Jedi Training

Let me preface this post with this:

I'm not into Star Wars. Like, AT ALL.
I don't even think I've ever seen any of the movies.
Even the ride at Disneyland always annoyed me.
I always thought I'd be a better mom to girls than to boys.

That was until the great Charlie was born.

And he is ALL boy.
Transformers, baseball, super heroes, monster trucks, hot wheels, bike riding...
Star Wars. Yeah, all that icky boy stuff I thought I'd never have to love.

But I do. Because it makes my boy happy.

You should've seen his face when the Jedi Trainer on stage called for "the boy in the Mickey shirt"
to be chosen as one of the Jedi Academy attendees.

You couldn't wipe off his smile if you tried.

Charlie was front and center on the stage next to the teacher.
The Jedi master taught them all the moves they would need to vanquish the bad guys.

All of a sudden they were scared into running off to one side
because the stage was rumbling...

Darth Vader rose from the dark underground.

He was trying to convince the mini Jedi to join forces with him on the dark side...

Charlie had his turn at fighting off Darth Vader one on one. VERY cool to watch.

He made one final plea for the Jedi to join forces with him but they refused.

They sent him packing... take that, Darth Vader.

He got a diploma from the Jedi Academy.
He was so proud of himself...
and even for someone who isn't into all the boy stuff, I love seeing him excited
about anything. I love to see the wheels in his mind working and the way
he nervously plays with his fingers but tries to come off as sure and confident.
I love the way he RAN to me from the stage...

I may not love the boy stuff, but I love my boy and that makes me
appreciate the opportunity to do the boy stuff with him.

Disneyland is almost all decked out for Christmas time...so beautiful!

You know you're at Disnyeland entirely too much when your kids make

friends there. We met this nice cast member a few weeks ago. Kate took a liking to

her because she is a fellow Katelyn. We ran into her again this time...

Rapunzel is Kate's new favorite character...

Because she has a french braid in her hair, Kate let me french braid hers.

Don't be too impressed. She ripped it out 2 seconds later because it wasn't tight enough.

Here's to loving the unexpected...