Mother's Day 2023

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there!

Eliot and I are having a fairly lowkey day.  Originally, we were supposed to be meeting up with my family today, but our plans changed about a week ago.  Mom and Dad were down in Portland for a doctor's appointment that my Mom had last Monday.  So on Sunday, she and Dad came out to our house for a few hours to get an idea of some of the home projects that we needed help with.  

While they were here, Mom decided that it didn't make sense to meet up this weekend since they just saw us.  My Dad also has to have cataract surgery tomorrow, so she didn't want him to have to travel too far before that.  Plus, my brother Jeremy is home with them to help Dad after his appointment... so she still gets to spend time with one of her kids on Mother's Day!  (I'm sure they'll be watching the Celtics this afternoon!)

Instead, Eliot and I decided to catch a Portland Sea Dogs game!  It's been a few weeks since our first one of the season, and I'm sure that it will be much warmer today at 64°- and it's also an afternoon game so the sun will be out!

After the game is over, Eliot and I are going to meet up with Joan, one of my local blog followers.  She has a few things that she graciously wanted to give me so we're going to meet up at the Portland Mall.  I'm so excited to see her in person again.  

Then, Eliot and I have a few errands to run while we're in town, so we'll probably go out to dinner and do a little bit of shopping before heading home!

Our Mother's Day isn't anything too crazy, but I'm sure it will be a nice day!

I hope that all of you Moms... including the Dog Moms, Cat Moms, Plant Moms, Trying to be a Moms, Grieving Moms, and people missing your Moms, have a wonderful day filled with love- even if it's a rough one.  (It's our first Mother's Day without Nana so I'm sure it's going to be a little rough.)  I'm sending all of you hugs and my love.  °o°

Mom's Birthday

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you... 

Today is my Mom's Birthday!  I thought I'd pop in here for a minute to celebrate.  We don't have any big plans for today.  Eliot and Jeremy are both working, and since Mom and Dad just came off of tax season two days ago, they are pretty much in rest and recovery mode.  I'm sure they will do something to celebrate, but it probably won't be anything too major since they're both still exhausted.

I called Mom a little bit ago, and we talked for about an hour.  She said she was pretty much content staying in her pajamas and hanging out at the house... but they might go into town for dinner later on and to get out of the house for a little bit.

Plus, Jeremy Eliot and I are supposed to see them in a couple of weeks, and again over Mother's Day weekend, so I'm sure we'll get a chance to celebrate Mom then.

Happy Birthday Mom!  I hope you have a great day!  °o°

Nana's First Birthday in Heaven

Today is a bittersweet day... it's Nana's birthday and the first one that we'll ever have to celebrate without her here with us.  But I wanted to make today as positive as I could.  

I had a huge Throwback Thursday post that I wanted to write about so many of the memories we have of Nana, but I've decided to wait to post it.  It's not done, and it's not something that I want to rush.  So you'll see it someday... but today isn't that day.

Instead, I'm honestly just trying to spend this day the best way I can... getting through it.  Eliot and I will be on our way down to Boston later today.  Then, we'll have a few days away from the house and the businesses.  We have got a lot of stuff planned to keep me busy and my mind elsewhere- and I'm incredibly grateful for that.

Happy First Birthday in Heaven Nana.  We miss you terribly, but I'm happy that you're with Papa again.  Have a slice of peanut butter frosted chocolate cake for me.  °o°

Happy 90th Birthday Papa

Well, here we are... on a day that used to bring me such love and light.  I haven't been looking forward to it this year.  Not one bit.  Not at all actually... 

Today would have been my Papa's 90th birthday.

Today also marks the exact date that Nana's been gone for two months... 

So no, today isn't really something that I've been looking forward to.  It's been a dark mark on the calendar that we have slowly been marching towards.  But it's here now...

Man, this week has really sucked.  I keep trying to find the bright side of things, but my optimism is kind of failing me.  I just can't get out of the funk this week.  I keep trying to tell myself that at least Nana and Papa are together again.  But all that makes me think is that I wish they were together here with us.  Then I get sad, angry, and depressed... 

