. His big sister was a ridiculously early talker and was speaking in sentences at around this age, 18 months, as was his mother. 

It dawned on me later that this little guy is learning three languages simultaneously: English, Spanish, and Sign, and doing a great job making himself understood in all three.  While we were at Epcot he signed "drink" and asked for "agua." He's sorting vocabulary in three languages, so yeah, give him a couple of months to make sentences. 

We were at Epcot for the festival at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. The weather was not our friend, and a lot of the Christmas Around the World presentations were rained out, including my favorite, Father Christmas. We did see La Befana, so all was not lost. And The Kid got her first ride on Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.  Henceforth called "Guardians" because all long descriptive Disney names are quickly given a shorthand name or an acronym by hardcore Disney folk. It's Guardians. Anyway...

When we do rides with the Little Prince along, we rider swap. The Kid and I rode Guardians first, and...the ride broke down while we were in one of the pre-show rooms. Guardians is an elaborate experience. If you haven't done Disney, there are often "pre-shows" that get you prepped for the ride experience, and it's timed so the enormous Disney crowd moves through the rooms to balance the crowd until it's time to actually get to the final show before getting on the ride.  At Disney World it gets you out of the Florida sun and entertains you while you move through the very, very long lines. Guardians does it very, very well, and the looong walk in for those who didn't score Lightning Lanes is really very cute and fun, though very, very long. We had Lightning Lanes, so we bypassed a lot of the really cute stuff that introduces those who haven't seen the movies to the basics of who's who and what the hell is going on. Usually, bypassing the regular line is a smooth and easy experience, unless there are technical issues. We had technical issues. We got stuck in a sort of holding pen in one of the pre-show rooms. And we waited. And we waited. 

If I'd been alone I'd have bailed out the side door. People did. But it was her first ride ever, so we waited and waited, for about 40 minutes. I told her I was earning Grandma of the Year for this shit, my feet hurt, but we persevered. 

FINALLY the ride re-started and we climbed on. The Kid did her "Ooh, I'm so scared" performative drama like she was staging a Tik-Tok in her imagination. Grandma and her sore feet pointed out that there were 8 year olds on the ride, it's considered a "family coaster" and you just have to be 40 inches tall to ride, so spare me your faux drama. She rides the roller coasters at Sea World, and Grandma is way too chicken to do those. She laughed. And we launched. WHEEE!!!

I'd been on it once before, shortly after it opened (because wait times for it are insane, and getting a Lightning Lane for is is like winning lotto) and I knew it was wild, but I didn't really remember it that well, because it'd been a couple of years and I think my eyes were shut for most of it. 😂

DAMN! It was very wild. I vowed to not just shut my eyes and pray to survive, so I kept my eyes open while screaming! It is visually stunning, while you're moving way too fast to really fully absorb it all. I love screaming on roller coasters, I swear it resets my nervous system and lowers my stress.  The Kid pronounced it the best roller coaster ever, and she's been on nearly everything in Orlando.

And, as my issue with coasters is 90% whether anything will hurt when I get off the ride, I can report that Guardians is fine for this old lady. It's wild, you do some sideways turns and I had to remind myself not to tense up or try to fight it, just relaxed into it. It's intense, but again, anyone 40 inches tall can ride.

My heart still belongs to Big Thunder Mountain RR and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, but I'd do Guardians again if I get the chance. It's very cool and nothing hurt afterward. 

Then we found The Prince and his parents, the Royal Stroller was passed, and his parents rode Guardians while we waited. They didn't have to deal with any issues and were on and off in a far more reasonable time, and that was our visit. We headed for the parking lot, said our goodbyes there (I was in a different lot) and we drove home in torrential rain. We got into our cars shortly before the skies really opened up. 

That was pretty much it for Christmas at Epcot this year. It didn't go as planned due to the weather, but it was fun anyway. And the small person was just born for Disney. He already loves Mickey Mouse and is now obsessed with the monorail, and he's just always up for adventure and in a good mood. The sounds of small children melting down were all around us, but he was always, "Okay, what's next?" He does pass out in the car on the way home, but damn, this kid can DO Disney.

For the first time in forever, I'm NOT hosting Christmas. My daughter and FSIL are doing it at their house. We all agreed that the Prince turned loose with Eddie at Grandma's Condo Full of No-Nos would not lead to a peaceful holiday meal, and I'm more than ready to pass the torch of holiday hosting to the next generation. I will show up with presents and a side dish, and I'm delighted to have reached this point where my daughter has an awesome partner I love to pieces and they have a home together. 

The Kid did express disappointment that they wouldn't be going to Grandma's this year, which was both touching and made me laugh.  We live a 15 minute walk apart. They have a nice house in a wooded neighborhood. I have a condo on the golf course. I was touched that she was feeling sentimental about "Going to Grandma's for Christmas" like I'd ever been one of those Hallmark movie grandma's house experiences. Apparently we did make a tradition while I wasn't paying attention. We'll figure out a compromise next year, when the very smart and very active small human will have matured just a bit. 

So that's how I'm wrapping up 2025. I'm not feeling entirely upbeat about 2026, but I do have a feeling that in general things are moving in the right direction. It's going to be a shitshow, but we'll get through it.  Happy Holidays!