Disneyland

I am not sure how we ended up deciding Disneyland was a good idea with a 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and a 8 month old. But it ended up being a wonderful memory filled adventure. The kind of vacation that makes you a little sad that normal life will return to normal. It was a lot of coordination, patience, and compromise but it was well worth the effort.

We delighted in our children experiencing some of the same things we reveled in as children during our own visits to the park. It was a bit of nostalgia and sentimentalism. Both of which cause many tear inducing moments for a pregnant lady. It warmed my heart to see the excitement and share in some of the "magic" of the park with my children. Quite humbling to realize that my parents probably worked a lot of overtime and saved for quite a bit to give me those experiences. Thankful that I am able to allow my children to indulge in the same delights I was given so many years ago.


When Lucas asks many years from now why Violet or Max has more photographs taken during our vacations. I think I will be honest with him. The deal was he didn't want his picture taken and I am not the kind of Mom who is going to press it for a photo-op. You learn to pick your battles when it comes to strong willed children. I hope he learns that in the end when you choose to be on the sidelines of life, you are the only one that misses out. No one else. Max sported a nice wound on his cheek compliments of the bed frame. He decided that the space from one bed to the other bed in our hotel was jumpable. He found out the hard way that his depth perception needs to be a bit honed. Even though we did not like seeing him hurt, we were kind of proud of our very cautious child for being brave and daring.

The boys most favorite ride was Autopia. And while I found Small World creepy as a 10 yr old at the park, I delighted in it as a 31 yr old. Go figure. We brought the overcast and rain drops with us from Oregon. So we missed out on the So Cal famously sunny weather. I felt sad for the people from other places not so use to the overcast or rain. It rolled right off our backs.

You know it's been a good vacation when all parties were sad to see it end.  The boys were disappointed on the day we got home that our hotel was really our "home". Max woke up on the first Monday Jeff went to work and said "Where's Daddy, I miss him in the mornings". Too many good, endearing memories to post or share, but I am glad that they are imprinted in our hearts and minds to revisit when we need a little moment to reflect this crazy ride of 4 kids in 5 years and remember it has been worth every bit of the ride.

We still discuss the train, fireworks, seeing Tinker Bell fly high above the castle, and we drink from our souvenir cups every day. All in all it was a successful first family vacation. One we will have to repeat one more time for good measure.