Then the cycle begins all over again.

Eliot and I still haven't seen my parents since Christmas.  So much has happened and we haven't even gotten that over with.  We've seen Eliot's family who lives in California twice in the time since we saw Mom and Dad.  Jeremy has been home twice already... so he's already gotten the whole seeing our parents and 'going home to the house without Nana in it anymore' thing over with... twice.  I feel like I'm sitting outside of this secret society just waiting for the moment when we'll have our time.

The moment when this is all real and not some horrible bad dream.  The moment when my heart is completely shattered into a million little pieces.

Yeah... super looking forward to that.  Not.

Grief hits everyone differently, and I know that I'm not immune.  For the most part, I have basically tried to repress any feelings that I've had.  It's probably not healthy, but I really don't know what else to do.  I can't change the fact that Nana isn't here with us anymore.  I'm comforted knowing she was almost 90 and that she lived a wonderful life.  I also feel proud that we did so much with her after Papa died.  She could have given up but instead she went to Walt Disney World again, twice.  We took her on not one, but two Disney Cruises.  We also drove with her to Virginia and back.

I'm ok with the fact that my 90 year old grandmother lived her life to the fullest and that it was her time to go.  But I'm struggling with other things that I probably shouldn't be.  

I'm definitely taking the Timo Meier trade harder than I should be.  And I know that it's misplaced grief, or whatever the fancy term for it is.  Eliot told me the other day that I've cried more about Timo being traded than I did about Nana dying... and that made me cry even more.  Because even though the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other, somehow, they're completely intertwined in my pile of grief.  Losing Timo from the Sharks isn't the end of the world... but when I was already feeling fragile to begin with, it was devastating.  And I can't seem to untangle it.

I'm trying to be kind to myself.  I cognitively know that grief is a rollercoaster that you just have to buckle up for.  It hits in waves that you won't see coming.

And the only small solace that I can find in this complete pile of hell, is that today used to be a day filled with joy.  My Nana and Papa were everything to me.  And although they are gone now, I have so many wonderful memories with them that I cherish.

Happy 90th Birthday Papa.  I hope you and Nana are celebrating together with lots of playful bickering, laughter and chocolate cake.  We miss you both terribly and wish you were here.  But I'm glad that you're at least together.  I love you.  °o°

Flying Away to San Jose

We're on to the next adventure!  This trip totally snuck right up on us.  I feel like we've been talking about going back out to San Jose forever... and now that day is here!

This afternoon, Eliot and I will make the trek down to Boston and Logan International Airport via bus from Portland.  We're supposed to be having some pretty major winter weather, but we think our bus ride will be during the lull between the two storms hitting southern Maine.  Then, we're actually meeting up with Elissa at the airport, since she's been out here for the week visiting her friend in Massachusetts.  

The three of us are sitting together in a row on our JetBlue flight.  Thankfully, it's a direct flight from Boston to San Francisco so we don't have any layovers.  We don't arrive until about 4:00 AM our time, but we'll probably get some sleep on the plane.

I'm actually hoping to get a bit of catching up done here on my blog.  Eliot told me that JetBlue sent him an email the other day saying that our flight had free wifi, so I guess we'll see!  If I can plug my laptop in, and get on the inter-webs... I might be able to get caught up on some stuff.  We've been so busy preparing for our trip this week that I haven't been able to finish my posts from this Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  And I also have to finish a few that I planned on writing for this weekend!

Anyways... Eliot and I have still got a bit of stuff that has to get done before we need to leave, so I should go attend to that.  But I wanted to pop by and check in here first!  I'll try to post a few pictures on social media from our travels.  We have got lots of San Jose Sharks related fun planned for the weekend!  Go Sharks!!!  °o°

Farewell to My Fairy Godmother

As I mentioned yesterday, I've really needed a break from everything.  What I didn't tell you, was one of the reasons the past few weeks have been so awful.  I told you that Nana was sick when I wrote about Christmas, but what I didn't tell you was how bad it was.  When we left Trenton after Christmas, Jeremy, Eliot and I were all pretty certain that was the last time we'd see Nana.  And it was breaking my heart.

