Grandparent Mode

We're not grandparents yet, and by no  means do we want to rush it.  We used this latest roadie trip as a practice run.  The Spousal unit's youngest sister is already there, being 40 with two babies under the age of four.   Da niece just dropped a little one, so we know our turn for grandparenting is just around the corner.

The sister and her youngins will be heading on their first outing to Mouseville next fall with us in tow, so we have to be battle hardened to be able to hang.  This weekend the spousal unit gets to baby sit the grandbaby nephew as a pinch hitter!

The first step was making a trip to Orlando a two day event instead of a one day killer.  We have done this before and it makes arrival day much more pleasant.

The trip included a side trip back north to Gainesville to watch the Rebellion get blowed out of the swamp!   We opted to meet up with some friends at an off site parking lot and take the shuttle into the campus.  Great move on our part!  Met some new friends that call themselves Gators  and saved ourselves from a long walk to and from the Swamp.   We were dropped off at the corner of the stadium and then afterwards were back on the interstate headed south in no time!

At the mouse kingdom, we got in a practice run of "trick or treat" coming away with a sack full of candy.  It was so much fun saying "trick or treat" to the attendants in my "Darth Vader" voice!

The test run on all the "young one approved" rides was awesome!  Poking fun at parents with wee ones was a killer!  I got my reality check after taking a seat on the bench after Space Mountain.   This ole cowboy is officially retired to the chuck wagon with no more attempts at riding the bull!

At Universal Studios I learned to have a watchful eye.  You never know when a munchkin will pull back his Harry Potter cape and pull out his magic wand!  Butterbeer is a definite life saver for any age, especially the frozen one.  Instant brain freeze if sipped too quickly.

After my Space Mountain  adventure, spotting a well placed seat to sit and wait came with ease.  The time passed very quickly after making up a little game.  I would point my eyes to the ground.  I would spot a pair of odd looking shoes going by and tried to imagine what the rest of the person looked like.  The tattoed ankle peeps were easy.   The feet of foreigners were a much bigger challenge with their odd choices of clothing.  The one thing that struck me time and time again was "what the hell do these people do for a living to pay the price of admission to these amusement parks!?"

One trick every newbie parent must learn.is to not give in to the munchkins desires to have every toy early in the day.  One must dicipline themselves to wait much later in the day.  Don't get caught carrying a ball, rifle, or broomstick all day long!

We learned that meal time would definitely be the gathering time for recapping the day.  I have my Landry Select Dining card at the ready for the first available seating for those tired and hungry mini mees!

The one trick I haven't mastered is avoiding the enviable blister or two, or three, or four. I have concluded that will only happen if we opt to rent and electric chariot!  That will require multiple practice runs to avoid running over tots or bumping over the unsuspecting adult!

As much as I hate doing it, flying my be in our future.  Never liked the cattle effect  or quickly learning the ins and outs of an unfamiliar car rental.  Of course the worst option is being delegated to the back seat!

The worst part, at any age, is saving up the energy for the trip home.  Gonna have to dicipline myself to commit to a two day trip home, with a stopover at, you guessed it, the beach!