Disney World in Four Simple Steps

I'm a few days out of our last day at Disney World, and I think I have some clarity (and I've caught my breath...) around what worked.  Really, what worked highlighted what didn't - so, I'll stick with the positives!

I'll put the honesty up front (since, you know, I usually write in half-truths, ha!): Disney World with two tiny humans (one age 4, one age 1) is EXHAUSTING.  It's also exhilarating, exciting, and highly enjoyable!

Here we go with the simple steps (though, let's pause to acknowledge that when dealing with children, nothing is every actually simple).

1. Either don't plan or have a flexible plan. I'm a BIG planner, especially when it comes to getting the most out of a vacation. I had to admit with this trip, though, that my GO GO GO mentality wouldn't work. I might want to ride Haunted Mansion and then realize before getting in line that my four-year-old would probably be terrified, and I didn't have the energy to talk him down from his terror (for the record, he was scared to drive a car on his own at LegoLand...so my worry about his terror was, shall we say, justified).  If I felt too committed to my plan, and it fell apart, well, I'd likely fall apart. NOT COOL. Must remember that I am the adult... So, I didn't have a plan.  And it was glorious.  Have a Fast Pass for Buzz Lightyear at 2, but the ride is right here with a 10 minute wait? Let's do it.  We're starving and the only thing nearby is a Dole Whip? Don't mind if I do.  Seriously...I took a vacation from myself, and it was magical.

2. Understand the power of naps.  As much as I wanted to be able to stay in the park for like...ever...that isn't possible with my particular children.  They crave, need, desire, must have nap time.  Our days tended to look like this: Get up, MOOOOVE IT to the park by 9ish. Play, ride, saunter, handle the whining, eat lunch, BACK TO NAP around 1/1:30, back to the park around 6 for play, ride, saunter, handle the whining, eat dinner.  My kids were shiny, happy, people, and that made all of the adults shiny, happy, people, too, and not just because we were basically non-stop sweating machines, because Florida is HOT.

3. Eat.  So, the parks allow you to bring in your own food. I got exhausted just looking at the families pushing strollers full of kids, thermals, coolers, and like, their whole houses. I get it, theme park food is freaking expensive. But in that sticky (soooo sticky) heat, I'm willing to pay for food rather than carry it all in with me.  We started with breakfast at our rental house (like 1/3 the price of most Disney area hotels) - my husband would make bagels, eggs, and cheese that we could eat in the car - and then willingly bought food in the parks. We found a few gems like Columbia Harbor House (Lobster Roll?? Air conditioning and SEAT?) in Magic Kingdom and Harambe Market (really deliciosu gyros, curry corn dog, and unique sodas and cocktails) in Animal Kingdom - seriously, we could have just hung out in Harambe Market (and we did, during a thunder storm - it was one of my favorite experiences).  If you're this committed to an amusement park trip, just buy food there...it made our lives in the oppressive heat so much more enjoyable! Plus...we were limiting the budget of souvenirs (see tip #4); so, the cost of food was okay. That, and we're from Napa...stuff's pricey here, so that $12 taco salad? That's what I pay on a Saturday, anyway.

4. Limit the Souvenirs - We like camping and hiking and "leave nothing but your footprints" kind of travel, but we realize after one (memory filled, super fun) camping trip, that we also need some structured activities with our little ones.  This trip came along not because we'd budgeted and planned for it (like sensible people), but because my work was willing to pay for me to go to a conference in Orlando.  We decided to go for it, but I didn't want to come home with 1,000 new stuffed animals. We squeezed our  lives into two suitcases and two tiny carry-on backpacks, and that meant we had a valid reason for no souvenirs, other than, "My name is...no." My son came home with one book, one droid he got to custom build that can fit in the palm of his hand, and a t-shirt his grandmother really wanted him to have (that he loves). My daughter talked us into a Boo doll that's small enough for her teeny tiny 14 month arms...and by talked into us, I mean, she hugged it and snuggled it and made us want to weep with the cuteness. So, four tiny souvenirs? Not bad.  Now, my phone's memory is almost full of photos and videos (that my son keeps asking to watch), but that's what I'd rather have!

