Single parent

Rae just left for California - which means it's just me and the kid for the weekend.

Guess who's going to Dairy Queen for dinner?!

It's hereditary

Nose crinkles are the dominant gene.

What's in the box?*

Discovered in my daughter's room.

*See Se7en if you don't get it.

The final frontier

Dad, remember the space shuttle we watched take off? Well it is IN SPACE!

I know. It's very exciting.

I would like to go to space. I would fly to the moon.

Did you know that people have been to the moon?

REALLY?

Yes. They took off in a rocket and landed on the moon and got to walk around. They even played golf.

But you can't go on the other side of the moon.

You can't? Why not?

Because it's dark.

Because it is dark.

Yes. The sun only shines on one side of the moon and there is no light on the other side and if you went there you would trip.

Well, do you think the astronauts might take a flashlight with them?

Dad. There is no electricity on the moon.

There isn't?

No. All the electricity is in space and it comes down to earth and goes in the ground and then we get to use it here. It's not on the moon.

But you don't think they could take some batteries with them?

Dad. You just don't understand.

Playing with dolls

Thor (Racheal): I'm hungry. We should get some food. Let's go to the store.

Cinderella (Kaylee): No, we don't go shopping. We get our food from animals.

Thor: Oh, you hunt and fish for your food?

Cinderella: Well, Prince Phillip goes hunting. I don't. I don't want to get blood all over my beautiful dress.

What really matters in life

Daddy, is Eddie dead today?

Yes, honey. Eddie died.

Did you and Mommy already drop him off?

Yes, we took him to the vet and he died there.

Oh.

Daddy?

Yes, Kaylee.

Is Transformers still on TV?

No honey, that was a special show for the holiday.

AW MAN! I like that show.

Art class

"This is my Moon Man. He is sad because he doesn't want to go to jail."

Pirate talk

Yaaarrrggghhhh? (from the bathroom)

Avast, be there a pirate brushing her teeth?

Yaaarrrggghhhh?

Well, ye best be brushing yer teeth, else ye be walkin' the plank!

Daddy? What's a plank?

It's a long board pirates put off the side of the boat. Then they tie you up and make you walk off the end so you can be eaten up by sharks, fish and octopuses.*

OR if you saw another boat, you could say "Freeze, boat!" and put the plank out to the other boat and just walk over there and then you wouldn't have to die.

Yaarrgghh. Ye be wise beyond yer years.

* And yes, I know the plural of octopus is octopi. It just sounded funnier when I said it this way.

Self portrait

Apparently, she has shark teeth.

The Great Disney Photodump

Well, I did edit things down a bit. It's just not presented as organized as I usually do. More to come after I am able to download the rest.

The "OHMYGODIAMINDISNEYWORLD" moment.

Obligatory first shot in front of the castle.

Second stop, visit the Mice. (For those not in the know – the other cute kid is Kaylee's best friend Sara. She and her parents joined us / talked us into the trip. A great time was had by all.

Kid on shoulders was a reoccurring theme that week.

First princess!

Kaylee seems pretty proud of what she just said, though I'm not sure Cinderella approves.


Look at that face. I think she's so happy she's about to pee her pants.

The girls discussed footwear.

The Cinderella fountain behind the castle. Kaylee's best shot of the trip.

Rapunzel and her prince Eugene. Really. Who names a prince Eugene?

Chatting it up with American royalty of the amphibian variety.

Best spot to watch the parade? Right next to the trash can. They're clean and you don't have to worry about bumping into anyone.

Striking a victorious superhero pose post-Big Thunder Mountain.

Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?


Arizonans are happy to sing in the rain.

Kaylee vs the Mountain

Unfortunately, my finger hit a button half way through the ride and my phone decided to eat the video. Luckily, I was able to restart the recording on the next incline. Rest assured, she loved every minute of it.

Can't wait to do it all over again.

Find the report on all of our other fun here:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3.1

Day 3.2

Day 3.3

Day 4

Day 5.1

Day 5.2

Day 5.3

Day 6

Bonus post

Day 7.1

Day 7.2

Home!

