It all started in August with an empty vase and some marbles. We told the boys that they could earn a trip to Disneyland if they filled the vase to the top by January. They could earn a marble each day by completing their "Top Five" (make bed, eat breakfast and up dishes in the sink, get dressed, complete daily job, and brush their teeth) In the beginning, they were highly motivated. But they were still motivated 5 months later! Whenever I reminded them they needed to get the marbles all the way to the top, there was never arguing about not wanting to do their job. A M A Z I N G ! ! !
I don't know how many other people, if any, bring their own food on their Disneyland vacation. But knowing that a sandwhich was $13 and a drink $5, I packed two boxes of cereal, nuts, dried fruit, and other items we could pack to eat in the Park. When we were riding the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the terminal, Scott's friend from work asked, "What are in those boxes?" When we told him we packed a lot of our own food, his expression said what most people probably thought. It's a good thing Scott and I married each other- it is pretty rare to go to such extremes to save money. But totally worth it to us. Our Disneyland experience wasn't any less that someone else's who paid the outrageous prices inside the Park.
Grace and Eli are ready to see Captain EO, starring Micheal Jackson. The 3-D movie hadn't been showing in over 10 years, but with the passing of Michael, it was showing again. It was very obviously filmed in the 1980's- the costumes and music made it clear. Oh, those were my glory years and they were really awful looking clothes.
Finding an area to break out the paper plates and assemble our sandwhiches. Asher fell asleep pretty much every afternoon in the stroller. It's a good thing we hung on to that thing- it really is on it's last leg. I knew Asher wouldn't be able to walk around the Park all day and he's too big to carry. This may be our last vacation needing a stroller! But then how do we carry our jackets, snacks, and drinks?!?!
EXHAUSTION!!! Asher would be too tired to even eat when we got back to the hotel at night.
On the ride Space Mountain a picture is taken and you can see it on a big screen at the end of the ride. I pretended to be sleeping on one of our rides. Asher, still all these weeks later, keeps reminding me that I can't sleep on Space Mountain and that I need to wait to get home in my bed to be sleeping.
Oakley and Eli both were selected to participate in "Jedi Training." Neither of them have even seen the movie Star Wars, but were really excited about the experience any way.
Oakley fighting the evil Darth Mol using his skills he learned in Jedi Training.
The happy cousins clan.
I have a love-hate relationship with Disneyland. I hate that it's so expensive, I love how awesome all of the rides are. I hate that it is physically exhausting, I love the excitement the boys have while there. I hate that I feel like I need to see a chiropractor after a lot of the wild rides, I love that my boys will remember this trip all of their lives. As great as Disney is, next vacation is definitely a cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment