5 Lil' Bausons Jumping on the Bed

Welcome to the Bauson Family Blog!

Hey there, I'm Marisa; wife to John. Mother to: Manny, Christian, and Jackson. I am also the author of this blog.

Lover of Starbucks, make up, chuck taylors, flip flops, purses, music, movies, and books.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Moments before this video was taken he'd "officially" taken his first several steps. We tried to capture it again, but the little booger had other plans; like screaming really loudly in the tiny room.

I've also found a way to slow down his mobility; put him in super tight pants, it makes crawling difficult.

10:34 AM

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

3:02 PM

3:01 PM

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Specifics

We told the boys about our trip on Thursday evening after dinner. Manny was stoked, Christian had no idea what was going on, Jackson was just happy that he was getting applesauce.

We left for Disneyland early Friday morning (5:00 a.m.) and arrived in Anaheim at 3:00 p.m. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, so we parked our car and headed straight over to the park.

Friends and Family

We met up with our friend Fernando on Friday, and the Orson family on Saturday. We had breakfast with my Aunt Debbie, Uncle John, Mei Mei and Jordan Sunday morning at Goofy's Kitchen.

The Rides

Pirates of the Caribbean - this was a favorite this weekend. I lost count how many times we rode it. All I know is that by the end of the weekend I nearly knew the entire script.

Haunted Mansion - BIG mistake. We had tried to prepare the boys for the beginning of this ride beforehand. We let them know about the spooky voice. The close quarters. How the lights shut off and everyone screams in the beginning.

I believe Manny was scared, but he handled it fairly well. Christian started crying as soon as we got into the elevator. By the time I realized it was time to bail they were closing the doors. We happened to be on the other side of the room, and with all of the people crammed into the small space there was no way we were going to make it.

I ended up taking him the rest of the ride as he seemed to calm down once we left the elevator, however I definitely feel that beginning part ruined the rest of the ride for him. He did not enjoy it at all.

Jungle Cruise - another favorite. We went on this ride at least three times.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Manny's first "big boy" ride, and he loved it! I actually got to enjoy this ride as well (first time in years). John and I found out about "rider swap" which allowed both of us to take turns with Manny.

Star Tours - Manny's second "big boy" ride, which he also enjoyed. John and Joe (Mr. Orson of the Orson family, lol) got to experience the ride with Manny. They could hear him shouting things like, "Woah!", "Are you serious?!?", over the sound system.

We also enjoyed Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Soaring Over California (another ride that Manny was amazed by), Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Golden Zephyr, Toy Story Mania and the many rides at Bugs Land.

The Shows

We were super happy to be able to see two shows while at Disneyland this weekend. We have never been in Disneyland long enough to be able to take our time, we're always rushing to get on every ride, so it was nice to be able to spend a couple of hours during our day to relax and watch some amazing theater.

Disney Junior, Live on Stage! - We have passed this theater several times in our last several trips to Disneyland and have always wondered what was being shown.

What we saw was amazing, and the last thing we expected were puppets!

Disney's Aladdin Musical Spectacular - I don't know about John, but this was my favorite part of the weekend. This was a full on Broadway show, shortened to 45 minutes so that the little ones don't get fidgety. The set was amazing, the actors were fantastic, and The Genie was hilarious.

The Funny

Ahhhhhhh! - While at Disneyland park Manny kept talking about Pirates Lair (formerly known as Mark Twain's Island). I had never been out there, but John said it was a lot of fun, so we hopped on a raft and headed on over.

While out there we discovered a cave and decided to take a walk. The darkness immediately put Manny on edge. He kept mentioning that he was scared, and that he wanted to turn around. Unfortunately that would not be possible because the walkway was narrow. The only way out was to move forward; at this point he had his pirate sword pointed ahead at the ready.

Halfway through the cave/walkway there was a fork with a separating wall. I noticed a gentleman coming around the corner on the opposite side of the fork and thought nothing of it. Unfortunately Manny did not see this man, and when he rounded the corner, Manny screamed, drew his sword and hit the man with it. As you can imagine I did a poor job hiding my amusement and so did the man. He turned around and started laughing.

And Not-so Funny

Yes, I was "that" mother - Saturday was a long day. The boys stayed up late Friday evening and woke up early Saturday morning. Christian tried to nap mid afternoon, but I don't think he was very successful, as such, his demeanor was less than stellar Saturday evening.

We decided to go to Toon Town around 5:30 p.m. We had plans to call it an early day anyway, but there were some things we still wanted the boys to see.

They have a kiddie coaster in Toon Town that Christian wanted to ride immediately. Manny had no interest in the ride, so I offered to wait in line with Christian. However, Christian had no desire to wait in line. He wanted to ride the coaster, and he wanted to ride it now.

I tried explaining the line "situation" to him, when that didn't work I tried distraction. When that didn't work I tried bribing. What that didn't work I tried fear of punishment. He started crying, he started stomping his feet, he even tried running to the front of the line. Yes, my sweet little angel was throwing a full fledged temper tantrum.

I could feel the eyes of all of the parents on me. This wasn't paranoia. I could literally see them staring at me. Whispering about my child. Yes, I know my son is being a bit of a brat. I don't need your judgmental mugs pointed in my direction.

I took it for as long as I could, and finally decided I'd had enough. I swooped him up, kicking and screaming, and did the walk of shame with a screaming, hyperventilating three year old in my arms. That small little walk seemed to take for-ever, especially since we were nearly at the front.

What do you mean it's cancelled? - As part of John's Father's Day present I wanted to take him to a nice dinner, and watch World of Color. Imagine how happy I was that I found a way to do both of those!

Disney offers a dining meal at two of California Adventures restaurants. You buy their prepaid meal (either at Ariel's Grotto or Wine Country Trattoria) and they give you tickets for preferred seating for the World of Color.

After dropping nearly two bills (that's $200 for those not in the "know", lol) on dinner, we grabbed our tickets for World of Color and tried to find something to do to entertain ourselves until the show.

8:30 p.m. rolls around and we make our way to our seating section. By 8:45ish an ominous voice flows over the loud speaker.

"We regret to inform you that the 9:00 p.m. showing for World of Color has been cancelled."

Myself, along with the thousands of other guests around us were waiting for the punchline. The "April Fool's!" Only it's June, and clearly not a joke.

John was fuming, and was determined to get something out of Disney. In the end, after using his mad salesman skills, he got us four FREE Disneyland Park Hopper passes that are good for two years. Originally all he wanted was a $100 worth of food vouchers. I guess Disney knows that free food costs them, but if you give us free park hopper tickets we'll spend more money...smart.

M-I-C, See ya Real Soon!

We had a wonderful time at the Happiest Place on Earth. Manny and Christian are finally old enough to truly appreciate the wonder that is Disneyland. I sincerely hope that we are able to keep up this tradition. I know that as the kids get older, it will get more expensive. Hopefully by that time we'll know the ins and outs of Disney so well that we'll be able to go on a budget and not feel like we're missing out.

John and I are already starting to plan our Disneyworld vacation (aka Las Vegas), but that won't happen for at least ten years. We know it will probably be a one-shot deal, and I want the kid sold enough to remember it as well as appreciate it.

Some cute baby for your time :)

11:28 AM