There you have it. We survived, happily, with two tiny humans under five at Disney World. We ran through Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. My MIL, hubby, and the kids also did Typhoon Lagoon, and we bought Costco tickets to LegoLand and ran through there like maniacs.  It was worth it.  I'm okay spending my money on memories, and that's exactly what I did.

Go See the Warthogs

"You don't stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing."

It's not quite that I stopped playing, it's that I forgot how to have fun.

Somewhere along the line, all of my fun hobbies became work. Love photography? Let's turn it into a business.  Love writing? Let's turn it into a brand. 

My husband can come home, log-on to his favorite video game of the month and...play.

I'm working with deadlines and stress. And I'm not having fun. When did my hobbies become work?

Look, I have a job. I love my job. I actually have fun at my job, but somehow, along the line, those hobbies that make me me became something else.

I want to have fun again.

The first step? Changing out I approach these hobbies I love.  I'll stop "marketing" my photography so much - no special sale offers, no major pushes for bookings. I love photography, and I enjoy the little bit of "fun money" that comes with the hobby, but I want to get back to the passion of it. I'm going back to special projects like babywearing and breastfeeding. I want to take friends' engagement photos for free or newborn photos in exchange for wine...I want it to be fun and light.  Maybe someday, the business side will rise in importance  (and that's why I'm posting this on my personal blog and not my photography site), but for now, it's back to a true hobby, and the joy, excitement, and freedom that comes from that.

The second step? Letting go, a bit, of this whole "branding" idea.  I know that might not be the wisest thing to write here, but as I've seen these campaigns seeking bloggers with 30,000 followers, not only do I wonder not only how on EARTH I would ever get 30,000 followers, but if I even want 30,000 followers.  And also? I don't actually want to spend my spare time courting brands and asking to try out their products - I honestly would rather be racing Hot Wheels. If something naturally comes my way, I'll be happy to work with a brand, but really, I'm okay connecting with a smaller community of friends, family, and moms who simply need to know that they aren't alone in the sheer crazy that is parenting. 

The third step? Saying no to a few of my obligations and not adding any more. I've been teaching children's church, thinking that would be a great way to ease my son into attending.  Nope. That hasn't worked. It's become a stress in my life - planning a lesson, gathering supplies for a craft, buying a snack, and then getting out of the house early to set up.  And to top it off, the boy is at his most, uhm, challenging, when I'm the teacher in the room.  No, thank you.  Like with photography, this may come back at another point in my life, but for now, it has to go.  I hate that feeling of overwhelming stress and panic, and I can't have that in my life.

Beyond that, it's about making the choices that let me have fun, about letting go of expectations and needs - it's actually quite liberating. 

I tried it this weekend.

I had planned to take my kids to the zoo, but at 8:30 on a quiet Saturday morning, with both kids occupied with their various toys, I felt the strong pull to stay home and clean.  My house needs it. My life needs it.  But you know what I needed more? To go to the zoo.

So, in we piled, got our Starbucks treat on the way, and wandered around the zoo, encountering Star Wars characters, feeding a giraffe.  I felt not one ounce of stress. It didn't matter to me whether we saw the lion or the flamingos. I let me my son guide the trip, and we saw what we saw and didn't see what we didn't. And it was so fun.  I saw the zoo through the eyes of a three-year-old, in all of its random glory...

"What do you want to see now that we've fed the giraffe?" 

"Warthogs," he said, without missing the beat.

And that's the life I want whenever I can find it. 

I want to see warthogs because I feel like it.

I want to rock my daughter to sleep without a running list in my head of work I need to accomplish for all of my hobbies.

I want my kids to have passions that don't nag at them - to play sports because they love them, to jump on stage because they feel called to act, to play an instrument because they just can't stop the music.  

In order to set that example for my kids, I must shed some of the obligations that have begun to clutch at me. I'm trying to keep myself here as I dive deeper into parenting, but I can be comfortable pursuing what I love without making it a job. Really, I can. I know I can.

I'm going to bless it. Release it. And remember what it is to have fun.

Wish me luck.