It’s kind of weird going to Disney World without my wife … pretty much because aside from maybe once or twice, we’ve been going together for upwards of 10 years now, ever since our second date that we shared over at Epcot on April 22nd, 2006!

Funny how that date I can remember like the back of my hand, yet I still struggle with our own anniversary date… 😛

Anywho, despite being laid up in the hospital, Sara really liked the idea of me taking Christopher out so that at least the two of us could have some fun for my birthday, so braving the heat and the rush hour traffic on I-4 we ended up in Orlando with just enough time to hit up a few key attractions, watch fireworks (which Christopher hated), and top it all off with watching the electric parade (which Christopher loved).

A few highlights:

• We first hit up the Tea Cups, which I thought that he’d love because he really enjoys when I pick him up and just spin him in a circle right now, and we’ve even gone on it before, but he was kind of meh about it.
• I also took him on his very first roller coaster – Goofy’s Barnstormer – because Sara and I figured he’d be close and he ended up being just tall enough when I stood him up to the sign! In retrospect, I honestly don’t know whether he loved or hated this ride because he seemed pretty white-faced throughout. I did hear a yelp at one point, but it was hard to tell whether it was joy or fear because it was too dark…
• And apparently two hours before closing is a great time to arrive on a late summer day because we pretty much walked on everything. Granted, we weren’t exactly riding Space Mountain or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Car, but given our lack of time and only one me to entertain the toddler, it was appreciated!

It’s funny because there was definitely more than one time when I looked over at the little guy and just marveled at how much he’s grown like when he was sitting next to me on the tram or holding onto the lap bar on Little Mermaid (instead of me) all by himself. You can even see it in the picture here – the kid’s got such a warm and bubbly personality, and even though he’s not quite speaking yet, he sure is fighting for it every single day.

Despite how absolutely insane it is for me to be juggling pretty much everything back home while Sara is in the hospital, I can’t deny that getting to spend more time with Christopher when I’ve been more focused on work this summer while Sara was home has been nice. I might rely on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to pacify him when I’m struggling to get things done for work and he might be ingesting more than the recommended daily allowance of Teddy Grahams under my watch, but the bonding has been fun and tonight was a pleasant reminder of that.

…which is probably a good thing because if we get our way and Sara remains in the hospital for another month, chances are we’ll be heading over for a couple more father & son trips before his new brothers join us after all! 

Hey, the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot is coming up soon … he can tackle the food and I’ll take the wine – what a team!!! 😀