This is one of those posts where I don’t even know where to start. My sister wrote about this trip right after we got back, and she followed a day-by-day format. So, the creative snob in me is resisting doing the same thing. But I have to start somewhere, the beginning seems like a good place to do that.

About a year ago, my parents began asking my sister and I what we would like to do for Christmas this year, since it was an Alexander Christmas. We tossed out a few ideas (I suggested Circus Camp, but we all agreed that clowns are way to freaky), and we all agreed that Orlando would be a great place to meet for the Holidays. All of the grandkids are the right age for Disney, and they love the movies. At least at our house, Buzz, Woody and Lightning are still the main characters in just about every play session. Ella is very much into princesses, so this was a perfect match. To make things even better, my parents have a time share condo (or as Sam calls it, the “caddo”) and we could all stay together. As you would expect, GiGi jumped on this and had our reservations set for the following December. After months of planning, saving and talking up the Disney experience with the boys, the day to leave on the trip finally arrived.

Things got off to a rough start because the day before we left three out of four family members had to go to the doctor (Sam, Nate and myself). I will usually tough out an illness and avoid seeing a doctor, but I was just way too miserable this time around. We all got put on antibiotics, and we were on our way. By the time we got to Orlando, I was already starting to feel a lot better, as were the boys. Did I mention we drove from Fort Worth to Orlando? Yeah, that was interesting, but not really that bad.

I will skip directly to our first full day in Orlando. We took the first day to rest and recover from our drive by saying in the condo that morning, then we went to Downtown Disney for the afternoon. From an adult’s perspective, this is just about as cool as the theme parks. Well, at least for an adult who really likes food and people watching. If that is all you want, there is no need to go into the parks, but I’m pretty sure Sam, Nate and Ella were not going to agree with me on this one. Anyway, after a great meal at Raglan Road, we headed home to get rested for our first day in the parks. First stop, Animal Kingdom.

This is one of the newer theme parks that I had never visited, and I was curious to see what it was like. Is it a zoo? Is in an amusement park? Is it an educational experience? The answer to all three is YES. We saw real African animals, shows about animals (and fish), 3D movies about animals (and bugs), and actual Disney animals walking around the park. The highlight of this day was eating at Tusker House, a great restaurant where Donald, Daisey, Minnie and Goofy come to your table and dance around with loud instruments. The food was great (my favorite from the whole trip) and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. Remarkably, Sam and Nate actually ate their lunch.

Before moving on, I would like to interject an observation. Disney has made A LOT of movies. In fact, that is how they started and what they are known for. I thought I was pretty well-versed in Disney-ese, but I quickly found out I have a lot to learn. Yes, I am very familiar with the Toy Story monarchy and the Republic of Cars, and we still watch Monsters, Inc., Up, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo from time to time. But there are a lot of Disney films I have either never seen, or I haven’t seen them in so long that I completely forgot about them. If a person isn’t completely indoctrinated by the Disney library before visiting each park, you may feel a bit lost. There are a lot of Disney movies the boys haven’t seen, so there were some things they didn’t understand. They also didn’t understand why there was not one thing at Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom about Lightning McQueen. Besides Woody, Buzz and that whole gang, the Cars characters are who they really wanted to see. Just sayin’, Disney.

Anyway, back to the trip. We spent the next two days in the Magic Kingdom, and let me tell you, it was amazing. There is just too much to share about these two days. In a nutshell, our two days consisted of riding awesome rides, seeing Disney characters, watching shows, waiting in lines, scooching past massive crowds of people and planning which ride we would do next. Honestly, if you want to know what we did at Animal and Magic Kingdoms, you can see our photos. This was my third (and fourth) trip to the Magic Kingdom, and many of the things I loved about it have not changed. I was always a big Tomorrow Land fan, and it is very much the same as it used to be. Space Mountain, the People Mover, and the Astro Orbiter are all still there. They have added some new rides, as well, which the boys loved. Especially the Buzz Lightyear ride, in which you get to participate by shooting a laser at targets and accumulate points. Then of course, there were the standard rides that you MUST see if you are there, like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, the teacups, Dumbo and African Safari. I was also disappointed to learn that some of my favorites rides — namely 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea — were gone, and are being replaced with new additions to Fantasy Land. I guess Disney has figured out a formula for getting people to come back! If I am allowed to put forth one criticism of the Disney theme parks, it is that they seem to be all about the movies now. I remember that the movie characters were part of the Magic Kingdom in the past, but there were also a lot of things to see that were there just because Walt Disney wanted them there. It has always been very commercialized, but now it seems to be all about the movies. OK, that’s all I have to say about that.

