But, then they have to pay me!

Several months back I blogged about my future astronaut, who turned six on Thursday, by the way. As can be expected with children who have barely begun their school years, he's changed his life's ambition yet again.

Both our boys have a bit of an obsession with New York City. Jack's is partly thanks to the Big Apple Adventure VBS theme a couple of summers ago. Anyway, Jack has decided since he'd like to live in New York, he would like to drive a taxi. Never one to squash dreams, we have assured him that he can be the best taxi driver in New York City.

On the way home from bible study tonight the topic came up again. Sam, our three-year-old, was lamenting about the fact that Josh would not be home when we got there, "I wish Daddy didn't have night work on this night."

I reminded him that God had called our daddy to be helper and that tonight was a night that he was doing his best to help people. Jack added, "that's what all jobs are; they are to help people." After a short pause, he added, "except the job I'm going to do. It's not really helping people."

Just to test his current mood, I explored, "Really? What job are you going to do?" He said, "You know...a taxi driver." In the spirit of encouragement I assured him that taxi drivers help people get where they need to go. I went further in an effort to emphasize, "One day you may pick up someone who is sick or maybe even a pregnant lady who is about to have a baby, and you'll need to drive them to the hospital. That will be helpful."

Without even a pause, he chimed in, "but, then they have to pay me."

Disney Diaries, Post 4 (Epcot...The Big Ball, Y'all)

Monday began with a journey to Epcot. The boys were so excited about seeing the "Big Ball." Jack couldn't wait to go inside it. I used a website to help map out our plan for each park. The site requires an annual subscription fee, but I found it extremely helpful. I was able to come up with a plan to hit all our must-do rides at the least congested times. The site had a helpful app that allowed me to access our plan, revise it, optimize it and see the most up-to-date wait times on each attraction at any given time. If you are going to visit during an even moderately busy time, I'd suggest using something comparable.

Because of my research, I knew Soarin' was a popular ride that fills up fast, so we headed there first. It was quite an adventurous ride. The boys loved the sensation of flying over all the different locations. The smell of the orange grove and the pine trees was pretty neat. Of course, we had to head over to Mission: SPACE for our future astronaut. Sam didn't make the cut off, so we did a ride swap and Jack got to ride twice. I knew Epcot was much larger than Magic Kingdom, but you don't appreciate how spacious it is until you're walking around it.

The boys absolutely loved the Test Track. They had a great time zooming through the different tests and of course they loved bursting out into the daylight on the super fast track at 50+ m.p.h. Touring the World Showcase was fun, and the character topiaries were entertaining. We were especially entertained as we tried to get Sam to smile in front of the Woody topiary, his favorite character.

We enjoyed a late lunch at Le Celliar, the steakhouse in the Canada pavilion. It was incredible. The pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup I had were a perfect appetizer to the steak. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for rest time. Again, Sam fell asleep in the stroller before we even made it back. Once we returned to Epcot, we saw some more exhibits and had dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant, which overlooks a huge aquarium. While we were dining, I got the exciting news that my sweet nephew had arrived. It had been a hard, but fun, day with my mind on my sister and my body with my boys. I was relieved to learn how had gone smoothly. Now, we had such a great treasure to look forward to at the end of our trip...meeting Ian!

After dinner, we did Spaceship Earth, which took us inside the "Big Ball!" We also hit the Test Track again, which had been a hit with everyone. We finished our night with Illuminations, the light and fireworks display at Epcot. Jack's favorite part of the day was Spaceship Earth. My favorite was the Test Track. Josh's highlight was riding Mission: Space with his future astronaut, who did great. Some days, I asked the crew what their favorite things were multiple times during the day to see if it would change. I happen to ask during the bread service at our late lunch what everyone's favorite thing was so far. Sam loudly and delightfully shared, "butter!"

To the Moon & Back

Jack, age 5, future astronaut

I'm sure you've heard it. I see it all over the place. A few simple words that carry a weight of emotions: I love you to the moon and back.

Well, I've never thought it would carry such a literal meaning until this week. If you have a young child or have spent any length of time around one, you know they can be indecisive. My five-year-old son is no different, especially when it comes to future occupations.

It wasn't too long ago, he was frustrated at the thought of being unprepared to follow in his daddy's footsteps. And even more recently, he declared he'd have three jobs when he grew up. One would be a doctor, one would be fighting bad guys and the third would be driving an ice cream truck. I asked him if he'd give me free ice cream. He said, "I will if I see you."

Well, this week, he's decided he's going to be an astronaut. I, of course, haven't had the heart to tell him our nation's space program has been all but shut down. Instead, we've been encouraging and assured him he can do anything he wants to do.

Looking for a chance to encourage him, I assured him that astronauts must know how to read. He sighed, but agreed he could continue learning. Josh informed him that astronauts have to do a lot of math, as well. So, yesterday, when he emerged from quiet time, he snuggled up to me and said, "okay, I'm ready to practice some math." We spent 20 minutes doing simple addition and subtraction.

Today while riding in the car he asked, "Mom, do astronauts have to know left from right?" I assured him they do. He said, "probably so they can get to the moon!"

Oh, sweet boy, I really do love you to the moon and back. And, who knows, you may just be up there one day!