Self-preservation is a funny thing; the human brain will close off memories or emotions when we’re unable to process them.  I’ve avoided posting anything and have been 100% focused on the tasks in front of me… finishing my 10K, taking a much needed break, and trying to enjoy our two week vacation at Walt Disney World.  The "Disney Bubble” was my safe haven, but you can’t run from the real world forever.  Now that Eliot and I have been home for a couple of days, I've decided that it’s time to take the box off of the shelf and unpack some raw emotion. 

Two weeks ago, on January 4th, 2023, my Fairy Godmother completed her mission here on Earth… and was promoted with angel wings.  

As you've probably gathered from my posts, my Nana was everything to me.  Leaving Maine to go down to Florida was probably one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done in my life.  Eliot and I knew there was a high possibility that we’d receive the news while we were on our trip, but I knew that Nana would want us to go.  And looking back at how everything unfolded, I think this is exactly what she wanted.

Walt Disney World has always been magic to me, and I’ve shared so many wonderful memories with her and Papa there.  In fact, the last memories I have with Papa were during our trip for marathon weekend of 2015.  It seems fitting that we’d lose her during marathon weekend years later.  Nana and Papa both loved Walt Disney World so much, and they knew how special it is to me.

I think Nana also knew how devastated I'd be when we finally lost her.  I have dreaded this day for 38 years.  She’s been a second mother to me, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, my biggest cheerleader, and so special to me that the only way I’ve found to describe her was my Fairy Godmother.

Her final gift to me was leaving us when she knew that I’d be ok.  Somehow, the magic and the memories from so many of our Disney trips would envelop me and cocoon me through those initial days of grief.  Now that we’re home, I feel a bit unprotected as the waves crash over me.  But I know that I’ll be ok… because now I’ll always have a Fairy Godmother with angel wings looking over me.  °o°

#tbt Our Wedding Reception in Maine

Today we're doing another special edition of Throwback Thursday, because exactly 10 years ago today... Eliot and I had our Wedding Reception in Maine!!!

As soon we decided that we were definitely having our wedding at Disney, we knew we wanted to have at home receptions to celebrate with everyone who wasn't able to travel down to Florida for the actual wedding.  Unfortunately, our California reception never took off the ground, but my parents and I were determined to have one in Maine.

You probably think that we're crazy for trying to plan a destination wedding and then a reception a month later... but that was just par for the course.  Over the summer of 2011, we went to scope out a potential location for our Maine location during one of Eliot's and my trips home to visit my parents in Trenton.  Thankfully, it was perfect and literally a five minute drive from their house.

A few days before the event, Eliot and I traveled the 5.5 hours from our apartment in Woburn, MA up to Trenton for our reception.  We were renting it for Saturday, October 20th, but they allowed us to go decorate the hall the day prior. 

We held our reception at a local campground's event center and it was very informal and more for fun.  We had a video of our wedding that we showed to our guests before we made our "grand entrance".  Eliot and I both dressed up for it.  (He wore a lime shirt, a pink tie and a black suit to match our wedding colors instead of renting a suit again.)  I wore my wedding gown again so my Grammie could see me in it.  

Katie D, Katie N and Kaitlin wore their bridesmaid dresses and BJ and Jeremy dressed up as well.  It was as close the real thing as we could make it feel.

We had Katie D and BJ make maid of honor and best man toasts.

BJ didn't give a toast at our wedding, so it was special to have him make one here.

Katie gave another wonderful toast at our Maine reception.

We also had a cake.  The girls really bailed me out on that.  They all arrived at Mom and Dad's house right about the same time I was having a breakdown.  Mom and I cooked the cake ourselves and I don't think I let it cool off long enough before I tried to ice it.  It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it worked and tasted good.

My cousin Luke agreed to be our DJ and unofficial "host" of the afternoon, so I gave him my laptop with a bunch of pre-selected songs in a folder that we also had played at our wedding reception in Disney.  Eliot and I recreated our first dance to "Promise".

