Bacon's Boots Blog

Disneyland!

A few months ago, Ben and I dropped Felix off at his grandparents house for a week and we went to Disneyland. We're cool like that. For his entire childhood we will be able to say, "Hey, remember that time you didn't go to Disneyland and we did?"

We were a little excited. Disneyland is awesome. Especially when you are a grown up. And it's decorated for CHRISTMAS. Having never been to Disneyland during Christmas, I was sure that it could not get any more magical than it usually was.

I was wrong.

Disneyland at Christmas is happiness on steroids. It was incredible. Beautiful and festive, lights and ornaments everywhere. Even the staff seemed extra excited. Granted, we went like, the DAY after they decorated, so, the "I can't believe I have to sing the Christmas parade song again." mentality hadn't set in yet.

If Felix were a snowman...

Main Street Tree

Waiting for the parade to start

We had the amazing opportunity to visit one of the Disney secrets, Club 33. It's the place Walt Disney created for his family and friends to hang out in the French Quarter of the park. He died before it opened. It was crazy cool. There were artifacts and pictures of celebrities hanging out and eating. Being in a place not everyone knows about or could get into while the park was open and rocking outside was awesome. The food was incredible too.

First course - Seafood buffet

Entree. I thought "a choice of three pastas" meant, you know, "one of each pastas" not "a huge serving of each". SO GOOD.

I made myself absolutely sick on dessert. Don't care. Worth it.

But the BEST part of Club 33 was the, uh, ahem, escorts we saw with the gentleman in the corner. They had high heels and short skirts and faces that said "I am SO too cool to be at Disneyland unless I'm at a table with four bottles of champagne that each cost more than my first car and also here, let me feed you the cherry from my drink with my mouth, over and over and over again so Christi was sure she saw what she saw." Excellent.

Club 33 Door, just hanging out by Pirates entrance.

We did all the rides, which meant we walked fast. We walked from our (AWESOME) hotel, The Anabella which was across the street from the resort, through Downtown Disney, where we spent a ridiculous amount of cash on shirts, souvenirs and cookies shaped like Mickey's head. We walked through the Disney hotels which blew my mind how pretty they were, into the park.

Big pimpin' in like at Star Tours. (Ben is the rebel spy, just FYI)

Ben as Chewie.

Helping defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg

I love water rides. I love them so much that Ben goes on them with me, sometimes over and over, even though he inevitably gets the brunt of the water splashage and hates it.

Run, Christi, just run.

I got SOAKED on Splash Mountain. "I wanna sit in the front. I wanna sit in the front." Idiot.

Met the mouse.

Everyone was like "We saw Mickey!" They were totes wrong. WE saw mickey. He was at his house in ToonTown. THAT's the real Mickey. Don't be fooled.

Then, I ate his face.

Met my favorites, Chip and Dale.

I was surprised and not at the same time about the lack of characters walking around. We went the week before Thanksgiving to avoid the crowds and abundance of sticky children but the sightings were sparse as the trade off. We saw Pooh and Tigger, Mereda from Brave, Goofy, Mickey and several princesses. We saw EVERYONE at the parade but they frown on running out to hug them at that point.

Oh shit, here we go.

When I went to Disneyland, and heck, Disneyworld last time I REFUSED to go on the Tower of Terror. And for good reason, I found out. That ride is bullshit. We got to California Adventure when it opened and hightailed it for the tower. If I was going to do it I needed to get in line first and not wait.

You'll notice Ben is LOVING IT. Me, not so much.

There was a girl in our elevator that FREE FALLS who was talking so much crap in line and being super obnoxious about how awesome she was. I really kind of hoped peed herself or dropped her churro later in the day.

We had an incredible two days at Disney. It was so much fun to be there with Ben, taking the park in the way we wanted, just kind of being kids again. But, I have to admit, I did miss Felix sometimes. There were families there with their babies who were younger than Felix and, while part of me wanted to ask them if they knew the three-month-old couldn't ride any of the rides, the other part of me wanted to chase them down and ask to hold their almost-as-cute-as-my baby.

Me and the Trees

Felix at Eight Months

Sits by himself.
Went out in his first snow.
Pulls himself to standing.
First Christmas present.
Waves.
First Christmas eve and day.
Has ridiculous giggle fits.
Reaches for us.
Still has never worn pants.
Hates green beans.
Holds his bottle by himself.
First New Year's Eve.

