The Happiest Place on Earth

October is here, and excitement is building around our house. Why, you may ask? Because we're going to Disneyland!! Yep, it is true! The whole gang is heading to Disneyland in less than 3 weeks! Work schedules have been arranged, notifying teachers has begun and vacation time put on the calendar a year ago is quickly approaching.

We figured it has been about 11 years since we last visited Disneyland. Ground-breaking was just beginning on Disney's California Adventure park. I remember looking at the pictures of the proposed park and gazing at the vast undeveloped space as we rode past it on the monorail. The last time we were there, our children, with the exception of 1, didn't meet the height requirements on the bigger rides, or the kiddos were too frightened to even try a lot of the attractions that seemed a bit overwhelming. (And maybe riding "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" as one of the first rides wasn't a good idea either!) We did find the carousel and "Dumbo" to be "safe" favorites.

This year, all 6 of us are committed to going on (almost) every ride. There are a few exceptions. Half of our group isn't real keen on roller-coaster-type, jerky, wild rides. The other half (of which I am a part) is game for almost anything and will at least try it once. My oldest son, now 19, proclaimed proudly (tongue in cheek), "Mom, I don't think I'll be afraid like I was last time. I'm even going to go on Splash Mountain because I'm a big boy now!"

Another part of this southern California adventure is that we are flying! Our previous trip was a road trip, which was lots of fun. (I had made surprise bags for the kids that were Disney related. Every 100 miles they were each given a new surprise bag to open. This year, my big kids have each asked if they get surprise treat bags on the airplane!) We decided to fly this time for a couple of reasons: time frame was limited so this would maximize our play time; and 3 of our 4 kids have never been on a airplane! This is something we wanted to share with them and be a part of. Needless to say that getting there will be a big part of the fun.

To a lot of families, taking trips like this is common place; they do it yearly or perhaps a couple of times a year, and fly everywhere. But to us, this is a big deal. We haven't taken a lot of family vacations together for various reasons, and flying has always been a costly luxury. With a family of 6 and one income for most of those past years (I started working part time about 4 years ago at various jobs) we looked for ways to cut corners wherever we could. Most of our family time together has been weekend trips to the coast, or day trips around the state.

Perhaps that is what adds to the excitement of this trip; our kids, because they're older, understand and appreciate that this really is a 'big deal'. My son asked me why we were doing this now and wondered if we had 'come into some money' that would allow us to go on a trip of this expense. I assured him that, 'no, we hadn't won the lottery', but rather we knew this potentially could be the last time that just the 6 of us will vacation together. Our children are quickly approaching the ages (or are already there) that, in reality, from here on out, we could have a new spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend accompanying us on these family trips; or perhaps the kids would need to be absent because or work or their college schedule won't allow it. Sure it is making finances all that much tighter at home, and funds we could use to decorate or make some changes in our new home have been reallocated to vacation time, but I know that the Lord has made this time possible. I keep coming back to that. What a joy to have the opportunity to spend time together playing, being silly, and genuinely enjoying being family together. We can hardly wait.

The sign at the main entrance to Disneyland proudly proclaims that it is, "The happiest place on earth." But I think I'd have to contest that. Right now, our home is the happiest place on earth as we anticipate our trip to Disneyland!