I'm glad we went
GREETINGS from the land of hibernation (it's been awhile), where I report to you my biggest status update yet: We went to Disneyland! with two kids!
[pant. pant. breathe. deep breaths.]
What words can I say to describe our trip?
Scary. Tearful. Anxious. Excited. Memorable. And I've got the Mickey Mouse ears to prove it.
Yes, it was nerve-wracking, but this vacation was much needed, for we hadn't taken one since before the kids arrived. That was 2012. The past five years have been a blur, starting with the discovery that I was pregnant several months after we came back from Hawaii. Then Lily came along in 2013, and we settled into the baby-slash-school-slash-work lifestyle that vacation planning went to the bottom of the list of priorities. Mentally, we were new parents and just learning how to handle a baby, then a toddler, then another baby. Financially, we were a bit strained at times, but a vacation was always dreamed about. Physically, we were exhausted. My husband has been going to school full time since before our daughter was born and continues to go even after our son was born. Thankfully, this spring he will be done with his Bachelor's degree - another major accomplishment to add to our list of "taking kids to Disneyland" adventures.
Our kids did well, given the change of environment. Lily was very excited about being on an airplane for the first time and didn't seem to exhibit any signs of airsickness, thankfully. James did as well as he could on the trip while perched on our laps, save for a small freak out on the flight home - because he was hungry. I realized that there is such a stigma associated with taking small kids on an airplane. Both my husband and I experienced a sort of grimace/uneasy look from others when we told them that we were taking two kids on an airplane to Disneyland, for a vacation! It didn't make any sense to me because I knew people took kids on planes all the time. We even had a nice lady came over and asked us if we needed anything. I realized that people are very understanding of parents with children. The man who sat next to my husband on the plane ride back said he didn't mind kids at all, because he had kids of his own.
So, I'm glad we went. It was a weekend of many firsts - the first time the kids went on an airplane, the first vacation we took in five years, the first time we got stuck in LA rush hour traffic (no joke - the worst I've ever been in!), the first time we kind of got lost and drove through some rough neighborhoods in LA, the first time we spent more than $40 on meals for 3 people (even if one of those meals involved people dressed up in Disney characters and walked around while you ate), the first time we had "authentic" SoCal Mexican food, the first (and probably the last) time we did some cliche things such as getting matching Mickey/Minnie Mouse hats for all four of us, the first time we rode the teacup ride, Dumbo, Ariel, Small land just to name a few famous rides at Disneyland. Our time there was short, but we made the most of it and boy was it fun.
[pant. pant. breathe. deep breaths.]
What words can I say to describe our trip?
Scary. Tearful. Anxious. Excited. Memorable. And I've got the Mickey Mouse ears to prove it.
Yes, it was nerve-wracking, but this vacation was much needed, for we hadn't taken one since before the kids arrived. That was 2012. The past five years have been a blur, starting with the discovery that I was pregnant several months after we came back from Hawaii. Then Lily came along in 2013, and we settled into the baby-slash-school-slash-work lifestyle that vacation planning went to the bottom of the list of priorities. Mentally, we were new parents and just learning how to handle a baby, then a toddler, then another baby. Financially, we were a bit strained at times, but a vacation was always dreamed about. Physically, we were exhausted. My husband has been going to school full time since before our daughter was born and continues to go even after our son was born. Thankfully, this spring he will be done with his Bachelor's degree - another major accomplishment to add to our list of "taking kids to Disneyland" adventures.
Our kids did well, given the change of environment. Lily was very excited about being on an airplane for the first time and didn't seem to exhibit any signs of airsickness, thankfully. James did as well as he could on the trip while perched on our laps, save for a small freak out on the flight home - because he was hungry. I realized that there is such a stigma associated with taking small kids on an airplane. Both my husband and I experienced a sort of grimace/uneasy look from others when we told them that we were taking two kids on an airplane to Disneyland, for a vacation! It didn't make any sense to me because I knew people took kids on planes all the time. We even had a nice lady came over and asked us if we needed anything. I realized that people are very understanding of parents with children. The man who sat next to my husband on the plane ride back said he didn't mind kids at all, because he had kids of his own.
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| Just chillin' in our hotel room |
So, I'm glad we went. It was a weekend of many firsts - the first time the kids went on an airplane, the first vacation we took in five years, the first time we got stuck in LA rush hour traffic (no joke - the worst I've ever been in!), the first time we kind of got lost and drove through some rough neighborhoods in LA, the first time we spent more than $40 on meals for 3 people (even if one of those meals involved people dressed up in Disney characters and walked around while you ate), the first time we had "authentic" SoCal Mexican food, the first (and probably the last) time we did some cliche things such as getting matching Mickey/Minnie Mouse hats for all four of us, the first time we rode the teacup ride, Dumbo, Ariel, Small land just to name a few famous rides at Disneyland. Our time there was short, but we made the most of it and boy was it fun.
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| Lily's favorite thing : the bubble wand |
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