We have been settling into Little Rock for about three months now. I started working the first week of March, and Ana and the kids came down about two weeks later, immediately after the house closed there. The settling in is ongoing, and a good number of stories lie within that process, but the latest blog-worthy tales are the more recent trip to Walt Disney World. We returned yesterday to Dallas, so currently all of us but Myka-- who is with the lolos-- are nestled in a Plano coffee shop. The two young scholars work on the stack of homework they were given; Ana is creating a Shutterfly photo album of our trip online; and I--well.
We chose to fly out of and into Dallas so that we could have the extended weekend after vacation that we are currently enjoying. It seems to have been a great move. Yesterday after arriving at the lolos, Ana and I collapsed, napping for about three hours. I don't think either of us felt exhausted from the trip, but we seem to have been keeping our revs up as if there were more festivities ahead. I feel so much better today, for the aforementioned as well as the receding soreness from the marathon a full five days ago, and a baseline nausea that seemed to be hovering over me the whole trip. Today, all is better. I am curious if it was the change in diet there-- the large meals, the sugar overload (on which admittedly the children thrived)-- or if it was all the transportation without driving or looking out the front, or could it have been all the retained water from the inflammation of the run, as Ana and I have both noticed we have been diuresing the past couple of days. Regardless, I celebrate its departure.
The kids had a wonderful adventure, with each having truly delightful moments. For Myka, I would say that the highlights were the after-normal-park-hours dance party at the Disney Junior exhibit in Hollywood Studios. The girl danced with every blooming character that came to the dance-- except for that soloist Pluto, who dance with no one. What was up with that guy? But Minnie, Mickey, and all the others were wonderful, each giving one-on-one attention to our little four-year-old. It should be noted that Myka demonstrated some serious tenacity in pursuit of Pluto, following that guy for several minutes all over the dance floor and offering her hand more than once.
Trey seemed to face his fears and fed off the fright. He was no more than an inch or two above the minimum for a couple of the rides, namely the roller coasters. Since Scott Penrod had given warning about the Expedition Everest roller coaster, I was obliged to pass on the same to Ry and Trey. Nonetheless they were keen, so off the three of us went. The harshest part-- the most G-forces-- were in the dark as the train went backward from the peak, due to the yeti having destroyed part of the track. This was followed by the steepest, fastest part out into daylight. I feared when we emerged that the boy, prone to emesis, would either be covered in tears or chum. He sat stoic until the car came to a stop then seemed to come to life, saying that the ride “nearly freaked me out.” Then he exclaimed in agreement with Ryan that he wanted to go again. We then proceeded to do so thee more times, only to return later in the afternoon to ride it three more times.
Again at Scott’s recommendation, the first thing we did on the day we were at Hollywood Studios was enroll Trey in the Padawan training academy. Smartest move we could do for the guy. Come to think of it, this is when he was beaming the most, when he was coming off the stage, having memorized the moves, donned a jedi cloak, and fought off Darth Vader. What six-year-old wouldn’t have and indelible smile?
For Ryan, now eight, her bigger thrills came from the bigger rides. I think underneath the exterior she enjoyed recognizing the characters from the shows she has seen, as well, but outwardly it was the thrills and activity-- the swimming, the play on the beaches of Lake Buena Vista-- that made her the most vocal.
Speaking of the pool, I would be remiss to not remark on Trey’s obsession with the water slide at the pool. We could not get the kid off that ride literally for hours. Then he went to the bathroom, only to return to the slide!
For Ana and me, the best times after seeing our kids thrilled daily, were the marathon. And in discussing the race afterward, we had very different experiences. For Ana, this was a bucket list run and the impetus for the trip as a whole. Subsequently I decided to make this a qualifying attempt for the Boston Marathon. Ana took a number of photos and frankly recalls a lot more of the highlights and sights than I do-- running down Main Street USA, the walls inside Cinderella’s castle, some of the characters that were alongside the street. My memories are more of pacing and the course. I recall some specific turns, running down multiple-lane streets in the predawn darkness, the leg cramps, then calculating that after about 19 miles I was not going to make my cutoff time. Both of us went after what we set as goals and retained what you might expect. I am really happy for Ana and her achievement. For myself, I am redoubling my efforts, building on my current endurance before going back to focusing on bikes, and running the Cowtown Marathon in a month. In honestly, I did about as well as I expected since I committed to cyclocross later into the winter calendar than I could have if still expecting to be prepared for the marathon.
Both of us hobbled around for the next three days. The downhill ramps and worse still the stair descents were excruciating for a couple of days. The marathoners were easy to spot over the remaining days we were there, the ones who were walking the wheelchair ramps, taking the stairs in step/match/step fashion, and using the pole with a death grip on the monorail as they leaned back to sit down. Kind of funny actually.
I will also add that what an entrant who had raced there before said on the bus ride from the airport turned out to be true. The demographics changed daily after the marathon. There were so many healthy people in the parks on Sunday and Monday, then fewer and fewer. Granted, a lot of them were also identifiable by their medals and event shirts, which we were all encouraged to wear, but their healthy visages influenced the perception of the entire environment.
