Part 1 of this day can be viewed HERE.
After we got off the ride and collected the strollers, I checked the voice mail…it was Debbie, using her daughter's (Lexie's) phone (which doesn't come up as restricted). I immediately thought of how much trouble I could get Lexie into (calling during class, wait until she gets to dating age and call her one Saturday night, etc.). They're going to be at Studios today before heading back home. I called and told them where we are and wished them well in the chance that we didn't get to catch up before they left.
We contemplate heading over to ITTBAB when we see King Louie and Baloo. Since we recently got The Jungle Book on DVD, we had to get in line for the boys.
After the pics, the boys see the drums and have a blast there for a good 5-10 minutes.
We looked at the time and decide to scratch ITTBAB…besides, I was a little worried about Eric in that one. We start to make our way towards Camp Minnie-Mickey for FOTLK. We've got a little time, and it looks like the crowds are still pretty manageable, so we hop in to see Goofy in the Character Trails.
Apparently today is National Head-Squishing Day.
Eric is getting used to it, though…
Potty breaks, and then we're in to the theater for Lion King. I've been feeling a little bad about Aaron with this trip because a lot of emphasis thus far has been on Eric's "firsts". We enter the theater, and I strategically get us near the bottom benches, near the end in hopes of giving Aaron a potential chance of getting picked to be in the Parade at the end (small crowds, and the seats were available…there were only about 10 people sitting in the area when we got there). We do the hand jive, and I realize as I watch the boys that they have got my wife's sense of rhythm (poor boys).
The show starts, and the boys' eyes just get as huge as they can in amazement! We took Aaron on his trip, but he fell asleep about 5 minutes into the show. We discover that we're in the giraffe section (I can never remember which section is which without the big floats out there), and the Princess is our singer. She heads over to a girl to ask if she wants to help…nope. She then goes to a boy in front of us. He coils back in fear.
I look at Aaron and ask if he wants to help. He shakes his head "yes" as she makes her way towards us. She asks him, and he kind of shakes his head yes, but he was hesitant. "Are you sure? It's up to you." I ask him, giving him an 'out' in case he's too apprehensive. The CM was gauging him too to see if he would freak out. Something clicked in Aaron, and he started to smile and get up. He gets to be the center of attention (one of the few things he gets from me).
They head out to the center, and she starts telling him what they'll be doing.
As I'm watching this, I start thinking back to one of Mo's trip reports (yes, another online imaginary friend) when Mare's daughter Renee and Mo's daughter Rhiannon got picked to do the same thing. Sheri's got the camera working overtime, while Eric just smiles…he's still looking at the lights and everyone (I think he did point once and exclaimed "That's Aaron out there!") As they go through the other animals, Aaron is in that excited-yet-nervous stage:
…and he's on!
We get to the part where she asks him to make a giraffe sound…
In my mind, I'm hearing Rhiannon going AARRGGGHHHHH in her best pirate giraffe imitation!
Aaron just stands there, not sure how they sound. The Princess tells him what they make, and he lets out a great BAAAAA.
I'm almost in tears.
He turns around, and he's loving life now.
…and my eyes are starting to water up a bit.
She gives him a high-5:
…and brings him back to the seat. I'm able to make eye-contact with her and mouth a "THANK YOU" to her. She smiled and nodded her head in affirmation. I truly think a lot of these people really love doing what they do.
The tumble monkeys had the boys laughing out loud. My favorite part is the fire dancer (and the song they sing is perfect for that part). The duet on Can You Feel the Love Tonight was beautiful…they harmonized better than I've ever heard on that song. A monkey came flying by after a bit and patted Eric on the head.
Then came the parade. I recognized the zebra girl CM from past trips, and Sheri recognized the guy CM (guessing he was a lesser kudu maybe?). The girl grabs both Aaron and Eric, while the guy grabbed one other (I guess the kids in the giraffe area were generally shy or something). The boys grinned and didn't stop grinning for about 10 minutes after the show.
Aaron's singing at the top of his lungs here:
The show ends, and we sit around for a minute to let the crowds empty and to talk about the parade in the show. Yeah, this was a hit with the boys.
We head out and hit the potty again. Then we look at the character trails and find Donald. Gotta get in line for that one!
The obligatory Chris and Donald pic:
Continued here...
1 comment:
I just got all kinds of teary eyed reading that. What a magical day for all of you! =)
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