Then, we also had another father/daughter dance.

Finally, Eliot and my Mom also did a mother-in-law and son-in-law dance.

We brought our wedding guest book for people to sign.

I also had some some fake leaves and a Vinylmation to sign.

We had copies of our invitations, wedding programs, wedding photos and a few other things on display for everyone to look at when they first entered the venue.

I put my Build a Bear plush in the windows along with a few other decorations.

Emery was quite taken with the display, especially the photos.  He pulled me over there and kept pointing me out in all of the photos.  It was adorable!

The best part of the Maine Wedding Reception event was having so many people who weren't able to make it to our Disney Wedding in Florida be there.

I was especially grateful to have my Grammie there.

We also made sure to take a photo with me wearing my wedding gown along with Mom, Grammie and Nana at my request.  (This photo is very special to me.)

I'm also really glad that Eliot and I took a photo with us and all of my grandparents... especially since 10 years later, Papa and Grammie are no longer with us.

Eliot's and my Maine Wedding Reception was a simple, yet very special event.  I'm so glad that we had one, even when planning for it and our wedding was a bit dicey at times.  The only regret I have is that we didn't hire a professional photographer for the event.  These photos are so precious to me and it would have been wonderful to have more of them.  However, I'm so grateful for what we did have.  It was a wonderful day celebrating Eliot's and my wedding that was filled with friends, family and love.  °o°

On Our Way to the Sharks and SJ

Ahh!!!  I'm so excited!  30 minutes from now, Eliot and I will be boarding our bus and officially be on our way to the Sharks and San Jose!!!

It's going to be a really quick trip.  We're literally traveling all day today.  Our bus from Portland to Logan International Airport is from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM.  Then, our flight from Boston to Denver is from 3:05 to 5:45 Denver time.  We leave Denver at 9:25 and arrive in San Jose at 10:55 San Jose time.  So we're basically traveling from 10:30 AM to about 2:00 AM Eastern time.  It's a super long day... but I know it will be worth it!

Eliot and I usually sleep on our flights since we generally fly first thing in the morning or at night.  But both of our travel days this time are during the daylight hours.  Thus, I've made sure to pack stuff to do on the plane and during our layover.  We have battery backups, but I also made sure to bring a few books with me.  I'm hoping that will make the time go by faster since getting into a good book takes me somewhere else.

We're only in San Jose Friday and Saturday.  The Sharks hockey games are both at night, so we'll be doing something during the day.  Right now, I'm not sure what our plans are, but I'm sure we will find something fun to do!  I think Elissa has to work during the day, but Eliot's Mom and Dad should be able to do something with us if they don't have meetings for work.  Nori's birthday is actually tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll do something special for that... maybe lunch or dinner before the game?

Eliot and I are both really looking forward to the games.  I've never been to a Home Opener so I'm excited to see that.  In the past, the Sharks have done a big pre-game presentation where they introduce all of the players on the team, so that will be cool to experience in person.  We're excited to see Brent Burns play, even if it's for the other team.  They are doing giveaways to all of the fans during each of our games, so we'll be coming home with a few souvenirs.  Finally, we're both pretty excited to see what's available in the Sharks Pro Shop and the pop-up shops at the Shark Tank!

Unfortunately, a few hours after the second game ends, we'll be making our way to the airport for our trip home.  Eliot and I would have loved to stay and visit with his family longer, but he's got limited vacation time.  But the good news is that we'll be seeing them for about a week during our WDW Marathon Weekend trip in January!

Our trip back will be another long day of travel, although this one won't be quite as long.  Our flight leaves San Francisco at 7:00 AM and we arrive back in Boston at 3:40 PM.  Thankfully, this one is a direct flight that's only about 5.5 hours.  Once we land in Boston, we'll take another bus back up to Portland... probably the 4:30 bus that'll get us in around 6:45.  By the time we get home, it'll be around 7:30 and we'll probably crash.

