Disneyland: Part 3

Disneyland: Part 3

• Monday, October 20, 2014

Basically, the only way I organized pictures in this post is by whatever order they were in on the computer. And this post just happens to be all the pictures from my sister's phone on the day I accidentally left my phone in the car in the far-away parking lot.

Can we talk about that for just a minute?

At first I was having some separation anxiety after realizing my phone was in the car. I couldn't tell what time it was, I couldn't take any pictures, I couldn't call anybody.  The list goes on.

After a couple hours I got used to asking my family for the time, borrowing T's phone for pictures, and never separating myself from the group from fear of never being reunited haha.

And then by the end of the day I think I actually said in my out-loud voice: not having my phone all day was so liberating!

and seriously, it was.

minus the one time T gave me his phone while I stood in line with Jack to see Minnie Mouse (so I could take pictures) and he took off with Phillip to walk him in the stroller in order to lull him to sleep and we didn't pre-determine a spot or time to meet so I wandered Toon Town for 15 minutes with no idea how to find him.

[eventually our paths crossed when he re-entered toon town after having walked around all of disneyand...i had no idea he had intended to leave toon town and he had no idea i would decide to skip the mickey mouse line ha]

OTHER than that one incident, it was so nice to not have my phone for a FULL day.

i didn't feel an urge to constantly pull out my phone and check instagram. i didn't spend dozens of minutes replying to text messages. my full attention was on my family and our vacation instead of my mind being e-somewhere.

all of that being said, i was happy to be reunited with my phone (read: lifeline) although not so happy about the 52 unread text messages wating for me. YES, 52. i asbolutely think phones have a place in everyday life and i love the convenience of having my clock, camera, social media, flashlight, and basically anything else you can think of all in one place and at my fingertips BUT i also think there's definitely a balance to be found in managing how often you use your phone.

I admit that one thing i am always, always trying to be better at is putting my phone away more. i try to set rules like i can only check instagram once a day or i can only watch netflix while i'm doing chores and the kids aren't around or...the list could go on forever.

and i think every day i fail at several of the rules and i try again the next day.

i admit that i miss too many minutes of play because i checked instagram 10 times in 30 minutes. or i'm only have listening to jack when he's talking to me while i'm cleaning the bathroom and watching netflix.

but not having my phone for an entire day showed me it's really not. that. hard. to just put the dang phone away. and it's a lot easier to not pick it up if it's not easily accessible. if i leave my phone charging in one room while i play with the kids in another room i'm a lot less likely to go get it to check instagram or catch up on bloglovin' or browse amazon than i would be if it was in my back pocket all day.

and also - i just want you to know this is NOT one of the way too many posts out there that scream: "moms! put your phones away and pay attention to your kids! you are missing out on their entire lives!" because while I think there may be some merit to that...give moms a break. sometimes mom's need some me-time. and guess what? kids don't have to be entertained by mom 24/7. and guess what else? before smart phones there were books and magazines and newspapers and tv and so many other things that mom's did while kids played independently at home or at the park or in the yard. and that's okay. it's something i know i want to work on but i have zero plans to turn my phone off all day long. because let's be honest: sometimes instagram or chatting with my sisters in our group text or browsing amazon saves my sanity when i'm home all day errday with two littles and no car and no adult interaction.

wow. i really didn't mean my story of my phone being left in the car to turn into an essay.

SO ANYWAY. behold the pictures.

we met lightning mcqueen which was a huge highlight of our trip. jack is completely obsessed with Cars and meeting lightning mcqueen was basically like crossing something off his non-existent bucket list. i might have been even more excited for him just because i knew how excited he would be! ha, the life of a mom.

jack rode mater's junkyard jamboree more times than i can count and loved it every time. i think we all secretly really loved it as much as he did. it's definitely not as tame as it looks.

one day as i was walking through california adventure i heard someone call my name, turned around and saw MY R.A. FROM FRESHMAN YEAR at byu! oh my goodness! i hadn't seen her in SO long and it was so exciting to get to meet her new little girl jayne and see her two precious boys who have grown up so much since the last time i ran into her!

since phillip had been sick on day 1, we took it easy with him on day 2. i let jamie ride a bunch of things in bugs land with jack jack while phillip and i observed. jack loved it.

^phillip was pretty sure he wasn't sick anybody but i wasn't about to take a chance and put him on anything spinning or fast ha^

sadly, we only got to ride toy story mania one time but riding with jack was so fun! he kept his 3D glasses on the whole time which was amazing since the kid rips his sunglasses off the second after he asks you to put them on. and he just saw this picture while i write this and said "BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" so i guess he clearly loved it.

let me tell you that i'm pretty sure my new favorite little kid ride is the little mermaid. so ridiculously cute. i could have gone on it 5 more times and not been sick of it. and both babies loved it so win-win-win.

sidenote: jack loved this ride so much that i showed him the little mermaid movie when we got home and he may or may not watch it every single day now.

and lastly. i'm pretty sure carsland is the coolest of all the lands. it looks JUST like radiator springs and i love it.

a

and that sums up all the pictures from jamie's phone on the day i left my phone in the car.

have i told you that story?

xoxo