Family Vacation: Beta Testing Mode

This past week we took our very first real family vacation. What better place than the happiest place on Earth? That's right, we went to Torrington. No, not really. We went to Disneyland. How did the kids like it you ask? Well, I don't think love is a strong enough word for how Emily felt about it. She bought the Disney experience hook line and sinker.
From the moment we arrived, Emily was more excited than any human has a right to be. From the ultra exciting bunk beds

to the thrill of seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle

 
to the delight of meeting the characters

to the blow-your mind rides

Emily ate it up. As far as I can tell, Emily is the target audience for Disneyland. She loved the little kid stuff in Toontown (although she did grow tired of it quickly), she loved the princesses (whom we had to stand in line an hour to meet), she loved dining with characters (goodbye college fund), she loved the roller coasters (Big Thunder was her favorite) and she even loved the big thrills, insisting that we go on Tower of Terror and actually liking it. If you know Emily, you'll notice I've omitted mention of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, her favorite moment of the trip. It's coming, but it will require a separate post. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy these princess photos that were an hour in the making:

And Jane... oh Jane. Let's just say that Jane was a bit overwhelmed and leave it at that.

There were brief moments of happiness from Jane. She adored Small World, which she dubbed the "Baby Ride".

But let's face it, it's hard to please a 21 month old. Not even the Disney magic can vanish the terrible twos. We knew that before we left on our trip so we weren't that disappointed.

As for the adults on the trip, I think I speak for both of us when I say it was more than worth the stressful airport experience, the meltdowns and the small fortune spent on food the kids didn't eat just to be able to experience Disneyland with our kids.

We even got a tiny bit of time alone on our hotel balcony which overlooked Downtown Disney.

Every night, after the kids were in bed, we got to eat dessert while looking at this. It was a lovely end to every day.

It wasn't easy to pull off our first family vacation. It was a bit more Griswold than Roman Holiday, but it was absolutely worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just give me a couple years to recover.