Disneyland Vacation~2013
It was the perfect winter to plan this trip. I swear.....I've lived here my whole life and I don't remember ever(!!!) being this miserable. It's not like we got a huge amount of snow this year, it was just the bitter, bitter cold. It made me miserable-and grumpy!
The night before we left for California, it dumped another large amount of snow on our driveway. We didn't even attempt to shovel it, we just packed up the Tahoe and drove away from it all(giving the snow the virtual bird)...and hoping it would resolve itself before we got back. Ha...
By the time we hit St. George the jackets were coming off and the sunglasses were on-we were in full vacation mode! The next morning we arrived at Disneyland and me and Paul were just(if not more) excited as the kids were. It was so fun to have Olivia with us this time. We left her home on our previous trip to Disneyland and she was SO excited to go see Ariel and all the other princesses. :)
Disneyland is always such a magical place for us. So many people tell us how much they hate it there and I get that......if it's not your thing, it's not your thing....but it is most definitely our thing. :)
Here is my advice on a Disney trip: Do NOT(I repeat-DO NOT!!) plan your trip when Utah or California schools are out. You will be screwed and you WILL hate it-unless standing in 45 minute lines for every ride is okay with you. It's most definitely not okay with us. Therefore, we yank our kids out of school(sorry teachers!)and go on the off-season.
Next: have a plan! Do NOT go in there without grabbing a map and planning your day out. If you go in that park without a plan, you will miss half of the attractions and shows...therefore missing out on what me and Paul like to call the "magic" of Disneyland. Also-spend at least three days there. Trust me....you will need every day to see it all. We do 5-because....well, because we are crazy in love with the place and to be honest-they don't sell a 6-day -hopper anymore, or we would do 6....or 10. We love Disneyland-got it? ;)
Meals: We always stay where they have continental breakfast and we also always pack in our lunches for the day--then we go to a restaurant at night. This saves a TON of money. This is something we have done every time we go and it started with our first trip when Allie & Easton were just little. We really had no business financially going that first time, but if you knew my Allie than you know that I just HAD to get her there. You've never met anyone who loved those princesses more and I was determined to take her before she outgrew them. So we went and and we went on a B-U-D-G-E-T! I think for the rest of my life, a crunchy pb & grape jelly sandwich will taste like Disneyland! It's the only time I ever eat them.
Most importantly: WEAR A FANNY PACK!! Look, it's Disneyland. There is no fashion sense there. It's all tennis shoes, athletic socks, bad Levi shorts and fat people on scooters......so who really cares if you have a fanny pack on, AND it just might keep you from losing your phone-AGAIN. This time to only lose it forever and have to spend a fortune to get a new one, thus creating an "un-magical, un-happy, swear-word-ridden" hour at Disneyland. Not good, people. NOT GOOD! I don't want to talk about it, except that I will tell you that Paul didn't even yell at me...he was seriously concerned about my mental state....because, "How does a grown woman lose her phone this many times?!" *sigh* Anyway....
As you can imagine, I have about a gazillion photos, so here are just some of my favorites(I narrowed it down to about 500;) I put them into collages so that it would be easier to post-and view). These pictures speak for themselves....a thousand words and a million memories!
One of my favorite parts of Disneyland is the fireworks at night...and the last night we were there, we were picked to be part of Disney's "magic moment" and got VIP seating and treatment during the fireworks show. I'm telling you-this kind of stuff ONLY happens to us at Disneyland. We were picked the first time we went too...it's like we put out a "we are crazy/obsessed with Disney" vibe. HA. It was so awesome to sit there and have a front row seat to that show! It was the perfect ending to our trip!
In the middle of the week, we took a break from Disneyland and spent an entire day at Hermosa Beach. My kids love the beach as much as Disneyland! They splashed and played ALL day long. We ate there and played until the sunset. It was such a perfect day.
Coming home after eight fun-filled days was NOT easy. I had the post-vacation blues something fierce! As a family, we really do love being together. I especially love escaping the duties of being "mom"-you know, the laundry, dish washing, cooking, cleaning, nagging ,homework, etc....and just being able to 100% enjoy them. On the way home, we talked about what we could do as a family to be able to get away more often and made plans to make sure that happens. When we first bought our house, our plan(or MY plan) was to sell within five years and now, all I want to do is decrease our cost of living so that I can go and play with my family-make memories with them that they will hopefully remember for years. Funny how your priorities change. :) Here's hoping I will be on the coast of somewhere beautiful-with my fabulous four-very, very soon!
0 comments:
Post a Comment