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I've been meaning to write for ... let's see ... June, July, August, September, October ... almost five months now, about Toy Story 3.



On the day when it debuted, the trio were in summer camp. And interestingly enough, they had very little desire to see the movie. Unlike their brother who is all about Buzz Lightyear, every day, all the time.



On that fateful day ... June 18, 2010 ... Charlie and I loaded up little Henry and we were FIRST in line at the movie theater. We procured our 3D glasses and popcorn and settled in to our seats while wondering, when exactly was the last time we ate popcorn at 9:30 AM?



The movie was wonderful.

It was everything and more that we thought it would be.

I wept through much of it. Partly because I was feeling very emotional at that juncture, but mostly because the movie was just THAT good. I wept at the beginning when Andy is a young man packing his room for college because Whoa! Wait a minute!

Wasn't Andy just a little boy, yesterday?

It was difficult to ignore the little boy sitting next to me, with his 3D glasses, because at that moment, I could actually see the future flying past us.



It was suddenly very easy to imagine the day that my babies were packing up their belongings for college. The start of a new life for them. The start, but also an end, to a life for me.

Choke. Choke. Gasp.

In typical Toy Story fashion, there were a lot of hilarious scenes. But the end packed both Charlie and I punch we didn't expect. One minute we're laughing ... hahahahahaha! ... and the next minute, Andy is bringing his beloved toys to Bonnie's house and he's clutching Woody and telling him how much he loves him and appreciates how he's always been there for him and ... and ... and ....

Gulp.

That was it for me. And for my husband.

We both gasped and started weeping at the same exact moment.

Once the movie was over, we went out for pizza and Charlie dazzled us with his sketching skills.



A week later, I went back to see the movie again, this time with the triplets, and I cried through it a second time. The kids couldn't understand why. And for the life of me, I couldn't explain in a cohesive manner that children GROW UP and move away and please children! Please, don't ever, ever leave your parents. You can live at home FOREVER.



Unfortunately, when lemonade was spilled over Charlie's computer this past July and we lost his entire hard drive, we also lost pictures of Henry's birthday party. Namely, the Buzz Lightyear cake that me, his doting mother, created for him.

It's really too bad I don't have that picture to share because it was hilariously awful. I most certainly DO NOT have my cousin Anne Marie's cake decorating gene. If I recall correctly, my children's exact words upon seeing the cake were, "Mommy, how come Buzz's wings are coming out of his HEAD?"

(In lieu of a cake photo, here's a photo of the Buzz ice cream that went with the cake. Lemon ice cream? It tasted almost as bad as my cake looked.)



This past weekend, we went to see the Disney on Ice production of Toy Story 3.

It was a fantastic show.



Although, in hindsight, we shouldn't have arrived an hour and a half before the show started because we had a solid 90 minutes, to tell the children WHY we wouldn't buy them the $20.00 piece of cheap plastic (insert whatever object here) with a picture of Buzz on the front.



During intermission, we caved and bought each of the kids a Toy Story-esque gadget. And then, we shelled out an additional $20.00 for two lemonades (in low-quality plastic collector cups!) and another $10.00 on a tub of popcorn.



What is it about Disney that does that to me?



At first, my logic is intact and I'm questioning the $45.00 per price tickets. But once I'm inside, I lose all reason as I start specking out the $150.00 seats and contemplating how NEXT TIME, we need to upgrade to the first row and leave our binoculars at home!



So what if a 100-minute show costs us the equivalent of groceries for a MONTH?



That's the Disney Experience. It's just a matter of time, before I am swept up in the "magic" of it all and without blinking ....



Will swiftly drop $200.00 on matching Mickey Mouse ears for the WHOLE family.