Post 7 (5/9/14)

Well, here we are on the first Friday back. By back, I mean back on our regular schedule, back to real life. For those that don't know, last week the wife and I got to spend 3 days in Disneyland, kid free with great friends. We had so much fun and we're very grateful for the vacation.

The traditional Disneyland picture :)

None of it would have been possible without the love and support if our amazing family (including the kid's awesome babysitter, Jazz). It was definitely a team effort though. Let me break it down for you guys.

Ok, not my actual flow chart here, but you get the idea

 Wednesday, after she got off work, my sister showed up to spend the night with the kids. Cali loved it. She finally got a sleep-over with her Auntie Ninja. Then, Thursday morning, bright and early, Jazz showed with her son to play with the kids for the day. She was relieved Thursday evening by Nana (my wife's mom). Nana stayed Thursday night on through till Saturday morning. Saturday, Pappy (my dad) came to relieve Nana until Grandma Coffee (my mom) got off work. Grandma coffee cam straight from work, let Pappy head on home, and stayed with the munchkins until we got home Sunday evening. Phew. Did you guys follow all that?

On the other end, mommy and daddy were tearing it up at Disneyland and California Adventure.

The Incredibles (all 4 of us)

This was my wife's second trip ever, and my first in 23 years. So, we were both rookies full of excitement, and a little trepidatious about being able to keep up with our whole party. You see, we were there to celebrate our close friends birthday.

Birthday Girl

Her and her husband are Annual Pass holders who go to Disneyland probably 4-5 times a year. They have it down to a science. They know hours, they've mastered the Fast Pass, and Josh, the birthday girl's husband, has a map of both parks in his head. This turned out to work out to our advantage. We spent day one and two following along. In the first day we rode probably every major ride we could have wanted to. 

Day two was the birthday girl's actual birthday and we hit up even more rides. We also ate at The Blue Bayou, the restaurant inside of the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride. Dinner was great, the company was even better, and the day was exhausting ;) 

Day three was all for mommy and daddy to fly solo as much as we wanted. Seeing as we got most of the major rides and attractions dine the first two days, we were able to take our time meandering around and riding the rides we had left in the list. This consisted mostly of kiddie rides in Fairytale Town. It was cute and we had a blast. We shared almost every meal so we could get more foods in. It was like we were dating again and we had a blast.

Lovin life

Needless to say, after day three at the parks, we were completely worn out. We were both walking funny by the time we got back to the hotel. I was so grateful that all we would be doing the next day was sitting in the car and driving. 

There wasn't much recovery time. Monday, after we were home for a night, I had to dive right back into school. I'm now taking three classes online and had to spend almost all of Monday and Tuesday upstairs in my office. My poor wife had to spend her last two days off managing the kids solo the whole time. Wednesday through Friday are my days with the kids, and I think the trip has helped us a

all out immensely. The kids have been really good, I've been getting a lot of laundry and cleaning done, and we've all been in good moods the whole time. 

It's so great it be back home. We missed the kids so much. Such an odd mixture of feelings to have. We equally loved being without the kiddoes and missed them so much it hurts, all at the same time. We will probably do it again, one more time, before Cali is old enough to go (we've talked long and hard about it and for us and our kids, 5 years old is the earliest we want to take them).

I hope all of you are happy and healthy. I'll talk to you again soon :)