Hey howdy hey everyone….It is time for yet another installment of DADDY’S HUMUNGO BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN MOVIE WATCHING FUNSTRAVAGANZA. And while that last sentence probably sets the tone for an exciting and fun-filled experience, we all need to prepare ourselves for some reflection and somber moments. Because, yes, for this night we watched the tear-inducing, “OMG I am dying” Toy Story 3.
Sniff.
So yeah and for this night, it was just the 4 of us. This was on purpose on account of I cry like a little girl for like 50% of this movie and Myles and Owen embarrass easily. Which shocks me because I feel like years of being my child would build up some sort of HET (high embarrassment tolerance.)
The food
Typically, for Toy Story movies, we order in pizza. But not from Pizza Planet. Because, as I have always said, why in the crud would anyone ever order from Pizza Planet? That place is bomb dot com.
But for this one, we decided to make our own pizza. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Wow, that’s impressive. But it was Boboli. Regardless, it was still better than most of the pizza you can get at Disney World. Hey-oh!
The activity
We decided to make our own Midway Mania. Myles went through the house and set up some different carnival games for us to play. And we also played for prizes – stuffed animals! It was fun but felt less authentic without the deception, expense and filth of a real carnival.
The games went as follows:
First, we played a soccer-type game where we had to kick this hover-soccer-thing through a dining room chair. I lost this game horribly. Myles won and he gave his stuffed baby Mickey to Owen. And the blog erupted in a collective “Awwwwwwww.”
Then, we played pinball with the Star Wars pinball machine Myles got for Christmas.
Going into this one, I was the heavy favorite. But I hadn’t realized that Owen had recently travelled to Russia and participated in a training montage.
He won, obvs. I mean….he’s pulling Paulie in the snow so.
Then we moved onto air hockey. The finals came down to me vs. Myles. The kid went top shelf on me, scored and won the game. At this point, I was really starting to doubt myself.
And finally….finally came basketball. We used the Star Wars basketball net Owen got for Christmas. It was a close game, but I ended up walking away with the victory. Because I AM THE BEST!!!!111111 NO CHILD CAN BEAT ME!!!!!!!
Obvs, my confidence had been restored.
The movie
As I mentioned in my previous Toy Story post here, Toy Story 3 is my favorite Pixar film to date. Well, Inside Out may be giving it a run for top position but let’s stay in the world when this whole project was started and Toy Story 3? Amazing.
And the more amazing thing? It’s the only Disney “sequel” on my list (I am not counting the Muppets or the Star Wars trilogy as those are somewhat outside what most would call traditionally Disney movies.) As I have mentioned before, Disney has had a tough time with sequels. They are typically…not good. Even just limiting it to Pixar, Monsters University and Cars 2 were at best underwhelming and at worst, Cars 2. We shall see what they do with Finding Dory and Incredibles 2. I am all at once excited and hesitant.
Toy Story 2 is an enjoyable enough sequel but every time I watch it, I am left wishing I put in the first one. Every time I pop in Toy Story 3? Blown. Away. Toy Story 3 has everything I love about the Toy Story franchise. By which I am specifically referring to the characters. The characters have always been what make the Toy Story movies so endearing. Again, in my first Toy Story post, I pointed to a moment between Woody and Buzz that really forged my love for this franchise. Toy Story 3 is like 103 of those moments, one after the other. And it’s all times like a million because as these characters’ friendships have grown and become stronger so has our connection with them. So by the time we reach Toy Story 3, we are fully invested.
And that investment causes me to laugh, cry and feel along with these characters. When they are moving closer and closer to the fire towards the end (oh hey….spoiler alert) and they all join hands, I want to reach out and hold their hands along with them. Because we all want friendships like that. Friendships that are based on nothing more than wanting to be there for each other.
And whenever I watch this movie, it makes me so thankful for the friendships I have in my life. I have some friends I have known since before I was in kindergarten. And others that I met more recently. But I am lucky enough to have friends that make other people say, “wow, you have some really good people in your life.”
Once again, a Disney movie is so much more than just a movie. When I first saw Toy Story 3, I knew I was watching something special. It just felt so much bigger than the drive-in screen it was showing on. And it is. It really is something everyone should see.
WeHeartDisney 
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