Yes, son, doing hard things can be fun too.

No rental car. Uber to & from the airport, resort transportation (a lot of the Disney Skyliner), and 4-5 good pairs of shoes each (including spare running shoes). Animal Kingdom the first afternoon, Magic Kingdom that night. I watched him pick Yak & Yeti from the app - orange chicken, new favorite, on his "must do" list now - and I thought about how this is the new part - the part where he chooses.

He tried the rides he used to be afraid of. Everest, just once, just us. Flight of Passage. Na'vi River Journey. Pandora at all - new territory. We had skipped it on the family trips since the boys had never watched Avatar. The new Zootopia: Better Zoogether show, previewing the Judy and Nick duo we'd be chasing in two days. Later, the castle. Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Pirates. Winnie the Pooh. It's a Small World. Dole Whips and popcorn and the Starlight parade. It was like he was thirteen and he was five again.

Expo morning. Bibs in hand - 24304 and 22739 - and I wore the Disneyland Half shirt from February. "We Sailed It." A foreshadow I wasn't ready to talk about yet. Jacob and Gianna met up with us there. We rope-dropped together, explored EPCOT together, then went our own way a lot of the time, father-son for Andrew & me; father-daughter for Jacob & Gianna.

Flower and Garden was everywhere we turned. Jamaican jerk chicken with a citrus slushy. Bananas Foster bread pudding. A special festival flan in Mexico. Topiaries on every path. Voices of Liberty - Jacob & Gianna stopped in as they started a performance, while Andrew & I were grabbing the bread pudding - we stopped to listen to them too. Three Caballeros (Jacob & Gianna had never been on it or into the Mexico pavilion!) Spaceship Earth. Test Track, which I'd ridden post-refurb in October, now with Andrew too. In Canada, he asked for a walk-through, and was in awe - the waterfall, the landscape, the whole pavilion. New to him somehow, and it caught him. Skyliner to Hollywood Studios. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. Sci-Fi Dine-In for dinner with all four of us. We laughed at the B-movies together.

After the finish line, after the bus, after the shower - Magic Kingdom. Tomorrowland Speedway at rope drop, because that's what a thirteen-year-old wants. PeopleMover twice to relax our legs together. Carousel of Progress, just because we were waiting for the TRON LL to open with Jacob. TRON. Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Haunted Mansion again. Tiana's again - this time we rode in a log behind a field trip group of 7th grade boys, one of them nervous about the drops. I watched my son tell another kid it's fine, I've done it, you'll like it. Lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Epcot at night - Three Caballeros again because Andrew loves them, tanghulu in China, potato pancakes in Germany, flan in Morocco.

Back at the resort, 30-minute pool dip before bed. I watched from the deck chair. I stayed off the phone.

After the 10K, we caught the Hollywood Studios resort Early Hours - just us two. Slinky Dog Dash, 23 minute wait, then into the Toy Story Mania queue before rope drop for the rest of the day's guests. Then Savi's Workshop, because this year I let him steer. His call, his money - the lightsaber he'd been talking about for a year. Last year I talked him out of it. This year I didn't. Gelato after, because of course.

After a nap, Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. Country Bear Jamboree. Swiss Family Treehouse. Beignets - Andrew blew powdered sugar all over my arm, my shirt, my shorts, and we laughed hard together. Beak & Barrel for snacks & drinks with Jacob & Gianna, then a quick ride on the train from Storybook Circus to Main Street. Vigil Mass together - Andrew leaned over during the homily and whispered this is long. Twelve minutes. I normally don't get to sit next to him during the homily. Now I'll be timing my own homilies again.

Pool dip number two. Resort dinner via mobile order. I grabbed what I thought was honey mustard - turned out to be honey packets. Andrew has a new nickname for me now. Honey.

Lesson from the Wine & Dine Half: if you sit too long after a long run, you can't walk the next two or three days. So we walked into the afternoon before heading to the airport. Epcot recovery loop before the flight. Frozen Ever After. Soarin'. Test Track again, because why not. French toast with cinnamon cereal, cinnamon cream, and caramel sauce at BrunchCot. Lemon tart and Lumpia at Citrus Blossom - more festival foods. The Dole Whip reward Andrew wanted to earn for trying enough festival foods. Three Caballeros - third visit. Tanghulu in China - again, because he loved it. A lamb wrap in Morocco.

We ran into Disney vlogger Kyle Pallo outside Soarin'. We watch him almost every day at home.