Seven days in seven minutes

Here's a summary of our trip to Disneyland...set to a Disney tune.  How appropriate.

Disneyland

It's been a long time since I've blogged here.  Part of it is because nothing has been happening, and part of it is because there are other demands on my time.  I post snippets of what's happening on Facebook, but haven't had time to sit down and write here.  

Last week our family took its first vacation together (as a family of six).  We spent the week in southern California at Disneyland.  For Lacey, Peyton, Reagan and me, it was our third visit, but for Baylee and Rhianna, and Lacey's parents, it was a first.

Part of the fun of the Disney trips for me is to see the reactions on the faces of my children.  On our first trip, Peyton was almost three and Reagan was a newborn.  We were so excited for Peyton to see Mickey and Minnie, expecting some grand reaction.  We did get that.  It was similar to the reaction that Lacey would have to seeing an actual mouse.  She wanted nothing to do with the characters with the "big heads" (her words).  She did like seeing the princesses and spoke at length with them.  After a few days Peyton warmed up to some of the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald).  

On our next trip, Peyton just turned six, and Reagan was about to turn four.  That time we discovered some of the shows (I don't know how we missed them the first time, but we did).  We still did the character meet and greets, but we saw just about every show they had.  Again, a new part of the Disney magic was opened up to our family.  

This year, our kids discovered some of the more exciting rides.  I don't remember riding roller coasters at seven years of age, but Reagan loves them.  I wasn't sure how Rhianna would respond, but she loved them too.  Baylee was too small for some of the more exciting rides, but she loved the Tower of Terror and Space Mountain.

We added a couple of excursions to this year's trip, including a visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.  For me and Lacey, this was a highlight.  I especially liked seeing a replica of the Oval Office and an actual, retired, Air Force One.  We also visited Grace Community Church for their Sunday morning worship service.  We also added a brief visit to the American Girl Place in Los Angeles to the trip.  

The weather was perfect for our trip.  It never got above 80, and never below 60 (except maybe at night, but the cool air was great for sleeping).  We stayed at a house about three miles from the park.  That was a treat.   What was lost in term so of proximity was far exceeded in terms of the convenience of being able to make our own breakfast in the house, as well as the ability to enjoy the additional space at night while the kids were in bed.

If there was one downside it was that I selected a holiday weekend for our trip.  I had no idea that Veteran's Day was a big holiday in California.  It was like Labor Day or Memorial Day is here in the midwest.  Schools were closed, some businesses had extended weekends, and many of those people came to Disneyland.  The crowds were much larger than I expected.  Had I just done a little research ahead of time I could have avoided those crowds.  We still had a couple of days after Veteran's Day to enjoy the parks without large crowds.  Next time, we'll know.   One advantage to our timing, however, was that the parks had begun decorating for the Christmas holiday, so we were able to listen to Christmas music and see some of the decorations, without the (even larger) Christmas crowds. 

Now that we are home, and I need another few days to recover from the trip.  Fortunately, I have a full week to catch up at work, then a short week before the Thanksgiving holiday.  That break will be very welcome for me.