When Life hands you Lemons

You make Lemonade.

And that is exactly what we did. March did not deal us the nicest of cards. But, it did bring a few realizations. And, it again handed us some lemons, the weekend before my mom was coming out here to watch the kids for us, so we could go on our trip to San Francisco, she feel. Turns out, she fell hard enough to do some nerve damage to her back. And, with Doctors orders, she had to stay home in bed.

We immediately started mixing the lemonade, trying to figure out what we could do. My great friend Andrea offered to watch our kids so we could still go. She was already off work, so it made sense. That way we wouldn't lose all of our money. We sort of quickly figured things out, and all seemed well. I am very thankful that she offered to do this for us. But, something wasn't sitting right with me. I felt bad. The kids have never spent the night somewhere without us (that isn't family), and never without us for more than one night. So, I was worried how they would react. Also, with their one Grandma passing away, and the other hurting herself and not being able to come out, I wasn't sure how they were going to be. I just couldn't leave them at this time.

Brett and I did some thinking, and number crunching. We called some of the places that we were going to go to in San Francisco, along with Westjet, just to see what we could do. We were looking at two options. One was to take the kids with us to San Francisco- which would be fine, but it was going to be rainy and cold, and we didn't have a car- so it would cost more money. The other option, which was the cheaper, and easier with two small kids, was to change our reservation and head to Disneyland. We decided to go with option 2.

Monday March 19, at 6am, we woke the kids up. They had no idea, they still thought they were going to their friends house! We explained that we cancelled our trip and wanted to take them to Disneyland! Once we were all ready, away we went!

Yes, in one weekend, I managed to rebook a trip, switch what was packed, pack the kids, get a stroller etc- all without them knowing!

We all had a great time in Disney. The temperature was perfect, not too hot, although it did get a bit cooler at night, nothing a hoodie and pants didn't fix! We had to stay at a different hotel this time, because of the last minute booking- the Super 8 on Disneyland Drive. It was GREAT! We probably would have never picked this hotel before, but now, we will pick it all the time. It was under $300 for the week. We walked about 2 blocks and got on the disneyland tram which dropped us off at the gates! It was on the quiet side of the area, had a pool (we didn't use it this time). AND- we were in room 304 and could see the fireworks perfectly from our hotel! We will always make sure we can get a room from 301-306 (or the 201-206 if we have too). It was great. We were very impressed.

Our days in Disneyland were amazing. We took it slow. Did things we have never done before, or really enjoyed before. Danika's new favourite is the Haunted Mansion, I really liked Pirate Island and the new Little Mermaid ride. Brett's favourite is still the roller coaster in California Adventure- which he got to do on his birthday. And Bryce- well he really, really likes the Buzz lightyear ride! (so do the rest of us).

On Brett's birthday, we spent the day in California Adventure, and then went to Tony Roma's for dinner. Then we went back into the park for the world of Colour show! (such a great show!).

On the Thursday we did our park hopping day. We were able to ride the Mark Twain River Boat, and go over to Pirate Island- which was AMAZING-we had never been! We were over there for over an hour and didn't even see all of it! We also spend some time in California adventure (mainly in Bug's land). And then went to Tortilla Joes for dinner- it was so good! And they kept the kids entertained with balloon animals while we waited for our food!

It was a great trip. Not the kidless birthday/anniversary trip that we had planned, but a great family time! We went at a perfect time (spring break started this week, so the crowds were arriving as we were leaving!), the longest line we waiting in was maybe 45 minutes- and that was on the Thursday! We pretty much walked up to most things we wanted to see/do!

Here are 2 videos to enjoy. One is all the video footage we took while there (with Brett's iPhone), and the other is the pictures. Now to countdown the days until sunny, hot Jamaica!