The end of potty training

Five years of diapers, pull-ups and wipes is slowly coming to an end. In January Caleb became fully potty trained during the day... in February, Xander became fully potty trained at night, and this week I thought I'd accomplished the hat trick and Caleb was ready to be fully potty trained at night too. We're real close, but no cigar. After a couple of days of some dry nights, some wet nights Caleb and I decided to take an underwear break and revert to pull-ups at night.

In a way it is a good thing, because we just bought a big stash of pull-ups when Caleb declared he was ready to wear underwear to bed. When we exhaust this stash we'll try again.

Before we brought Xander home I had some anxiety about the whole diaper process. I think it is normal. But after five years I'm a pro. I can change a diaper in two seconds flat on fleeing toddler. I know the true meaning of wardrobe malfunction and blow-up.  I know which brand of pull-ups work best at night on three-year old who loves his liquids before bed. And I know how to handle a nasty diaper rash caused by toddler's diarrhea -- don't ask -- and the pediatric gastroenterologist is right, they really do grow out of it around the age of three.

So, sometime between next week, and when we travel this summer we will not need to pack pull-ups or wipes. I can reduce the number of outfit changes, and the boys might even be able to repeat on pajamas to save packing space. We are coming to the end of an era, and I can't wait!

Marvelous Magic Kingdom - Disney World

Visiting Magic Kingdom at Disney World invokes many comparisons to Disneyland, if you were lucky enough to visit them both. But at Disney World, Magic Kingdom gives you more elbow room, and the lines are shorter -- possibly because Disney World has several other parks to compete for a families attention...

After our earlier Disneyland experience we showed up to Magic Kingdom with a game plan. We knew which rides we were going on, and a general sense of when. If there were fastpasses available Jonathan went ahead of us, and picked them up. You could only be in possession of one fastpass for a specific time period. So if you had a fastpass that is good for a ride at 1 pm, and you wanted to get a second fastpass for another ride, you needed to pick it up at 1 pm (not before). We layered our fastpass rides with rides where we knew there would be a short wait, like the Haunted Mansion, or Pirates of the Caribbean.

We started our day before the park opened up with breakfast on site at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh. It was a splurge, a breakfast buffet ($30 for adults, $15 for kids), but it gave us plenty of photo opportunities with the characters. The breakfast was really good, and the chocolate Mickey Mouse waffles were wonderful.

Jonathan secured the first fastpasses of the day to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride where you got to bounce around with Tigger. Disney World offered a special second fastpass to Mickey's PhilharMagic (which was a lot of fun) show ... ending with Donald Duck crashing through the projector in the back of the theater.

Then we proceeded to the Haunted Mansion while Jonathan got fastpasses for the next ride. During the day we road on the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan's Flight, Prince Charming Regal Carousel, and attended the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (Xander's joke was picked and included in one of the monster's acts) and watched the Dream-Along with Mickey show in front of Cinderella's castle.

The boys favorite though was Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, where you got to shoot at Emperor Zorg. By the way it is not a spinning ride.

We ended the day at the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade on Main Street. Overall it was a lot of fun. We left at around 4 pm, just before the boys hit the wall, and they slept happily in the car on the ride back to Fort Lauderdale.

Epic Epcot Disney World

I'm not sure how old I was when I decided I wanted to visit what we used to call Epcot Center at Disney World, which is now just Epcot. I think it was when we lived in upstate New York and I think I was in third grade.

When we arrived at out hotel on the Disney World resort we had plenty of options. Our visit was only two days, so we needed to narrow our visit to two parks. We knew that we wanted to take the boys to Magic Kingdom on the second day, but which park should we pick for the first day.

We definitely considered Animal Kingdom. But we ruled it out because it was already past 1 pm, and we wanted something a little more low key since we had spent the morning driving in from Fort Lauderdale. We weren't sure what to expect with Epcot, but since we were staying a short ferry-ride away it quickly became the natural choice.

So it turns out Epcot definitely has more of an adult feel, but it is still a theme park. There were no lines on that Monday afternoon. We found some of the attractions a little preachy, still some of the highlights of the trip were at Epcot.

Highlights included

• Ellen's Energy Adventure - where you went into a movie theater and "inside Ellen Degeneris's brain." The theater seats become a ride, and take you past life size dinosaurs. Pretty amazing.
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends - similar to the Disneyland Magic Kingdom ride except you aren't locked into a submarine (strangely enough that part was pretty scary for my four-year old). The highlight is that when you exit there is a hands-on exhibit and the boys can play inside one of the Nemo sharks. 
• The Illuminations show (at 9 pm) - which included fireworks, a waterworks and light show. On par with the waterworks and light shows in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

We thought the Land was a bit boring for the boys (that is the ride where you get to see the experimental farming at Epcot) and Spaceship Earth was a bit preachy (for little kids the Lion King theme was poorly done, and older kids would find its Mary Sunshine view of recycling overly optimistic).  Also, at Epcot Character Spot we were able to get all of the obligatory pictures with the Disney characters ... and again we didn't encounter any long lines.
If you visit you should make dinner reservations. We couldn't get reservations, so we queued at Via Napoli in the Italian Pavillion. It only took us 30 minutes to get in, the service was great and boys liked the pizza and pasta.

