10 Years and counting....

On March 22 we reached the 10 year mark in our marriage.  In keeping with tradition we didn't celebrate that day instead we waited until May and went to Disneyland!  Our last big vacation was in 2007 when we went to San Diego.  Yes, they have been few and far between.  Originally our plan had been to go on a Disney Cruise but due to unforeseen challenges with our house in Lacey, we changed that to Disney World since we had already purchased the plane tickets.  Then while booking tickets for BYU Women's Conference we found out that our flight to Florida had been cancelled and John was fortunate enough to get an agent that agreed to refund out non-refundable tickets.  So we found a fabulous deal on airfare to Long Beach and decided to go to Disneyland.  Don't they say that things come in 3's?  It definitely did for us and really for the better. Our kids had never done anything Disney and Disneyland is really the best jumping off point.  In addition to our first trip in 5 years it has was the longest trip away from home since we got married!  It ended up being 10 days.  John wasn't in a position to really take 10 days off of work so we got a little creative.  Our schedule was as follows.

Wednesday, May 9th - kids go to school/John works in PA. Head down to Tacoma, Bridget cuts hair check in to Hotel

Thursday, May 10th-John works in Tacoma, Bridget & kids head to Point Defiance Zoo, early afternoon head up to Sea-Tac airport.  Have dinner at airport and catch flight to Long Beach.  This was Juliana's first time flying and we got to board and disembark from the tarmac!  Arrive in CA get a quick bite at In-n-Out and head to our Hotel

Friday, May 11th- Met up with our friends Bill & Bethany Sweet and their kids Willow and Gabe. Spent the day in Disneyland

Saturday, May 12th-Spent the day in California Adventure and then went to Disneyland for fireworks.

Sunday, May 13th- Went to church in Newport Beach, happened to be the ward of a guy I went to high school with in Lacey, WA. Saw the Newport Beach Temple. Wanted to go to the beach, it didn't work out. Tried to go to the CUBE science museum but the reciprocity wasn't what we thought it was so we decided to head back to the hotel and let the kids swim in the pool.

Monday, May 14th- Spent the day at Disneyland.  John had it mapped out using an online program so we didn't have to wait in too many lines, except to see the princesses.

Tuesday, May 15th-Spend the day in California Adventure again using software and fastpass to avoid lines.

Wednesday, May 16th-Got early admittance to Toon Town then spent the rest of the day in California Adventure.

Thursday, May 17th-Used our Magic Morning pass for Disneyland and ended up spending 6 hours at the park before we were done.  Headed to Seal Beach to burn some time before heading back to the airport to fly back to WA.  Since our plane didn't get in until after 10 we stayed in a hotel in Southcenter.

Friday, May 18th- John checked in at work in Tacoma and then we headed to Point Defiance Zoo.  Got lunch and then headed back to Sequim.  Since we were home in time we went to the ward activity that night, too.

It was good to finally be home and have the kids back at school.  We really enjoyed our trip.  It was nice not to have to worry about deadlines, cleaning the house, getting places by a certain time.  It took a few days but even John was eventually able to loose himself in just being a kids in a huge amusement park!  We are already planning our next Disney adventure.  Our goal is Disney World as long as all the kids continue to grow so we can enjoy all the rides, too!