Jedi Training

My boys were sooo excited to go to Jedi Training. (That's why we made the Star Wars shirts.) They hoped to do it two or three times. I figured with five days there we'd probably have the chance. Turns out the shirts I made worked a little two well -- Tyler did training; then Zachary did training; then both of them did it a second time along with Shayla. And this was on our first three attempts before they'd even worn a couple of the shirts, so they kept wanting to go back and see if the other shirts would get a response as well. I guess that's a great problem to have, especially since I talked to one mom who had tried three times before being chosen.

On our first attempt, Tyler was chosen:

So happy to be a padawan in training

Tyler loved that he got to fight Darth Maul. Last time we were there he fought Darth Vader, so he was happy when they steered him toward Darth Maul. There was no fear:

Obviously Zachary was a little sad he hadn't been chosen, so the next attempt I told Tyler he needed to try to help Zachary be chosen. I was worried Zachary didn't look excited enough (even though he was popping inside), so Tyler and Becca tried to give him a hand by pointing desperately at him to be chosen:

Turns out they recognize family unity/desperation and chose Zachary:

Zachary also got to fight Darth Maul, which he hadn't yet done, either. Again, he was brave (even though Darth Maul made quite a face at him in this picture) and loved it:

So on our next attempt Shayla decided to be brave and try to get chosen. I wasn't sure whether or not she'd actually go through with it. Both boys got chosen right away. Then I started pointing at Shayla hoping the Master Jedi would choose the sweet little red-headed girl who might chicken out. And he did. All three kids got to be on the stage for the training portion, which they thought was cool. Here's Shayla:

I think as a general rule they put the older kids with Darth Maul because he looks so much scarier. The boys said they wanted to fight Darth Vader, so I told them ahead of time they'd have to tell the people if they wanted that. They were both put in the line for Darth Maul, and Shayla was put in line for Darth Vader. Next thing I knew Zachary was in the line for Darth Vader -- he had asked to switch, and they obliged. I was so happy! I am so grateful every time my children stick up for themselves. Obviously if they told him no he would have been happy with Darth Maul, but I was so glad he had the guts to ask. I want my kids to have backbones! :) Tyler decided at that point that he was just fine fighting Darth Maul again, so he didn't worry about it and neither did I.

Anyway, here are the fighting pictures ... and by the way, Shayla didn't chicken out, but she got totally into fighting Vader. (You've got to click on the second picture to see her intense face!):

 

 

 

I'm not sure we'll get back to Disneyland before my boys are 12 when they can no longer do Jedi training, so I'm glad they had the chance to do it. It was definitely a highlight of our trip. :)