Overall, this was the vacation of a lifetime. The boys still talk about the things we saw and did in Orlando, and I think they will love it even more when we go back. We had a great time spending time with GiGi and PaPa, and Uncle Joe, Aunt Katie and Ella. Seeing Ella’s reaction to the whole experience, particularly the princesses, was priceless. It was exciting, over-stimulating, exhausting and exhilarating, and more than anything, it was everything we hoped it would be.

This past Christmas (yes, I realize it was over a month ago), we entered a new era in our own personal Christmas tradition. This was the 4th Christmas for the boys, and this year we reached a milestone. I’m sure you are dying to know what this benchmark was. Did we reach the 200 mark on Hot Wheels cars? Did we set a new record on Christmas spending? Did I manage to survive on eggnog and candy canes or 25 days straight? No, it was nothing dramatic, but it does change things from now on.

For the first time, the boys actually ASKED for something for Christmas. As soon as all the turkey from Thanksgiving was put away and we had pulled all of the decorations from the attic, the Christmas advertisements started rolling in. Toys ‘R Us, Target, Walmart. Every Sunday brought a new barrage of colorful, multi-page ads filled with just about every toy you can imagine: remote control gadgets, video games, riding toys, Disney toys, toys from cartoons I have never even heard of, girls’ dolls dressed like prostitutes (sorry, Bratz, that is pretty much what you look like). For the first time, the boys pored over these catalogs and carefully examined each toy as if they were walking the aisles of F.A.O. Schwarz.

All of this perusing finally led to the big moment: The Christmas Wish. And what did they ask for? A blue S.U.V. At first, I was disappointed because we already have so many toy cars and trucks, we look like a miniature car lot. But the more they described it, I started to realize this was a toy they could actually ride on and not just another toy car. Gina and I already had something in mind for the boys, and we had to discuss this sudden change of plans a little bit. After some going back and forth, we decided that Sam and Nate would only be little boys once, and we went ahead with the purchase.

I will skip ahead to the big day, and I think we were more excited than the boys were. We had rushed back from Shreveport on Christmas Eve so the boys could open their presents at the house, and when they woke up that morning the blue jeep was sitting in the living room. Nate was very excited and jumped right in. Sam was not feeling all that well (nor was I), so his enthusiasm was more subdued. After some driving around in the house, we learned two things. First, this was going to be a lot of fun and we were glad we went ahead and got it for the boys. Second, they have a lot to learn about driving. In that regard, this Christmas is just a glimpse into what we can expect in about 13 years. For now, I much prefer the small plastic car that is driven on the sidewalk.

As you can see from the photos, the boys have really been enjoying the Christmas season this year. We started things off with their Christmas program at school, which was very cute, but it ended kind of quickly. It took us about 20 minutes to get the boys dressed and slicked back, 10 minutes to get there, and the program was about 15 minutes. When I consider the alternative, I am grateful for a short program.

The next big activity was the boys’ Christmas party at school. They got to have pizza for lunch, which is something they don’t eat very often. By the time I got to the school, they had already eaten two pieces each, and Nate was on his third. After they ate, the class worked on making a craft with pipe cleaners and beads. Sam and Nate each made a candy cane ornament, which they promptly put on the tree when they got home. Their favorite part of the party was when they got to decorate their own cookie with frosting and other goodies. It was a lot of fun watching them put their cookie together then eat it. I was hoping they would ask the parents to join in, but I just got to watch this one.

The next day, the boys wore their PJ’s to school because they were going to be watching The Polar Express. They were sick last year and missed this activity, so  they were looking forward to seeing this movie at school this year. I have to confess, we own this movie and they have seen it about a dozen times. But there is something special about watching it at school with all of your friends and wearing PJ’s.

Today, we decided to take a trip to Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth to see Santa. We had heard he took a break from his work to visit some children in Texas, and we wanted to see him before he had to head back to the North Pole to finish all of the toys. Sam and Nate took a few pictures with old Saint Nick, then he asked them what they wanted to for Christmas. Their answer is always the same: a blue SUV. I hope Santa was taking notes because the boys are pretty serious about this one. One funny thing I noticed about this Santa is that he had a Texas accent. Never knew that about the old guy. After we visited Santa, we went to a pizza place for dinner. We took one last look at the lights then headed home.

I know we will have a lot more memories before this holiday season is over, but things are off to a good start.