Feb 24 2009
A Lesson Learned!!
Our trip to Disneyland was an eye opening experience!! My grown up children planned the trip and paid for the trip. The only thing is it was so last minute working out the details of the travel. I loved the idea that they wanted to include me but they knew I did not have anything to contribute as far as money went.
We had a difficult time figuring out how everyone was going to get there. My son and his wife and two kids were going to drive their vehicle but there was no room for the girls and I. So, they decided to rent a car for me, but there were a lot of events going on in town and availability was limited. Finally, we ended up with a vehicle large enough to carry the bunch of us. That was one obstacle out of the way, the next packing and making sure the kids had enough of everything.
We left on Sunday, and it took us about 7 hours to drive to my oldest sons house. My youngest daughter lives 4 hours away and they had not left when we thought they were going to. When they finally ended up leaving the following morning they ran into road closures and had to use an alternative route. We were supposed to go to Disneyland that day but the weather was cold and rainy. My oldest son had made reservations at a restaurant, so we left for the restaurant and my daughter met us there.
From the restaurant we made our way to Ikea, it was raining and Disney was out of the question for that day. The kids were all a little grouchy from the car ride and being bustled around. They were too fussy and driving me nuts in the store so I opted to go to the vehicle with them while they shopped. When they finally emerged from the store I was ready to go back to their house.
Part of the reason the kids were getting on my nerves so much was that I had stayed up until 3:30 am the day we left and only had a few hours sleep and then when we slept at my sons house I didn’t sleep much because there was too much to take care of. Preparing everything for the next day, cleaning up after the kids, getting them ready, etc.
So when we set out for this trip we had 3 day passes for Disneyland, and had planned on leaving Wednesday night and returning the car the next morning. Since Monday was rainy and we did not go to Disneyland we decided that we would stay until Thursday and called the car company. Thank goodness the rain stopped for the rest of the days.
When we finally went to Disneyland, after parking and assembling we headed in for our passes. Once inside we just started walking and stopping and talking. It was difficult to steer everyone in the same direction since we had never been there before. We did not do our homework and figure out what to see and which direction to go, we did not even learn this after the first day. The whole place is overwhelming and there are just too many things to see and do! I really learned a lesson about this kind of trip, you really need to know what and where everyone wants to go and make plans before you even leave the house!!
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the trip and so did the girls, I think the rest may have been a little disappointed that things did not go much smoother but we were all together and that is what was most important. I guess we will just have to try it again and be better prepared the next time!!
