The Best Week Ever!!!

This kind of thing doesn't happen often. For some people it happens not at all. Yet somehow, it happened to us. At the perfect time. We had the perfect week. Our long-long-long-awaited trip to Disneyland has come and gone. And while I didn't think it was possible, our trip exceded our expectations. Perhaps it helped that the weeks leading up to the trip (expecially the week immediately preceding the trip) were chaotic at best. Dave had an exam and a LOT of projects to finish up at work. I had to submit yet another appeal for an extension with CU and get a revised chapter off to my new advisor. And of course, the girls got sick. I almost gave up on the entire process. Everything seemed to go wrong. Complications sprung up like the weeds in my front garden. Even the trip down to St. George where we were to unwind for a couple of days before heading off to the happiest place on earth was fraught with unbelievably heavy traffic. Dave and I feared nature, kharma, providence, or some other unseen power was trying to tell us something. We weren't sure the trip was such a good idea after all. And then the most remarkable thing happened. Everything went right. From the moment we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel life was good. Life was happy. Life was so darn fun. We had the best week ever!

Maybe our trip was perfect because we were so afraid to build it up too much in fear it could never live up to expectations. Maybe the long wait made us appreciate just how precious each second was and how quickly they would fly away. Regardless, we soaked in and embraced every moment - even the cranky outbursts (the girls are still two and four no matter where we are.....so what was my excuse?), the ill-timed potty breaks (how do kids know when you are at the furthest possible point from a restroom?), and the general exhaustion of a week of Disney fun. And the fact we were able to share the experience with Gramma and Poppy - the ridiculously generous benefactors of our dream vacation - made it all the better. The girls and their long-distance grandparents really got to know each other. And the grandparents got to be around for a few significant life moments for the girls.

I realize that it's much easier to have a truly joyful experience when one is able to escape the stresses of everyday life, the pressures of school, the never-ending tasks around the house, and the too often discouraging news coverage of financial crises and political strife (although I must confess to missing my daily David Gergen fix on CNN). In point of fact, it probably was that realization that helped us completely absorb and enjoy every minute we had in our character-saturated Shangri-La. Regardless, our trip couldn't have been better. And we can't wait to go back. In the meantime, I fully intend to bore any and all willing (and not-so-willing) victims, eh, readers of my humble blog to a trip log of sorts. Over the next few days I will post some of the daily highlights from what can only be described as the best week ever! While you all wait for these posts - with baited breath I'm certain! - head over to Grandma and Poppy's blog. You'll find the link on the right. There you will discover a fabulous slide show of trip courtesy of the Poppy himself!