For Easter Sunday, we took the easy road this year. No fighting the parking lot at church. No searching for eggs. No mixing of toddler and sugar. We did celebrate with lots of bunnies, pretty basket purses, and the infamous see-saw (more to come on that). We even watched the Velveteen Rabbit thanks to Grandma. But we didn’t quite get around to dyeing the eggs we hard-boiled. The big deal this Easter was breakfast and the Big Show.
Breakfast wasn’t even all that, but I did make some darn yummy pancakes thanks to Bisquick. Then we goofed around a bit and since Katy and I got up early, she went down for a nap early. I told her that after she took a little rest, we were going to go see a big show. I told her that Mickey and Minnie would be there, and we would see them and lots of other friends ice skate. I mentioned that we would ride a train to go to the big show, and it would be lots of fun. Does that sound okay to you? “Oh-so.” (That means yes.)
You may have guessed by now that the big show is Disney on Ice. Mike got some free tickets from work, so we decided to try it. We weren’t sure what her attention span would be, and figured if it didn’t work out, at least we weren’t out any cash for the experience, except for maybe the train fare.
Mike packed up the diaper bag, and we decided to bring my Ergo carrier instead of attempting to bring a stroller that would probably not be allowed in the seats. We made sure to bring a couple of friends with us, the featured friends of the day being Cocoa, her chocolate lab stuffed animal from Bob Evans in Wooster, “Cah,” the plastic macaw figurine from the Rainforest Café, and Peep, the smaller one. Katy refers to any yellow chick as a peep. Grandma gave her a wind-up toy that is a little peep inside a hamster wheel. It can roll the entire length of our hallway and then some. It can also go quite far on the sidewalk before predictably veering off into the grass. This marked our first experience since Friday without Katy’s see-saw. Apparently, when at Walgreen’s with Grandma and Grandpa, Katy’s little laser vision locked onto a decoration that is a bunny and a peep on a little see-saw. It’s not a toy—I’m quite confident it will break if dropped on the tile—but she insisted and the grandparents just had to go with the flow. Ever since, it was practically glued to her hand or in its close vicinity until now.
We got on the train, which is where Katy can get into trouble because there are no seat belts or harnesses. But she did great and we had fun. She had been on the train before, when we went to the NBA Jam Session.
When we got off the train downtown, we decided to head to Seamus McCaffrey’s for an early dinner. We loaded Katy onto my back in the Ergo, and headed over there. She seemed to enjoy riding this way, saying, “Mommy, wassat? Mommy, wook, Mommy, wassat? Mommy, wassat?” over and over as we walked about a block to the pub.
Fries (no ketchup, please—here, let me put it on your salad plate, Mommy), quesadilla, and a little boogie action to some hard rock on the jukebox… don’t forget the milk, of course. It was a good dinner and we loaded her back up on my back to walk down to the arena. Once we got inside, it was really cool, with Disney vending booths all over the place sporting Incredibles figures and Mickey & Minnie stuff.
The place was maybe a quarter full, and our seats were at the 17th row from the bottom. We were pretty much the highest row—no one sat behind us. I was amazed how few people were there, but then I would not have paid for tickets, so I guess it’s not that crazy.
The show started, and Katy was completely mesmerized, almost in a trance as soon as it began. She spent a good deal of the show sitting on my lap and asking where Mickey and Minnie went, not caring about the current song and characters… it is all about the mouse, people. The story went like this: the Incredibles, sorry, the Parr family, went to Disneyland for a family vacation. When they arrived, they were chosen as the family to grand marshal the day’s parade. Somehow, Syndrome showed up and kidnapped Minnie & Mickey with his big robot. Thus began the Parrs’ need to get supersuits made by Edna so they could suit up and fight Syndrome to free Mickey and Minnie. Along the way, Mr. Incredible damaged a good deal of the rides, saving his family from animatronic characters. But I really enjoyed the old fashioned attractions that were included—the Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and maybe my favorite—the Tiki Room.
We had a great time, and because the crowd was so light, it was no problem getting a family bathroom to change her before we headed home. Back on the train, Cocoa had all kinds of adventures on the windowsill in the back row. Thankfully, Peep stayed in my bag the whole time so we didn’t lose him. Cah eventually ended up there too, which I discovered this morning after I got to work.
Last night, as I was trying to leave the room after putting her to bed, Katy kept talking. I stayed and we processed the events maybe about 40 times. “Mommy, robot. Mickey an Minnie, save. Super. Dihnney cassuhw. Robot. Mommy, Mickey an Minnie.” I kept assuring her that the Incredibles, the super heroes, saved Mickey & Minnie; that they were safe and everyone was okay. They told that robot to go home, and it did. Everything is alright. Mickey and Minnie were rescued, and they all went to have a big party in the Disney castle.
Alas, she kept worrying about it. So I talked to her about the other robot she’s familiar with—the one that stomps through downtown saying, “Cheese. Cheese. Cheese,” as the Backyardigans superheroes try to stop it. Turns out that the robot just wants to have its picture taken, and when they figure that out, the robot poses and says, “Cheese.” So I did the robot voice and the poses and said cheese a few (20?) times, and that finally put a smile on her face and she let the story rest. Ah… good night. Cheese saves the day.
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