Epcot perfectly fit our mood on our first day at Disney World. Everyone had a great time and we ended the day relaxed and ready for the Magic Kingdom.

Battle of the Disney Parks - Disneyland vs. Disney World

It wasn't our intention when we visited Disneyland in September to also visit Disney World within a six month window, but that is exactly what we did. Strategically placed Florida grandparents, a Western zip code and boys just ready to experience the parks brought about this feast of amusement park riches. So now we can comfortably answer the question - which is better Disneyland or Disney World?

Disneyland was opened in 1955 and Disney World opened in 1971 - and 16 years was what Disney needed to get it right.  Disneyland is smaller, wait times are longer, food is more expensive and I can't imagine spending more than one to two days there. Most travelers stays at a hotel across the street, or commute in and park in the giant mega lot. While Disney World is bigger, you have more room to move around, there are more parks and a ton to see and do onsite. In fact with the many onsite housing options including camping, cabins, discount hotels and luxury resorts, combined with transportation to easily get you to the parks without driving -- you could easily spend your whole vacation at the park. It also has more evening activities geared toward adults, but not adult-only.

After visiting both, we can safely say that the hands down winner is .... Disney World! Although we have a ton of caveats to contest with which include location, time, money and desired experience.

• Location - Growing up in California, Disneyland was my park, although I only visited twice when I was 16 years old. Growing up in Maryland, Disney World was my husband's park, although he only visited once when he was six years old ... And thus like generations of children you go to the park that is closest to you.  From California, Orlando is incredibly hard to get to - there are very few direct flights, the airfare is expensive and a couple of airlines would like to do inconvenient things like route you through Chicago.  Coming from a mid-size city on the East Coast, the same could be said for Anaheim -- there may be more flights but it is still a four to five hour flight.
• Time - Disneyland is significantly smaller than Disney World on the scale of acres versus miles. You can comfortably experience Disneyland in one to two days.  If you are a West Coaster strapped for time it has it advantages. Although I know people who recommend taking a week -- that seems crazy to me. On the other hand, I could spend a week at Disney World. Really, between Epcot Center, the Magic Kingdom, the other parks and the neighboring Universal with its Harry Potter rides (my boys are too short for that experience right now) there is plenty to see and do without going into sugar overload. 
• Money - Disney tickets for both parks are expensive, hotels aren't that much better, although, as I mentioned, Disney World has more hotel options onsite, from camping to luxury resorts. Food is also less expensive in Disney World and their are many more choices-- but it can still be pricey.  For a family on a budget, Disney World has plenty of packages that include meal discounts, hotel discounts and multi-park discounts. The longer you stay the cheaper your trip will be day-by-day. Still any Disney vacation is not for the frugal traveler.
• Experience - Are you looking at an all inclusive destination vacation or are you looking to explore a nearby city? Disney World is like Las Vegas. It is a world unto itself and it offers an all inclusive experience, you can spend a week and never leave the Disney properties. And, honestly, families en masse would not be traveling to Orlando if Disney World wasn't there. While Disneyland is set near Los Angeles, which on its own has lots to see and do ... So depending on your desired outcome, one of the parks will meet your needs.

In the apples to apples department, I should give props to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, with its Nightmare Before Christmas theme in the Fall and Winter, we liked it slightly better than Disney World's Haunted Mansion ... And you can walk through the castle at Magic Kingdom Disneyland which I liked better than Disney World where you are stopped at the steps (by the way Jonathan liked the Disney World castle better even though you were stopped at the steps). Also Disney World's ToonTown will be closed for the next two years for renovations and upgrades. Jonathan thought the shows were better at Disney World, but we agreed the parade was better at Disneyland.

My next two blogs will talk about our Disney World experience.

Another Airline Travel Rant: Jet Blue Breaking up the Family

When I travel on airlines, I take comfort in process and procedures. I wait until there is no line to use the lavatory and even buckle my seat belt as soon as I sit down and for the entirety of the flight. Convoluted or practical I obey the rules, and assume whoever came up with them had my best interest at heart.

When bad things happen in airline travel, unexpected delays, mechanical problems or computer screw-ups, that is an airline's opportunity to shine. And I've had great experiences with well trained ticket agents, gate personnel and flight attendants -- who handle the unexpected with verve and grace.

That is why I'm so disappointed with our experience on Jet Blue. In today's economy, with all of the belt tightening that airlines are instituting you would think that one place they wouldn't chince would be training. But apparently no one in the Jet Blue organization on our Friday red-eye flight to Fort Lauderdale had anticipated or been trained on the proper procedure to handle the computer glitch that left six families scattered to the far corners of the aircraft.

