One thing Jeff and I love to do together is go for drives! Its a time where for the most part the kids are settled or sleeping and we can talk and dream while exploring new roads and places! At our house all our kids know that at 40 inches you can ride almost all the big rides at Disneyland. In fact on the wall where we mark the kids height so we can watch them grow, we have a big red line at 40 inches labeled Disneyland. About 2 years ago we surprised Natalie and Jack with a trip to Disneyland just after he reached that 40 inch line! This year Jeremiah had been measuring himself almost daily to see when it would be his turn to go! He got there right about September, so we decided to try to pull off the same surprise we did a few years back!
We left our house at about 7pm on Sunday night and headed down to drop Jase off with my parents for his "special time". This is normal as my parents enjoy taking each kid for a few days and having special time with just them, and it was Jase's turn. We got back in the car and on the road headed for what the kids thought was home, but we had a surprise! All three fell asleep fairly quickly and ended up sleeping until just after sunrise when we crossed the Oregon California border. I packed a bunch of activities for the day of driving still ahead. They never asked where we were, where we were going, why we were not home yet, or anything! That is truly one of the things I love about our kids! They completely trust Jeff and I and are up for whatever crazy adventure, known or unknown, whenever! By the time we got through LA traffic we pulled into Disneyland at 5:30pm! They still had no idea!
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When they finally realized that we were at "the real Disneyland" they were tired but excited! The final surprise was that Jeff's parents ended up meeting us there, and were waiting just inside the gate for the kids to find them! It was so much fun to watch Jeremiah's face as the main street parade passed by as we walked in! Great way to start a fun week ahead!
Before kids, Jeff and I would get season passes and go to Disneyland twice a year. Now that we have 4 kids we have gone about once every other year. This time we decided that each day we let one of the kids choose where we went and what we did. It was a lot of fun seeing the things they noticed and the things they completely walked past! It made the trip much more relaxing, not worrying about doing and seeing everything, but just focusing on each kid and their choices each day!
In the middle of the week we decided to take a break from Disneyland and go play at the beach! We headed to Newport Beach and found a great spot to hang out for the day!
The next day we were back at the park to enjoy some more Disney magic!
Finally it was time to head back home. We drove up through Santa Barbara and played on a local beach for a few last minuets before sunset and the long stretch of our drive home. Good night Cali, until next time!