After a four hour (first class!) flight and a long drive, we're back in Tuckson. I'll post more photos and videos as I get a chance, but right now we're just trying to get reacquainted with life post-Mouse.

Disney, last day addendum

Here's the pins we wore today. (Can you spot the hidden Mickey?)

Disney, last day

Today we met five princesses, rode the Mad Tea Party, It's A Small World, Snow White's Scary Adventure, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Astro Orbiter, the People Mover (three times), Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Stitch's Great Escape, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain.

That's right. She rode her first full size roller coaster. Video (and a lot more pictures) to come.

Not bad for our last day.

Disney bonus post

Because it was too damn cute not to share. (And because it took me forever to get two objects that are in constant motion to sync up.)

Disney, day 6

This was most of our day. Rain, rain and more rain. It wasn't quite as bad as it looks, but it could have been a hell of a lot better.

We finally made it to Epcot sometime around 4 pm. Just in time to watch all of the princesses leave. The girls didn't notice so much, but the parents were bummed on their behalf.

Mommy, are all of these things happening right now?

No Kaylee, this ride is showing us things that happened a long time ago before we were born.

Oh. Mommy, so are all of these people dead?

Thank you Epcot, for showing me that there will still be newspapers in the future and I will still have a job.

Best souvenir of the week? Picking your own oyster in Epcot's Japan pavilion, watching them pull out a monster pearl and put it in your choice of setting. Kaylee's got her first nice necklace now.

And yes, Kaylee did try The Beverly.

Disney, day 5 (part 1)

Today's trip was Animal Kingdom with a quick run back through Hollywood Studios to pick up a few things we missed. The girls started the day beat and ended the day falling asleep in their clothes. We've got two days of park passes left. Not sure what we're going to do with them, but it will be good times.

She had a great view heading up the hill of Kali River Rapids (her first big kid ride) and she was smiles and screams all the way up.

And she got a little wet.

We rode the safari and saw a few animals up close.

And we met a few monkeys.

The monkeys loved her.

Disney, day 5 (part 2)

Yes, we rode Star Tours. Twice.

The second time through, Racheal was the rebel spy Darth Vader was looking for. We tried to sell her out, but the ride wasn't quite that interactive.

Disney, day 5 (part 3)

Today's savior: The Stroller.

Best. Investment. Ever.

Disney, day 4

We're here for more days than we have park passes for -- so today was a day of pool. And since I'm not dumb enough to take my phone into the water, you get no pictures. But Kaylee stole some bratty kid's floaty thing and spent the first half of swim time fighting him (and his brother) off. Then we were off to the lazy river for a few laps around the property. And finally off to the big (salt water) pool for some practice swimming and diving (but mostly complaining about not wanting to go underwater).

Lunch was a two plus hour wait for pizza didn't show up until the second time we called (and cancelled our order). Dinner was the best prime rib sandwich I've ever eaten while watching a 3D movie. (Kung Fu Panda 2 is quite good, despite my protests.) And walking our butts off shopping in Downtown Disney. (Christmas presents have been boughten.)

Tomorrow, Animal Kingdom.

Kaylee at the Harley Store on Captain America's chopper. This pleases me because A) Harleys are cool; B) the comic book Captain America is cool; C) Easy Rider is also cool and D) at least one of these references is not over her head.

The girls hanging out with Aurora in front of one of the many, many, many Disney stores downtown. They couldn't quite grasp the concept that she was made from a solid piece of plastic and spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to crawl up inside her dress.

Ice cream at Ghiradeli's, where we changed our order, ended up getting (and paying for) an extra cone and giving it away to some cute sisters. (Disney is the only place on Earth a stranger can give away ice cream to little girls and get applauded for it. Everywhere else, you go to jail.)

The tiny $2 carousel downtown is actually a longer ride than the one in the Magic Kingdom. Kaylee named her horse "Buttercup" and had to hug her and pet her tail before we could leave the ride.