Disneyland 2013

In September, we surprised the kids with a trip to Disneyland!  We had planned it about 6 weeks in advance and told NO ONE for fear the surprise would be ruined.  So, on Sept. 20, we woke the kids up at 4:15 am and told them to go downstairs for a surprise.  They stumbled around and made their way down stairs, where we had Mickey & Minnie sitting on the couch with a note that said:

Dear Berkeley, Oliver & Finley, We called your dad & mom and invited you all to come to our castle for a play date.  They said yes, so, guess what?  You are going  to Disneyland!!!

So, go get dressed, hop on a plane and we'll see you a little later today!  We can't wait to see you!

Love, Mickey & Minnie Mouse

They were still slightly dazed from getting woken up that early, but squealed when they saw their suitcases packed and waiting by the door and quickly changed into their clothes that were laid out on the couch and ready for them to change into.  Within 30 minutes of waking them up, we were on our way to the airport.  They were so excited and so were we.  I think that was one of the best surprises we've ever done for them!

We had a 5 day pass for both parks, which was a bit much considering their ages.  We probably should have just done a 3 day pass, but we felt we had to pack it all in and do it all since we paid a fortune in airfare.  By day 3 they were crying, not wanting to be there anymore and just wanted to go play in the pool back at the hotel.  We all agreed...that's where we preferred to be too!  We got into a new routine where we'd spend a few hours in the morning at Disney, head back to the pool to play and relax for lunch and then head back around for more rides and fun at the park.  That seemed to work out much better for us.  We kind of needed a nice break and some down time in the middle of the day.  

The weather was beautiful, very warm, but the park was busy and  the lines were long.  It was usually a 30 min wait at a minimum for each ride.  We thought we were being smart by pulling the kids out on the 4th week of school, but apparently everyone had the same idea, which was a bummer.  That kind of trip is always exhausting and we knew it would be exhausting, but being 12 weeks pregnant was the cherry on top for me!  Plus, I had a 3-1/2 year old who still loves to be carried everywhere which made it even more tiring.  We did rent a stroller every day, which helped a ton, but she wanted to be held while standing in all the lines and it was in  the high 80's, low 90's a few times, so it was challenging for me at times.

We got through it, and were happy we did it.  Berkeley & Oliver were at the perfect ages (Fin was way too young and couldn't go on many rides, which was a bummer to see her get left out).  Oliver might have still been just a tad young...some things kind of scared him.  Jerry & I took him and Berk on Splash Mountain which he freaked out on because you go down steep hills in pitch black tunnels.  He screamed his head off the whole ride and we felt terrible since there was nothing we could do about it.  We just had to wait it out.  Overall, I'm glad we did it, especially since we're having another baby and we won't be going back for at least 6 years.  It was a good trip and I'm thankful our kids got to experience it.