I'm sure this crazy, flying trip will be 100% worth it though!  We get to visit Eliot's family for a few days and we'll get to see the Sharks play in person at the Tank!  I'll be back to check in sometime once we're home to let you know how it went!  Go Sharks!!! °o°

Disneyland September 2022 Bucket List Results

My family went to Disneyland... and I'm still pinching myself.  Going to Disneyland was something that I never truly thought I'd ever experience with my parents.  I remember being so excited to show Jeremy everything back in December of 2017.  I figured that was as good as it was gonna get.  Mom would never fly out to California... right?

Wrong.  Ever since I found out that we all were going... I could barely contain my sheer excitement.  I was incredibly excited for this trip... which was probably pretty obvious since I couldn't stop talking about it here on my blog.  I also created an insanely long Disneyland Bucket List that I had to separate into categories since it was so long.  (In my defense, it also got extra long due to the Halloween season.)

Today, I wanted to see how we did with that bucket list.  I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but the most important part of this trip was that Mom and Dad enjoyed it... which I can say with 100% certainty that they did.  Plus, none of us were prepared for the onslaught of a rouge California heat wave so we did pretty good considering the circumstances!  So let's dive into these results!

DISNEYLAND FOOD

1.) Tigger Tail

I didn't eat one of these during our trip.  But I did bring one home to enjoy!!!

2.) Dole Whip

This didn't sound appealing to me the entire trip... I was too hot and it was too sweet.

3.) Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

I had one of these the first day we were at Disneyland and it was perfection!

4.) Mickey Mouse Cake Pop

I'm a little bummed out that I forgot about my cake pop.  I'll get one next time!

5.) Forky Cake Pop

We didn't even make it to Pixar Pier this trip... more about that later.

6.) Churros

I didn't have my own churro, but Eliot made sure I had a few bites from all of his!

7.) Alien Macrons

Let's be real... this is truly the only thing I had to eat at Disneyland.  So delicious and so cute!!!  He was even dressed up as a Vampire for Halloween!

8.) Mint Julep and Mickey Beignets

We were near the Mint Julep Bar a few times but I was never hungry when we were.

9.) Pixar Pier Parfait

Again, we didn't go to Pixar Pier this time.

10.) Have Ice Cream in Souvenir Bowl (Mickey Sink, Minnie Sink, or Ear Hat)

This also did not sound appetizing to me... I really just want the darn dishes!

11.) Bring Home Candy Apples

I did have Eliot buy two Minnie Mouse Witch candy apples to bring home!  Yum!

12.) Bring Mickey Sourdough Bread Home

We never made it back to California Adventure to grab one of these.

DISNEYLAND HALLOWEEN FOOD

13.) Halloween Cake (French Market Restaurant)

It looked so good in the photos... but we weren't able to get one.  I probably wouldn't have wanted to get it anyways since I wasn't eating much this trip.

14.) Blood Orange Slush (Galactic Grill)

Eliot and I were going to split one of these but we never got one.

15.) Pumpkin-Spiced Mickey Shaped Beignets (Mint Julep Bar)

This sounds like fall and I'm sure they are wonderful.

16.) Pumpkin Spice Churro (Tomorrowland Churro Cart, Buena Vista Cart)

I was definitely intrigued by this concept.

17.) Fruity Sugar Churro (Cozy Cone)

I'm sure Eliot would have loved this sweet treat!

18.) Hard Apple Float (Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream)

Not gonna lie... I'm planning to make one of these for myself at home.

19.) Blue Rum Cocktail (Hollywood Lounge)

This looked delicious... but the last thing I needed was alcohol when I was already extremely dehydrated from how hot it was in that heatwave.

20.) Jack-Jack Shortbread Cookie (Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums)

Didn't happen, but Eliot would have loved these!

21.) Vampire Mickey Shaped Sourdough Bread (Mortimer’s Market)

I'm pretty bummed that I never even saw what this looked like.  Boo hiss.

22.) Minnie Witch Shake (Schmoozies!)

I saw a girl with one of these and it was really cute!

SHOPPING IN DOWNTOWN DISNEY

23.) Dress Shop

I'm a little bummed I didn't get here, but one of the girls in my Facebook group posted a photo and they didn't have much there anyways.

