The (Toddler) Cars Garage

In our home, we only have three bedrooms. One of them is the master bedroom and the other two are for our two children. We had to move Jackson over to a new bedroom so Addison could use the nursery furniture. So, we created a Cars bedroom for Jackson ... with help from our Uncle Frankie, cousin Michael and Extreme Painting and Wallpapering.

We started with new lighting by putting in high hats. Then, TK painted the room a light gray. We purchased Disney wallpaper to mimic diamond plating that you might find in a real mechanic's shop and outlined it with chair rail that TK painted red. Aunt Maria bought Jackson Cars Fatheads for Christmas, so those all had to go up ... of course. The carpet was purchased from Lowe's and installed by Gemini. It is nice and plush. I see us all lounging on the floor and watching movies in the future.

We purchased a Lightning McQueen bed, sheets and a comforter to go with the theme and it was super easy to do because there were a ton of options at Toys R Us, Kmart, Target and Walmart. The stickers for the bed were annoying to apply because they just show you where they should go and say, "Good luck!" Not my idea of an efficient assembly.

We bought a checkered valance from an Etsy shop and checkered knobs for the dresser. The dresser was purchased completely unfinished and TK painted it red and black and fastened the knobs. We saw a set of drawers that we liked on Pinterest and were trying to emulate that same garage look. The plastic desk was donated to us from my uncle and aunt, so that fit in quite nicely.

For decor, we made sure to hang up his framed Disney stock and an authentic Disney sketch of Lightning McQueen that we purchased while in Walt Disney World in 2013. On the outside of the door, we hung a metal Cars parking sign that we also purchased in Walt Disney World. That sparked Jackson's interest before he knew that he was getting a new, cool room. TK also painted the door with chalkboard paint so Jackson could draw on it, if the mood ever struck him. We also added framed photos, sports banks that his grandparents bought and filled for him, and his Mickey ears.

Fortunately, we already had a television for the room when we thought it would be an office, so we bought a bracket and got that up on the wall. He also has a Blu-Ray player to watch his Disney movies on.

Tonight, we finally showed Jackson his Cars Garage Room and he was so happy that he spent most of the time jumping on the bed. That led to visions of me rushing him to the hospital for stitches, but we are not going to worry about that right now. He also named all of the characters on the wall and the movie that was on his TV. (We made sure Cars 2 was playing when he walked in.) When it was bedtime, he even agreed to go in his room (with a small bowl of Goldfish) to go to sleep.

We still have a few things left to do this weekend, but the room is ready for him to sleep in. There is still a monitor to watch over him, so he is not that grown up or trusted yet, but he has made the transition nicely so far. Now, let's see what tonight has in store and if he gets totally freaked out when he wakes up in the middle of the night and sees vehicles with eyes staring at him from every angle. At least they all look friendly, especially Guido and Luigi.

So, the Cars Garage Room was a success. Ka-Chow! 

Trip Report Day 7: 11/28/13

Luigi

We are celebrating Thanksgiving today, so when I awoke, I helped my parents prepare yams and stuffed mushrooms and left the bread stuffing for later. Dad and Mom prepared the rice stuffing, the turkey and my aunts prepared some other sides. When Jackson got up, he was able to watch a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and see Buzz Lightyear.

After breakfast, Tom, Mom, Jax and I headed over on the bus to the Art of Animation Resort by way of Animal Kingdom to see the Cars section of the resort. They did a great job with the theming of each area and Jax was able to run up to and around all of the Cars characters. He absolutely loved it. We were also able to shop in the resort souvenir store, but they didn't have any die cast cars that we were missing, so we bought a few other Cars things and headed back to the resort to finish preparing Thanksgiving dinner.

When we got back, I made the bread stuffing, Mom made the brussel sprouts and Aunt Annie made the corn, so we were all set to eat. We set it up on the bar counter like a buffet and let everyone get their food and find their place. Dinner was delicious. We pulled off a 20 lb. turkey with several side dishes, and I don't know if that small Kidani kitchen knew what hit it! If it were a Disney character, it would be exhausted and proud.

Flo

After dinner, Jax went with my Aunt Rosie and Aunt Annie for a walk around the resort, and he came back screaming because he got a bad diaper rash for the first time in his 16 months on earth. My Mom advised me to put him right in the bathtub to soothe him, and that's exactly what I did. In two days, the rash was gone, thankfully.

Cars Section of the Art of Animation Resort

We waited for Paige, George and Garrett to return from Ocala and have dessert. When they did, George gave Jax a present: DARTH MATER! We were shocked and he wouldn't tell us where he found it, but he said he wasn't beneath buying Jackson's love, which was fine by him because he loves that car. We went down to Community Hall and played foosball and pool, and then headed over to the arcade from some pinball and air hockey to finish up the holiday.