Magical suprise trip to Disneyland

Wow, what a weekend!! We just returned from a 2 day suprise trip to Disneyland.

Here's the story....

My brother works for Pixar Anamation Studios. He and his wife have Silver Season Passes to disneyland. They wanted to buys is passes for Disneyland for xmas this year but had second thoughts when they realized getting in wasn't the problem. The problem for our family was planning the whole trip. We went 10 yars ago with our two little ones 4&18mos at the time. It was the only vacation we have ever taken. It was wonderful but the kids were so little it took 2 days to get them to go on anything but a boat ride. We had a great time and just being there wonderful. I planned the trip for a year and paid it off befor we went. I hadn't been since I was 3 yrs old myself. Now the kids are 13, 10, &7 yrs old.

My sister in law came up with the idea to use their passes and a few extra 1 day passes that they recieved and take the cousins and the moms. We would pile in her car,use her gas, and she paid for the hotel. Wow What a Christmas gift. We planned it for this past weekend. 1 day of driving, 2 full days at disneyland, 1 day riving home. We pulled the kids out of school for Monday and Tue. was a holiday. But how to suprise the Kids????

Day 1....... I told them we were going to my brother's house for the weekend for their cousins birthday. I made them pack extra clothes because I didn't know what we would be doing. They were so excited because they only see there cousing twice a year. Dad couldn't go with us because he had other stuff to do.... We get to my brothers house (2&1/2 hour drive) and they told the kids they had an early xmas present for them. They opened up a Disneyland t-shirt and 2 passes each for Disneyland. It took them a few minutes to figure it out, but they were so excited. We loaded up our stuff in their car, and we were off.

7 hours later we were at the hotel. My husbands parents had given the kids each an envelope to open after they found out about the trip. They each got a $100 bill. They game me $200. The note read " to buy yourself something special." I would have to spend any of our families money the whole weekend. My dad had given me $100 for food.

Day 2 ........... 8:00 AM. I cried when we walked through the gates at Disneyland. It meant so much to me because it's an experience I could never give them. It truly is a magical place. I felt like I was experiencing it for the first time. We stayed all day till 11:00 pm. On the way out my daughter (7 yrs) ran into Minnie mouse. She gave her such a big hug... I think it lasted 5 minutes. She did cartwheels all the way to the hotel.

Day Three........ 8 am again. This time we stayed untill Midnight. My son won "Dream Fast Passes" for our whole group. It also included California Adventure land. We rode the rides all day and night. I wanted to make sure my kids got to see the parade of dreams. When the music started so did my tears. I think I cried the whole time. Just thinking about it i'm crying right now. All of life's problems mean nothing when your in Disneyland, It's such a wonderful place, and my kids were there to experience it. I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Day 4.... Got the kids in the hotel pool at 9 am and we were on the road again by 10:30 AM. 7 hours later.... we are in the bay area at my brother's house. I got the kids home at 8:30 pm. Everyone was so excited to see DAD again. Showers, bed, off to shool at 8 am the next day.

It was such a memorable trip. Now the cousins have memories of being together for more that a birthday or two a year. I'm trying to figure out a way to express my thanks in a way that will touch my brother and his wife, as much as their gift touched us. I'll have to think on it a while.....

Now it's a quick shock back to reality. Laundry, Grocery shopping, homework, and bills.

Believe it or not I couldn't wait to read the forums to see what I missed in the last 4 days.