24.) Wonderground

I'm very bummed we didn't get here... but my wallet is incredibly relieved.

25.) Disney Home Store

Again, me sad.  Wallet very happy.

26.) World of Disney

I would have loved to go here too... but we just didn't have time with everything else.

27.) The Lego Store

Eliot, Jeremy and I did make it to the Lego Store.  The full Downtown Disney story is that we went one night... but everything closed early so we literally were only able to go to this one store before everything shut down.  (No exaggeration... we were there for so little time that the parking attendant literally just let us through for free.)

28.) Marceline’s Confectionary

Also didn't get here... but still got my treats!

SHOPPING IN CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

29.) Knick’s Knacks (Pixar Store)

Ok... I'll go into the Pixar Pier stuff more now.  Basically, it was so darn hot while we were in California (almost 100°) that none of us had any desire to walk the entire pier area.  The only two rides over there we were going to go on were Toy Story (which Mom didn't want to go on it anyways) and the Incredicoaster- which only Eliot wanted to go on.  Since Eliot and I had already done those rides in March, we decided it was too hot out and not worth it.  But we did get to enjoy the view of the pier though!

30.) Off the Page (The Art Store)

My parents both got a big kick out of this store.  Mom claims that if she'd known about Disney artwork more when they built their house, they would have gotten some.  I told her Eliot and I have quite a bit... she'll be really surprised once we get it all hung up!

31.) Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff

No Pixar Pier, no Bing Bong's Sweet Stuff, no Forky cake pop.

32.) Elias and Company

We did check this store out quite a bit.  Plus, the air conditioning was fabulous!

SHOPPING IN DISNEYLAND

33.) Emporium

I took everyone to the Emporium on our first day at Disneyland.  The air conditioning was nice and it was fairly quiet since it was earlier in the day.  Plus, it was the perfect place to chill while Eliot got his disability access pass all set up at City Hall.

34.) Disneyana (The Art Store)

Eliot and I love this store so we made sure to pop in a few times!

35.) Plaza Point (Christmas Store)

I also took Mom, Dad and Jeremy over to the clothing section of this store.  I didn't make it into the home and Christmas sections, but they went there our last day so Mom could get her Christmas ornament.  (I was buying my jewelry across the street.)

PHOTOS

36.) Photos with the Castle

We were able to take a few photos with the castle!

37.) Photos of the Castle

I actually didn't take many this trip, but Eliot got some great nighttime photos!

38.) Family Photos in Front of the Castle

A family photo was a must-do and this mission was achieved!  We also got photos with my family on our last day there.  (But I haven't downloaded them from Photopass yet!)

39.) Family Photos in California Adventure

We didn't take any PhotoPass photos, but a magical cast member offered to take a photo of us after we watched World of Color.  (More on that story below...)

40.) Donkeys and Little Man of Disneyland’s House

We didn't get to swing by our little friend's house this trip.  But I waved to him!

41.) Photos of HEH Products

We did bring a few ears, but it was too hot and I didn't want to bother with photos.

42.) Photos with Characters

The only character we got a photo with during this trip was Stitch while we were at the Disney Rewards Visa booth in California Adventure, but it counts!  Honestly, it was so hot that the characters weren't out like they usually are.

LANDS AND ATTRACTIONS

43.) Visit Animation Academy

This is truly the only thing that I'm sad we didn't get to do.  It would have been air conditioned and it's my favorite place to sit back and relax while visiting the California Adventure park.  I'm sure my Mom would have loved it too.

44.) Visit Avengers Campus

Jeremy really enjoyed this.  We weren't in the land very long, but I know he got a kick out of seeing everything.  We didn't go into the land at night and it's really cool lit up... so I guess we'll just have to go back again sometime!

45.) Visit Star Wars Land

Dad and Jeremy also really enjoyed this part of our trip!

46.) Rise of the Resistance

I think both Dad and Jeremy were stunned at this ride.  It's so immersive.  They were both pretty speechless after Eliot and I took them on it!

