You must be this tall to go on vacation

Sunday evening, Friend, Doc, the Brain and Head joined us for dinner. We hadn’t seen them since Easter, because we were on vacation and the Captain and family were here. So there was a real feeling of normalcy when they walked through the door and the Brain asked in his high-pitched voice, “What are we having for dinner?” To him, our house is where you come to eat and watch Veggie Tales.

Both occured on Sunday. After dinner (lasanga, per Ane’s request – it’s currently her favorite main dish – and she “helped” make the tomato sauce for it), we adults needed some peace and quiet to catch up and talk, so we bribed the kids into silence with Larry Boy and the Bad Apple. This guaranteed us 45 minutes of reasonable quiet.

Talk turned to the Head’s recent check-up – his three-year-old well-child appointment – and how he is now a full inch taller than the Brain. Head is now 40 inches tall, and the Brain is 39. Head is also 18 months younger than the Brain. Of course, they don’t notice this small height discrepancy right now, and the Brain can read, so it’s not like he’s feeling inferior to his brother.

However, the height is important. Doc’s sister is getting married this June, so Doc is hoping that the Brain will grow just a little bit more. Doc’s parents and sister live in Florida, and whenever they go to Florida, the whole family goes to Disney World, because his parents live within a reasonable driving distance from Orlando. Doc is anxious that the boys be tall enough to go on the good rides this time.

I pointed out that Head was already there – the minimum for rides like Star Tours and other roller-coaster style ones is 40 inches. Doc thought it was 42, but I corrected him and showed him my evidence (thank you, Wikipedia). With the Brain so close to the height requirement, I asked how tall he was in his shoes.

So, once Larry Boy was over (and we’d eaten dessert), we broke out the measuring tape. Here are the results:
Head: 40 inches without shoes
The Brain: 39 inches with shoes
Ane: 39 inches without shoes
Tad: 33 inches without shoes

Now, the Brain’s shoes were very flat-soled walking shoes, which added nothing to his height. I frowned at the shoes, and said, “Buy the boy a pair of athletic shoes! Something with about an inch-thick sole, and it’ll give him just enough lift! Get him a pair of Nikes, or something.” Honestly, even the $10 tennis shoes I’ve bought at Payless Shoes for Ane and Tad has more of a sole and height than the shoes the Brain had on.

This conversation and measurement was important for the Webmaster and me, too, because we’re starting to think about taking the kids to Disneyland in the summer of 2008. It’s all talk, there are no definite plans yet – though we have discussed having the Webmaster’s parents go with us. His dad doesn’t do roller coasters, so he can hold all of our stuff while we ride. With Ane already measuring at 39 inches tall (without shoes), she will be able to get on all the rides with no problem in a year – except for Indiana Jones, which requires people to be 46 inches tall, but she’ll have no interest in that one. My concern is Tad. Can he grow seven inches in one year? Or six inches and then fudge the last inch with a thick-soled sneaker? I really want him to be able to go on Star Tours. The rest of the roller coasters he can sit out with his Grandpa, but Star Tours is important.

Well, we have a little over a year for the boy to grow. In the meantime, we’re keeping our eyes open for a shoe that will give the Brain that last inch. Do you think platform shoes would be too much of a giveaway?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 9:35 am and is filed under Children, Vacation Tales.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed and Both comments and pings are currently closed.