Finding Magic

It has been a dream of mine to take my kids to Disneyland. The rides, the magic, the memories. I wanted that for my kids. I wanted them to ride blindly through Space Mountain and get dizzy on the tea pots. I wanted them to watch the shows and dance in the parades. I wanted them to eat expensive ice cream and drink overpriced lemonade. I wanted them to pick out and buy their very own souvenirs. I wanted the magic of Disneyland for them.

It was a dream fulfilled from the first moment to the last. Upon our arrival at the hotel there were three boxes waiting for us. Inside were princess dresses, stuffed Minnie and Daisy duck dolls, tiaras and wands. The dresses were immediately put on, and once they were on it was very difficult getting them off. Hadley, dressed as Snow White, and Chloe, dressed as Belle, refused each morning to take them off to go to the park. Once there, they loved the Dumbo ride and spent a good part of our early entrance at the Pooh ride. FYI, there's no one in line for Pooh at 8:00 a.m. You can ride it over and over and over again. You don't even have to get off as your children chant in unison "'gin, 'gin"(sigh).

Braden was the most reluctant of the kids. He equates Disney with everything girl and princess, because it pretty much is at our house. When he entered the parks, he came with a little chip on his shoulder and Disney definitely had something to prove. Poor Crush the sea turtle from Finding Nemo felt it, as Braden gave him a bit of a hard time. Their conversation went something like this:

Crush: So, what's your name.

Braden: Braden

Crush: Where ya from?

Braden: (long pause)... I don't think you'd know it.

Crush: That's why I'm asking. So, let's try it again. Where ya from?

Braden: (long pause)... Up on the surface.

Crush: Where abouts up on the surface?

Braden: On the land.

In the end Disney won Braden over. He and Emme kept Ryan nauseous for the entire four days. Braden loved the Tower of Terror while Emmry's favorite was the Matterhorn. Ryan's favorite may likely have been the park bench, and my favorite? I loved the shows (When did I become a boring adult?).

On the last day we let the kids pick out their souvenir. They had had four days now to look in every shop and contemplate just the right trinket. In the end, it was pretty easy. Braden chose a double-sided light saber; Emmry, a Minnie Mouse Polly Pocket; Hadley, a bucket of princesses; and Chloe, the cat in a princess purse she fell in love with at the Pooh ride.

The dream vacation was truly magical for me and I was not disappointed. But it was really more than the magic of the park, Mickey and the princesses, Small World, and Sleeping Beauty's castle. For me, it was what the vacation represented. It represented the end of our journey through school, our finally making it, and the opportunities that are ahead of us. That is what made this dream truly magical!