After our two VERY FULL days at the Disney parks, we were all glad for a morning to sleep in. We slept in, packed up, Zach walked back to get a rental car for our drive to the airport (after realizing that, with our hefty State Farm discount, just renting a car for the hour drive to the airport would be cheaper...and qualitatively way better...than taking an Uber), and then we had one more fun activity before it was time to head for home.
Breakfast with Goofy and friends at the Disneyland Hotel!!
Our buffet brunch with Goofy and friends was fantastic!! The food was fabulous, and there was so much variety. From the made-to-order omelets to the french toast and waffles to the fruit bar (seriously, they might have had the best strawberries I've ever had) to the huge dessert spread to some good-looking lunch options (although I primarily stuck with the breakfast foods)...and my favorite...
the specialty pizzas. I tried the chicken and waffles pizza, the smore's pizza, and the PB & J pizza. I'm not sure what it was about it, but I LOVED the PB & J pizza. I had 3 pieces...on top of all the other food I was loading up on.
While we were eating our mounds of food, we also got to meet Dale, Chip, Pluto, and Minnie as they came around the restaurant.
All the characters spent time interacting with us, took pictures, and then a few times throughout our meal, they danced/marched around the restaurant.
I love that my kids, even as they get older, still get excited about meeting characters and really enjoy the character meals that we do.
After we stuffed ourselves, Adelie and Briggs amused themselves on the escalators in the hotel while Zach paid the bill.
We had heard horror stories about LA traffic and the craziness of LAX airport, so we gave ourselves ample time to get to the airport, return our rental, and get through security for our flight. In the end, all that time was totally unnecessary. We didn't hit any significant traffic, our rental car return and shuttle ride was quick and easy, and there were literally only about 10 people in front of us to go through security at LAX. On the plus side, we had our choice of any seats we wanted at the gate and had a few hours to read and relax before it was time to board our plane.
After 10 days of exploring and staying in hotels and rental places, driving rental cars, and mostly eating restaurant meals, it felt really good to get back home...even if we were pulling in at 2:00 in the morning.
What a fun trip we had! One of my favorite things ever is trip planning and taking my family to places we've never been before.
I love when my kids try new things and show how capable they are. Some of my most defining life moments were trips that I took that showed me new places, allowed me to experience new things, and often pushed me out of my comfort zone. I want that for my children as well.
Whether it's challenging kayaking or climbing higher than they thought they could or doing a hard hike, it is so rewarding to see them prove to themselves just what they can do.
I love the bonding moments and funny memories and shared stories and all the little things that make each trip unique.
I love trip planning. There is always give and take in my planning efforts since different members of the family value different things. My husband would be happy hiking through national parks for weeks on end. He would also be happy if we never set foot in a Disney park or city center again. On the converse side, my kids typically list Disney as their favorite vacation spot and are often ready for something different after a few days of hiking. Luckily, I'm a travel chameleon and just enjoy it all.
This trip hit a little of everything. We had outdoors and hiking. We had beautiful scenery and solitude. We had wildlife and beaches. We had time as our own little family and time with others. We had cities and theme parks. In the span of 10 days, we fit in a lot of experiences that encompassed different favorites for different members of the family.
No trip is perfect, and this trip wasn't either. There was whining and complaining and arguing. There were early mornings and late nights and tired kids and grumpy adults. There were things that didn't go quite as smoothly as planned (flight delays anyone?) and things we could have done better or differently. There was one certain member of the family that wore their "seriously, we got up at 6 in the morning to just stand in line" face for the first few hours of our Disney time and another family member that will be happy if we never make kayaking part of our trips again.
But when it was all said and done, we had a great trip. We take the good and the bad. We store away the memories and the moments. We mark off more National Parks and more states in our travel log. Then we add another chapter in our family book of life. And this chapter? It was a good one!
