Disneyworld...er...land, make that Disneyland

We have a REALLY big family vacation coming up. 3 nights and 3 days at Disneyland...with 5 children ages 5 and under. Whoa! This is our annual "summer" vacation with my entire side of the family (flying in from Nashville and Chicago). And there is a little bit of a story behind this "summer" vacation in April.

Here is how it all went down... It was Christmas in Illinois and it was time for the big reveal. Papa and Mormor gathered all 13 of us in the living room with the intent of revealing the surprise location for our summer vacation this year. We had already decided on the week in August ages ago (like we always have to do so it works for everyone's schedule) but this year the location was a surprise.

They sat us down, handed each family a monogrammed duffel bag and instructed us to open in. We pulled out Micky Mouse ears. We pulled out a brochure for the really sweet hotel that was already booked. We were being videotaped. Mouths dropped and kids danced together. Wow. 5 days in Disneyworld in Florida. Holy cow, we did not see this coming.

I watched the elation in the room and as Samantha jumped for joy with her cousins I choked back tears and tried hard to look super excited for the camera. There was no way I was going to impact this moment for everyone else by revealing what we had just discovered a couple weeks earlier...I was pregnant...due in August...and most definitely wouldn't be traveling to Florida at 38 weeks. No family vacation for my family this summer. I made up some lame excuse for needing to bathe my kids and got upstairs before I totally lost it.

Later that night while watching basketball together I decided I couldn't carry our big secret any longer. I told them I was pregnant. Trust me, this was a TOTAL surprise, I explained. They were all thrilled (of course) and I had adjusted a bit and was going to be OK with missing the vacation. I mean if there is a good excuse for skipping out on a trip, it is a baby.

What I didn't expect was the ALL FOR ONE, AND ONE FOR ALL response that we got. They didn't want to go to Disneyworld without us. Awwww. We talked about earlier dates for the trip in April so the airlines would actually let me on a plane. The thought of traveling across the entire country pregnant with two children was a bit daunting for me, but we were game.

Then the next morning my dad woke up with an epiphany. Would the kids really know the difference between Disneyworld and Disneyland? No, no they wouldn't. Why not change the trip to Disneyland, then the pregnant woman wouldn't have to trek 2,000+ miles over 10+ hours on 2+ planes (x2). Sounded good to me! And sounded good to everyone else. My mom had the hardest time adjusting as she has emotional connections with Florida and Disneyworld, but adding a couple extra days in Laguna Beach for her and my dad seemed to help.

So there it is, the story of how Disneyworld turned into Disneyland.

But really, this is also the story of an incredibly loving family who didn't want to leave my clan behind...a family who knows me well enough, loves me well enough, to know that pregnancy is super stressful for me and was willing to adjust the plan for this high-maintenance mama.

I'm so excited. This trip is going to be SO MUCH FUN. And the thought of those 5 little cousins boppin' around the happiest place on earth together brings a BIG smile to my face already.