Among that group, we were the ones traveling with the youngest children. A four year old and a five year old. Most airlines, including Jet Blue do not allow children under five to travel unaccompanied. 

We booked our tickets on Travelocity and we couldn't secure seats ahead of time for our flight. The ticket agent, who is also the gate agent didn't know that any of us were traveling with children (even though I had printed confirmation that we had entered our childrens' ages). He accused us all of not disclosing the information therefore the whole snafu was our fault. You know, "the customer is always wrong" mentality!

• At check-in the agent told us he would resolve it at the gate. 
• At the gate he told us he couldn't make changes and we would need to sort it out on the plane.
• On the plane the flight attendant said she wouldn't help us, and that it was the gate attendants responsibility ... oh and she has 148 passengers to worry about and couldn't use any of her precious time to help the six families out who were worried about their children sitting alone on a red-eye.

We did manage to luck out and meet someone at the gate who was trying to swap out a middle seat and the seat happened to be in one of our four rows. This made it possible for me to sit with our four year old.

But then the drama started. Jonathan waited with Xander at one of our rows for the other passengers to arrive. The passenger in the coveted middle seat wouldn't switch for anything other than an aisle seat. The flight attendant (who couldn't be bothered) said that someone was coming on board that could solve the problem. My five year-old was in tears.

The very same check-in/gate agent came in and berated my husband saying that he had told us there was nothing that could be done (which wasn't even true). My husband left for his other seat and a passenger who had overheard the conversation gave up her middle seat in that row so that Xander could sit with my husband...

None of this should ever have happened. The gate agent should have made an announcement (I've been called up to help a parent sit with a small child and I've exchanged my seat) before we ever boarded the plane. If a child is too young to fly unaccompanied, then they are too young to sit alone ... that should have been a consideration with my youngest. And if they truly couldn't do anything they should have been straightforward with us from the beginning instead of pacifying us by telling us that it would all be sorted out at the next part of the process.

Should We Travel with a Sick Kid?

Pneumonia. That was the diagnosis for my youngest Caleb on Wednesday night at pediatric urgent care. He'd been spiking a fever all day, and we finally brought him in when Childrens Advil was only making dents. He also had a hacking cough and his breathing was belabored. He was treated at the clinic with a nebulizer (twice -- to get his oxygen level to within normal range), had a chest x-ray and was tested for the flu (which came back negative).

Not really my first consideration, but we are scheduled to fly to Florida on the red-eye today (Friday).  So, I asked our pediatrician. Should we travel with a sick kid? The answer was pretty simple ... twenty-four hours fever free is generally the guideline, and it is up to us. Parents have traveled with a sick child before ...

Since 3 pm yesterday his temperature has stayed below 100 degrees, so I'm hopeful. He will have his third dose of antibiotics this evening, he is using his inhaler every four hours (his cough is non-existent on the medication and his breathing is normal) and we will monitor his temperature ... but barring an episode like Tuesday ... we may just get on the plane. It is tough call though.

Update: It is less than five hours until our flight, and Caleb hasn't had a fever today, and hasn't been taking any Childrens Advil. He is back to normal! So we are ready to go!

Pack Attack

Presidents Day week is ski week at San Jose Unified and what is becoming our annual tradition is visiting the Florida grandparents.

In booking our plane travel we continued our love/hate relationship with red-eyes. In many ways the long red-eye is perfect with small children, but the flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is a short red-eye. Which means we leave at 10:30 pm (well after bedtime) and arrive at 6:30 am EST. If we can pull off the hat trick, and get the boys to go to sleep upon arrival it would be less of a nightmare ... but this is my pessimistic prediction:

• Board the plane at 10:30 pm. The boys finally settle down and sleep at 11:30 pm.
• Arrive at 3:30 am PST and escort our tired and cranky boys through the airport
• Get to grandparents condo around 4:30 am PST - boys are bright-eyed and bushy tailed and want to play and hang out with their grandparents.
• One of the boys enters full melt down around 5 pm EST 
• The boys will be sound asleep by 6 pm EST. 

It should be a day of discomfort. But on the bright-side, the next day they will be ready for any adventure.

Last year we had cooler weather in Florida, this year temperatures are expected to be in the high 70s low 80s. Since we work full time, and the weather here next week will be rainy and cool, I'm able to pack for the trip this weekend -- which is great. I've already completed packing the boys bag, and set aside their travel outfits. I'm trying to keep it to only one checked bag (to avoid the bag tax).

Now I have to hunt for sunscreen, sunglasses and goggles and other summer sundries that have been scattered to the four corners of the house, as well as pick some small toys I know the boys will love to play with in Florida.

The boys had tons of fun on the trip last year, and they are both excited about traveling. Xander who is now swimming and loves water can't wait to enjoy the beach and pool. Caleb my fair skinned little boy is looking forward to playing in the sand (and being out of the sun). We may even surprise them with a trip Disney World. Hopefully I can finish my pack attack today.