The happiest place on Earth

Growing up, our family took road trips for vacations. We drove to various state parks and camped, making excursions to places nearby.
It was great, but as a result, I had never been to the happiest place on Earth, until this year!

V was at a conference in Orlando this past April, so we decided to fly out and meet him toward the end and take a family trip to Disney World.
We decided to do this and start making arrangements approximately 10 days before the trip. As I casually went on Pinterest to find a good list of things to bring to the park, I learned that people start planning their Disney trips months (like, a year) in advance. Apparently, you can book your fast pass rides and park restaurant reservations 60 days prior to your trip. And you can hire a Disney planner to book said rides and restaurants and take care of everything else for you. People have published  books with the secret ins and outs of the parks.
I began to sweat and waver on our decision, thinking we would never have enough time to do things even remotely right.
V talked me off the ledge every day for about 5 days and we concluded that we would learn as much as we could and wing it. Oh, and pay a million dollars.

Luckily we had quite a few accumulated credit card points.

Full disclosure, we stayed at a very swanky resort on the Disney property a couple of nights using said points. The kind of place I have and will never belong, and the kind of place that spoils kids into thinking all vacations are just like that.
The first morning, we went down to the breakfast buffet (free with our points!) and I got dressed in my Disney attire. I was thinking I was ready for the day...
When I got downstairs, I encountered a very different mom scene.
Moms in full make up (at 7 AM) wearing very stylish (and very tight) Athleisure. They were sipping tea and eating small cups of fruit. They had their nannies with them, who were tending to their busy children. One particular family, who I developed a very unhealthy obsession with, had TWO nannies for their three children!
As I walked back to my table trying to hide my plate filled with real food (some of it for a baby!), I suddenly felt very childish and out of place.

It's like this one time at band camp in middle school. I was chosen for the PALS program in 8th grade which was a peer leadership, peer counseling program. We had a locker in the 8th grade hallway where students could drop notes about things they were struggling with and we were supposed to help them. I think we only got one note the whole year and I can't remember what it was for. I'm not sure how I got chosen...I'm guessing they needed some diversity for the pamphlet...but it was just me, a nobody, hanging out with some of the most popular kids in our grade.
We had an end of year pool party at one of the girl's houses and I remember asking my mom if I could get a new bathing suit because all I had were my practice Speedos and these kids were very cool. I would never be invited to hang out with any of them in any other capacity.*
Apparently after shopping around, this is the best I could do:

Me...with a future high school homecoming queen

What.The.Hell.
I was never going to be able to rock a bikini better than that summer and I chose that?

Anyway.
Those were my flashbacks at Disney breakfast. Everyone wearing bikinis and me, ready for Disney.

Talking not about me though, we ended up having a great time.
It was fast and furious and we probably missed out on so much, but what we did was fun and the boys had a blast...well, Alex had a blast. Good thing baby Z was free.

The happiest place on Earth is also the most exhausting place on Earth.

Until our next trip, Disney!!!


(Posts about air traveling with baby and the couple I was unhealthily obsessed with to come...)






*I am still friends to this day with one fellow 8th grade PAL and I love her to pieces...