Preface: It’s summer. I have three kids. I just can’t find a moment of peace to myself, ever. Let alone find any time to write anything. But anyone that has followed this blog for awhile, knows that if I don’t blog, I explode. Therefore, if there is a break in the blog, never fail, I will make up for it eventually, as you can see for yourself.
Our first month of summer break was Minnesota. After that, it’s recovery and usually this part of the summer we get to have a visitor or two. (Morrisons, we miss you!!) Then it’s back-to-school prep and birthday party planning. John’s travel starts up again. This year, we decided that it was very important for us to dedicate some time to have a family vacation, where it was just us. Our own little family vacation – even if it was only for 48 hours. We had just enough time to sneak something in after the cousins departed and before Daddy had to go to Spain.
And you’ll never guess where we went. Yep. We snuck away to Disneyland. Again. But seriously. When will we ever live 3 hours from Disney ever again? Not when our kids are the perfect age to enjoy it, that’s for sure. Maybe grandkids. And have I ever mentioned that it’s on the way to stop in the Champagne Region of France? We cleared a space in our wine cellar (i.e. basement), packed the car and took off. Since we were traveling on a Sunday, John even called ahead to a cellar to book an appointment. There was no coincidence whatsoever that the name of the cellar was “Lemaire.” None at all.
We were at Disney with plenty of time to swim before dinner. Our day at the park dawned bright and beautiful. Our expert park-going skills got us through our top three rides in the first 45 minutes of the Main Gate’s opening. (Yes, we fully admit to our type-A personality traits.) But after that, we really did relax. Throughout the day, it became clear that it was one of our very first, family vacation memories.
Yes of course we’ve had family vacations before this. But we were dragging this little baby along. Someone had to stay with her because she couldn’t go on any rides. Someone had to make sure she had her special food, or her nap, or her whatever. But not this time. This time she was one of us, with her own little opinion and her own appreciation of being considered one of the crew. She expressed this opinion clearly whenever necessary. Like the time we considered getting out of the god-awful long line. She screeched and declared “ME GO ON AIRPLANE RIDE NOW.” Ok then. We’ll wait it out. Waiting in line together actually became a treasured part of the whole experience. Who would’ve thought?
Her favorite ride of the day: Pirates of the Caribbean. Having been on it earlier in the day, it was decided that this was going to be the last ride of the day. We raced across the park near closing time to make sure this happened. We just made it through before they closed the ride to anyone else. (See, sometimes being type-A has its advantages.) It was just as big of a hit at 10 o’clock at night (even if I did worry just a little about nightmares.) To our surprise and delight, when we pulled up to get off, the attendant asked who wanted to go one more time? (We were the last boat.) Our family, Little One included, was all for it.
It was a really great day.
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