Disney World

We planned for months and months and our family trip to Disney World has come and gone. Funny how time works. Unfortunately Mitch's family wasn't able to come along due to an unfortunate death in Jeannene's family, but we were able to go and have a fun trip even so.
Can I just say that 5 hours on a plane with a baby isn't the most fun I've ever had? Thankfully Chase was pretty good for the flight there, and he did nap for a small part of it. We took the red eye so I had hoped he would sleep the whole way but no such luck.
I could probably write pages upon pages about the eleven day trip. But I won't. It was nice to be away with family, and we made some good memories. I am happy to have had an opportunity to go once, I think it's something everyone should go do once in a lifetime! I was a little bit afraid that after experiencing Disney World in Florida that Disneyland wouldn't be as neat anymore but thank goodness the opposite is true! I like Disneyland quite a bit better, for a laundry list of reasons. None of which matter. Crowds aren't really my thing- anyone who knows me knows this- but I had a lot of fun watching Chase discover more of the world around him. He won't remember this as he grows up but we took lots of pictures. His age bracket made it easy for Jon and I to still have fun doing things we wanted to because little man didn't care about meeting characters or anything like that. He's one. We did meet Mickey, which is the *only* animated character he's taken any kind of liking to, and he was pretty amused by that. We don't really do TV in our house, not that we are above it by any means, there's just no time and Chase has no interest unless there's music involved. But he likes Mickey, therefore I like Mickey.
It's funny how things change in different chapters of life. I have never been one to attach emotions to items, so I have never been a souviner person. I just don't like stuff for the sake of stuff and prefer to keep life simple and not excessive. I have found clutter in my house tend to equate to clutter in my mind and I don't like that. I didn't care to buy anything for me, but when Chase would light up at the sight of something- that's a different ballgame, so he did indeed come home with a build a bear Dinosaur. When I asked him what he wanted to name it, he said "Albert" which I am refusing to believe has anything to do with the fact that's one of the two words he even knows. So Albert came home with us and is now Chase;s absolute favorite toy in the whole world, and that makes it worth it.
I love my family, and I am thankful that we were able to make this trip happen. I wish so much that Mitch & Jeannene's family could have been there with us, but that just means we need to plan something else in the near future! I am thankful that we have opportunities to make memories like this together and recognize that not everyone is so lucky. Even so, we don't need the flashy trips to have an appreciation for one another, and I think that is what makes it even better. I am so, SO glad my Grandma was able to be there as well. How lucky are we, FOUR generations on one trip! And she was a trooper. Despite a bruised hip she went on just about every single ride those parks had to offer and kept up with everyone. She really is a rockstar in my eyes.
But like all good things do, our trip came to an end. Our flight home didn't go quite as smoothly as our flight there. Chase began cutting molars and not being able to understand the pain and discomfort in his mouth meant an unhappy boy, but we made it home and back to reality.