47.) Go on the Disney Railroad

We took the railroad a few times.  I love the waterfalls so much!

48.) Go on my Favorite Attractions (Pirates, HM, Small World)

These were what I was looking forward to the most.  I love these attractions so much and I was so excited for Mom and Dad to see the Disneyland versions!  They both enjoyed the longer experience of Pirates.  Mom kept talking about what a good job they did with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay of the Haunted Mansion.  And I know they both enjoyed It's A Small World and all of the Disney character dolls!

49.) Ride the Monorail

We were not able to ride the monorail this trip because they barely ran it.  If it's over a certain temperature, they don't run the monorail since it surprisingly does not have air conditioning on it.  We did see it pass by a few times at night, but during the day they weren't running them at all... and I don't think they even had guests on them at night since it was still far too hot out to be boxed up inside of them.

GO ON RIDES THAT I CAN’T AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

50.) Indiana Jones

We were planning to get back to this ride, but it didn't end up happening.

51.) Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

We did ride Mr. Toad, but it made Mom a bit dizzy so we skipped the other dark rides.

52.) Snow White’s Enchanted Wish

See above.

53.) Pinocchio’s Daring Journey

And see above again.

54.) Storybook Land Canal Boats

This is my favorite ride at Disneyland, but after all of the walking we did, I was afraid that I'd have problems getting in and out of the boat.  So we skipped it this trip...

55.) Casey Jr. Circus Train

However, we were able to show Mom and Dad all of the little castles, buildings, villages and the canal boats from the Casey Jr. Circus Train!  I pointed a bunch of stuff out as we rode around and I know that my Mom really got a kick out of it!

56.) Alice in Wonderland

Mom skipped this ride, but Eliot, Jeremy, me, Dad and Eliot's mom Nori all went on it one night.  Naturally, it broke down so Mom was left outside waiting for us to come back out.  Thankfully, they "rescued" us from the ride vehicle pretty quickly because those darn things are really tight and uncomfortable on my bad knee!

57.) Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

I love this ride.  Eliot and I ended up going on it by ourselves since everyone else was pretty Disney-ed out at that point this particular day.  I'm glad we went on it though!

58.) Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

We weren't able to do the walk through this trip, but after all of the walking we did, it's probably a good thing.  Stairs wouldn't have been my friend!

59.) Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

We went into the entrance of this, but we missed the show.  (I still don't think I've ever actually seen the show with Lincoln before!)

60.) Haunted Mansion Holiday

This is a favorite of mine.  Eliot and I aren't huge Nightmare Before Christmas fans, but the overlay they do on the mansion every year is spectacular.  The crew really outdoes themselves every year.  Plus, I'm always amazed at the real gingerbread house that the bakery team designs, bakes and constructs each year!!!  It's a must see!

61.) Radiator Springs Racers

Mom skipped this attraction, but the rest of us went on it.  Dad really enjoyed it, even though I don't know if he's seen the movie Cars before.

62.) Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!

We tried to go on this ride, but it broke down just as we were getting ready to enter the building while in the queue.  We planned to go back but it never worked out.

63.) Grizzly River Run

I didn't go on this, but Eliot enjoyed himself on it.  As hot as it was, I didn't have a great experience with Splash Mountain a few days prior... so I decided to skip this one.

64.) Spiderman Web Slingers

Eliot and I took Dad and Jeremy on this and they both enjoyed it!

EXPERIENCES

65.) Hug Mickey

As referenced above, the characters weren't out that much this trip since it was hot.

66.) Hug Minnie

We weren't able to see them much... barely at all actually.

67.) See World of Color

This was really cool.  We were slated to see the second showing of World of Color on Wednesday night when we went to California Adventure.  We figured we'd kill some time during the first show by hanging out at the pizza place we go to on the end of Pixar Pier.  While walking through the crowd trying to find a place to watch the first show, a cast member came up to me, asked how many were in my party and if we were all together.  Eliot was nearby asking about wheelchair seating for the second show, but I grabbed him.  The sweet cast member named Lori (a VIP tour guide in plaid) told me she wanted to bring us into her VIP seating area.  (Apparently, people weren't showing up for their VIP tours and they had extra seating there.)  It worked out perfectly.  Not only did we get to watch the first show, but it was all the way in the back, raised above so you could pretty much see everything, and they had actual benches for us to sit on!  It was a very magical experience and I'm so grateful.

