What will this be – the 6th trip to Anaheim this year? I’ve lost count. What can I say, the Magic Kingdom beckons again and we leave this afternoon. The flight benefits that we enjoy with Southwest only have another 3 years left. I am going to cram as much Disneyland and Disney World and anywhere else I can get away to into those 3 years as I can. It just so happens that Disneyland is one of the easiest destinations to escape to, even if it’s only for a day or two – which this will be. So, it’s just Michaela and I again. We’ve got a room at the Sheraton and no other plans but to just soak in the Christmas spirit that Disneyland is so good at providing this time of year. Of course a trip to Anaheim wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Roundtable Pizza. So, that is what is on our agenda tonight when we get there. I can almost smell the pizza now. Hmmmm!This will be the last trip to the Mouse House this year. I am not sure when we’ll get back to California but knowing me, it will only be a couple of months. Michaela has a spring break coming up at the end of February and we haven’t figured out what we’ll do during that time. We’ll see.One thing that we DO have something to look forward to next year is a girls night out at a Rick Springfield concert in April. Tickets just went on sale and Debbie got them today! YAY! This will be Michaela’s first rock concert and it will be the first time in a really REALLY long time since Mom has seen him. How weird it will be to go to this concert with my daughter. HA! Oh well. It should be a blast. Also, we’re in the fifth row – dead center…so, if Rick has any plans of standing on Debbie’s chair this time, he’ll have to climb over several people to do it. This may be the catalyst for buying my camera…who can resist the opportunity to take some cool concert pictures?
We have another week before we travel to Anaheim and I couldn’t be more anxious to get there. I asked Michaela this morning if she wanted to run away with me.She said, “No. I like it here.”DANG.”Where would we go?” She asked.”I was thinking we could just go to Disneyland forever.”"MOVE there!?”"Sure.”"But they don’t have toys there.”Um, WHAT!? Girl needs to work on her priorities. Disneyland is a toy mecca in my opinion. But alas, I told her that we’d stay here and just live with our frequent visits to the Mouse House instead. I don’t know why I am so eager to go. Michaela and I were just there in August. So it’s not like we haven’t been for a long time. I think it’s just things have reached their breaking point. I am about as fed up with this election as I can get. I know I do this to myself every election but this one really has me on edge. I can’t believe I am saying this but I actually miss the Clintons. I am still holding out hope they do SOMETHING before November 4 that will blow Obama out of the water so Hilary can make her come back in 4 years. I would much rather bash on her than have to deal with Obama’s socialist garbage. The man is scary. He is truly a frightening individual with such horrible opinions about our country. It’s true what moms say, you are who your friends are. If you look at who your closest friends are and who you align yourself with, it pretty much shapes your opinion of the world and how you treat other people. Obama will not answer a question directly. He holds his nose up in the air and looks down on people when he talks and he says he has all the answers but he won’t say what they are. I’ll just say it..He’s a freakin’ lunatic and dang it, I want the Clintons back. At least with them all we have to worry about is an occasional woman getting sexually harassed and a death or two under mysterious circumstances. I can deal with that. I just can’t fathom the idea of what this world would be like if the likes of Barry Obama takes over. **Shudder**So, I want to escape to the Magic Kingdom. At least in that world, politics seems to disappear. Not to mention all the other garbage gets checked at the gate….unemployment, boredom…widowhood 
Anyway, it can’t get here fast enough! I think everyone except Grandad is excited about it. Poor Grandad. He’s so over the Disneyland thing… but we got him to tag along and hopefully he’ll find some joy there. Me on the other hand, plan to have a fabulous time!
Again, the trip to Anaheim was a quick one. But it’s ok. We’re a little weary but the deprivation of sleep was worth it in the end because a glorious time with family in the Happiest Place on Earth was had. Jeff and family arrived in Anaheim a couple hours ahead of us. We flew in late to help curb some of the costs. I was concerned for Mom. She has been having problems with her leg and hip since our trip in early March. I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to enjoy herself much. But she seemed to weather it fine and I think getting to see her grandkids take in all that was Disney made it all worth while.We woke bright and early Monday morning and made it to the free breakfast at 7am. Good thing, too. The breakfast room at the La Quinta filled up quickly. Jeff’s kids eventually filtered into the breakfast room but not much was eaten. Nerves, excitement and anticipation fueled the morning. No amount of corn flakes, imitation orange juice and rubber pancakes were going to help. The kids wanted to get going! We had a nice little hike to the park so we got a head start and decided to wait for Jeff and family to arrive . I was able to capture their first moments in the park, usher them to City Hall for some free buttons and follow them down Main Street hoping to catch their first reactions. Perhaps it was stunned silence. Maybe they didn’t want to cause a scene? But the group was pretty calm and quiet those first steps into the park. Maybe they didn’t know what awaited them? I’m not quite sure. I don’t remember my first time in Disneyland. So I cannot say that I could relate to what they were feeling. What became apparent, however was that the kids were willing to try just about anything and soon, their personal likes/dislikes started to surface.Abby and Enoch wanted it fast and furious. They were abundantly patient when it came to allowing the younger kids a chance to experience some of the tamer attractions. Allie and Maggie were willing to participate in pretty much any activity but clearly preferred the livelier rides. Madelyn is the in-betweener – not quite the older kid but certainly not a little kid, either. Don’t be fooled by her size. She may be the smallest of the bunch but she is no longer a little girl. Her speed was much more in line with the older kids. Emma, having not experienced anything like this before was quite brave. Seeing some of the characters can be kinda creepy for some people. She seemed to enjoy it. Each ride was met with a little cautious curiosity. She tried it and if she didn’t like it, she made it known. I think maybe Sandy was kinda happy to see that her baby was still very much the little girl she hoped she would be and happily obliged when Emma preferred to ride the younger fare. But it didn’t take long for my little dare devil to rub off on her.By the next morning, Michaela and Emma were eagerly hoping to ride some rides together. Alone. NO GROWN UPS! Sandy wasn’t too sure that was a good idea. And I admit that perhaps on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it could be a little risky having the little ones hang on for their lives by themselves. You slide around a lot on that ride and usually Michaela rides with me. It would be a new experience for me as well but heck, if she can handle Space Mountain, she could handle this. I told Sandy we could ride behind them. It’d be ok. Well, they were fine, of course. Michaela rode with her arms outstretched and freely screaming her head off. I did the same. We made quite the pair. Emma even threw one hand up in the air to show her daring solidarity to her cousin and left the other hand clinging to the lap bar to show her mother that she could follow instructions. Sandy, meanwhile, wrapped both of her hands around Emma’s shoulders. There was no way her baby was going to budge! It was a huge moment – quickly becoming a family classic. This is one memory that I will never forget.The trip was quick. And Michaela was very sad – dare, I say it? She was MAD that we had to leave. As we drove home from the airport last night she asked me, “Why don’t we just move to Disneyland so we never have to leave it?” Sounds like a great idea to me!VIEW THE TRIP PHOTOS