We made it to midnight on New Year's Eve!

First Christmas present.

First Snow

Forget crawling.

"No! No swing!"

Met his newest BFF

Peace, I'm out.

Felix at Seven Months

He spent a whole week with his grandparents.
He can crawl.
He went to Wild Lights.
Likes Cheerios.
Went swimming for the first time.
Has still never worn pants.
Went to Great Wolf Lodge for Thanksgiving.
Went to ZooLights.
Met Santa (and told him he wants a box for Christmas).
Attended the Enumclaw Christmas Parade.
Sleeps in his own room.
Went to the Enumclaw Public Library Grand Opening.
Has not one but TWO teeth coming in. On the bottom in the middle.
Likes to pat Cousin Chance's head.

What Visiting An Animal Sanctuary Can Do

Ben and I recently had the opportunity to visit our friends in Lompoc, CA who run a non-profit (shadowsfund.org) animal sanctuary for pit bulls senior dogs, horses, pigs and one sheep that thinks it's a horse. I came home changed. A lot, or maybe just a little. Maybe it will wear off. Maybe I'll forget the experience and the impact it had on my whole outlook. But maybe not.

What Visiting An Animal Sanctuary Can Do...

Reminds you that all life has value. Ben saved a family of baby mice. He looked down and saw them wiggling in the grass, all exposed and tiny. We packed a bucket full of hay and put a tarp over it in hopes that they would survive until mom returned. I hugged a five-hundred pound pig. When we came home, I set a giant spider free outside instead of stomping.

This is Hamlet. I love him.

Makes you want to change the world. You see all the daily tasks it takes to create a safe environment for so many lives - walks, food, cleaning. love, volunteers, finances, donors, events, awareness to mention a few - and it makes you want to do something, anything. Even if it's just stitching together a few blankets for the dogs you now love and miss. Or making time to walk pups at a local shelter. Or simply giving money to those people changing the world.

Shows you the uninterrupted joy a soul can have. There is dog at the ranch who is paralyzed from the waist down. She is the happiest dog I've ever met. All she wants is someone to get her toy. You wouldn't ever know she couldn't fully walk for the joy she has scooting around on her front legs. You try telling her she can't keep up. Give her a cart and she'll take on the world, not to mention the other dogs in the house.

Recalls to mind the love you have for your own animal. The dogs that are lucky enough to find themselves at the ranch are the sweetest, most animated animals. They bound around with energy rivaling the Grand Coulee Dam. They hunker down on the couch and just want their belly's rubbed. They love to sniff out deer and quail. They are determined and smart and beautiful. We came home to our one dog after seeing their 30 and just cuddled him for hours. Indy is such a good dog. He is a handful of energy and giant ears. He has a personality all his own. He lets us know when Felix needs our attention. He herds him when he rolls off his blanket. He has simple needs and loves us unconditionally. We love him so.

Makes you want to conserve things. Even more than you did before. Turn off lights, use less water, cloth instead of paper towels. Walk instead of drive when you can.

Shows you how horrible people are. I had a hard time listening to the stories of some of the dogs. I was shocked and appalled by what some humans are capable of. One dog named Honey was a bait dog in a fighting ring. She'd had her paws taped together and her mouth taped shut in a ring to get the other dogs hyped up. I can't begin to tell you how angry and just at a loss for words that makes me. She was the sweetest, and (duh) most nervous thing. All she wanted was pets. She made me cry. She made me remember that people suck. They are horrible and should have their fingernails pulled off with pliers and fed to them in shards. Or at least have to listen to the Small World song on repeat for days.

This is Honey.

Shows you how wonderful people are. Cody and Jill were meant to be the animal saviors they have grown to be. They are the ones that restore my faith in humanity. They remind me that, as long as there are are horrible people out there screwing things up, there will be the gentle, humble, only-in-it-for-the-tail-wags, life-affirming custodians there to clean up the mess.

Cody, Jill and the pups.

It was hard to leave. That's for sure. I fell in love with dogs (and a pig). Ben fell in love with dogs. We fell in love with the ranch and what it stands for, how it is changing the world, dog by dog. It was a trip infinitely worth taking and one we hope to take again.