68.) See Fantasmic

For Fantasmic, we were able to get into the handicap viewing area.  It was off to the side and we couldn't see Sorcerer Mickey very well, but other than that, we had pretty great seats and we weren't fighting with everyone else to get a good view!  Mom and Dad really enjoyed all of the different elements of the Disneyland version... especially the Pirates of the Caribbean scene with the giant pirate ship!

69.) See Mickey’s March Along

We saw the March Along when the band passed by us on our first day at Disneyland... but since it was so hot out, the characters were not marching with the band like they usually do.  I assume that the Dapper Dans and characters all joined the marching band at the Train Station, but we didn't get to see that part.

70.) See Encanto Projection Show on It’s a Small World

I had heard a rumor online that they stopped doing this right before our trip, so we didn't make it a priority to go see.  Of course, they started playing "We Don't Talk About Bruno" one night when we were already in line to get on the train and it would have been nearly impossible to run down the hill in time to catch it.  Argh!

71.) See Tale of the Lion King

I think they cancelled some of these shows due to the heat.  Eliot and I were checking the app and the show was scheduled to happen on days when we were at Disneyland, then the showtimes kept disappearing.  We never did get to see it, but there's always next time... I'm still bitter about them ending Mickey and the Magical Map anyways.

72.) Ride in Front of Monorail? (Not sure if even possible with COVID.)

As noted above, they barely even used the monorail since it was so hot out.

DISNEYLAND HALLOWEEN EXPERIENCES

73.) Get Donald Candy Corn Sipper

This still hasn't actually come out yet... so we weren't able to get it this trip.

74.) Get Mickey Mummy Premium Popcorn Bucket

We did see quite a few Mummy Popcorn buckets, but we didn't get one since we weren't sure if we'd even have room in our luggage for it!

75.) See the Halloween Decorations

We did enjoy all of the decorations at Disneyland and California Adventure!

76.) See the Halloween Fireworks

We saw the Halloween fireworks Saturday night at Disneyland.  They used most of the same music as Hallowishes (if not the exact soundtrack) so that was really nice.

77.) Photograph with the Mickey Pumpkin

The line to do this was always long, but I waited in it one night.  Eliot ended up coming over to join me and I got photos with the pumpkin and of the pumpkin!

78.) Photograph Halloween Decorations

I also took a few photos of the decorations!

79.) Photograph Haunted Mansion Holiday Decor

I had Eliot take photos outside and inside when our Doombuggy stopped a few times!

80.) Main Street Pumpkin Festival

I enjoyed seeing all of the Jack O'Lanterns lit up at nighttime!

81.) See Characters in Halloween Attire

We barely saw any of the characters at all this trip.... but Eliot did see Mickey and we saw Chip and Dale in their Halloween costumes.  I wanted to see them all though.

82.) Do Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit in Downtown Disney

We weren't able to do the Pumpkin Pursuit, but Eliot and I did purchase the Halloween buckets you get as prizes.  They're the perfect size for the donkeys so we might have to have his Mom go back to get a few more!  They need trick or treat buckets!

This list of 82 things was the most insane bucket list that I've ever created.  We didn't get a good portion of it done...but I can't really be mad about it.  I don't like to eat much when I'm hot, and I barely ate during most of the trip since it was so darn hot out.

I feel like we did get to experience Halloween in the parks.  And Eliot and I did a lot of the normal "Disneyland Resort" stuff back in March.  Mom, Dad and Jeremy enjoyed everything and loved getting to see Disneyland and all of the differences, and at the end of the day, that's all that really mattered to me.

Thank you Disneyland for a lot of wonderful memories!  Now that we have visited you together as a family once, I have a newfound hope that we'll be back someday!!!  °o°