Road Tripping

We packed up the car and headed out for an adventure on Thursday. The weather was beautiful as we drove to California. Our plan was a surprise visit to Disneyland. A few weeks ago, my husband's father called to offer us tickets to Disneyland. We would stay in a hotel and be close to his home for frequent visiting. We couldn't pass it up. We didn't tell the kiddos hoping for a grand surprise. 

The kids were so excited when we checked into the hotel. They bounced from room to room jumping on beds and exploring every nook and cranny (we don't stay in hotels much apparently!). They tested the phone and reset the alarm clock for 12:24am (don't ask how we know the exact time). They shared hugs and stories with their Grandpa and delighted in it all.

On Friday morning, we headed to the "happiest place on earth." As we approached the gates and parking for Disneyland, they still had no idea. Eamon even questioned why we were parking in the Disney lot when we were looking for a museum (Grandpa's idea for a ruse). They were delighted when the true nature of our day was revealed. Surprisingly they were not interested in the characters walking around the park. Instead we rode rides and played at the park. Some of the rides were a bit too dark, scary and loud for my crowd. Eamon decided he didn't want to ride any more after enduring the Pinocchio ride. Benton said he wanted off! We took it slow after that and enjoyed the milder parts of Disney. We explored the carousel, Tarzan's treehouse, the tea cups and Toon Town. Eamon wanted to try the Indiana Jones ride, so we found fast passes for it.

After lunch, Aine joined Dave on a big ride, while Eamon, Benton and I took in the Aladdin show. Dave believes she will be his roller coaster buddy as she gets older. She is truly fearless. However she wasn't too keen about the ride while it was happening, and afterward she said it was scary. It started to rain pretty hard at that point, so we headed to the car.

Grandpa had given each of them some spending money. They took a look at Disney prices and decided they wanted to shop at Target on the way to the hotel instead. After a little detour to shop, we were snuggled back at the hotel to watch the rain.

It was an interesting trip for me as I am not a big fan of Disney. We don't do TV aside from PBS in our home and videos are limited. I find the movies to be too dark and scary for my family. I was amazed by my kiddos' reactions. They were not impressed by the characters and really were more excited to just run around and check everything out.