Disneyland | The Surprise
Months ago Jessica (my sister) emailed me and told me that her partner Jeffrey had a speaking event in Anaheim in late March and did we want to meet them at Disneyland? I checked the calendar and the dates matched perfectly with our Spring Break. The opportunity to go and be with Jessica and her family and take the kids to Disneyland was way too much to pass up.
I decided I wanted it to be a surprise (hard not to get a little choked up when watching those commercials where the parents surprise their kids with a trip to Disney) - it just seemed all the more magical that way.
In the weeks leading up to Spring Break the kids and I talked a bit about maybe going somewhere, but also the possibility of just staying home and what we would do if we did stay home. Hang out, go to the park, watch movies - all good stuff and all stuff they would have been perfectly happy with. But I knew something they didn't know...
On Monday, March 29th I woke up at 4am and took a shower & dried my hair. For the last ten months I haven’t slept good at all. The night before we left I didn’t sleep well either but it was the first time in months & months that I didn’t sleep for a fun & exciting reason.
At 4:30 I woke up the kids who were both sleeping in my bed. They were hard to wake up at first.
I said, “Wake up. I have a surprise for you. We are going on an airplane.”
I think it was Anna who rolled over first and asked, “Where are we going?”
“First we are going to Seattle.”
“And then where?” asked Simon in that super-sleepy voice of someone who is really not awake yet.
“It’s a surprise.” They both looked at me and smiled and decided they were okay with that. There wasn't any "tell me now" or "where, where, where are we going?"
Anna got up as soon as I said we were going on an airplane. She was ready to get dressed immediately.
Simon was a little more sleepy and a little more skeptical.
“I don’t want to go. I want to stay home. I want to get a hook.” He’d been talking for weeks about getting a pirate hook. I’d been telling him that we could get one during spring break (knowing we were going somewhere he could get one).
“We can get a hook where we are going.” I told him.
At that he jumped up and said “Okay” with a big smile on his face.
And then he asked if we were going to Hawaii or Disneyland. I told him it was a surprise and he would find out later.
I finished my hair, grabbed my make up bag and corralled them downstairs. The night before I’d already packed everything in the car, including their backpacks so all I had to do in the morning was get them dressed and in the car.
They are both really good travelers. Excited, happy, ready to go - even at 4:50am. I was also ready with movies (Tinkerbell was especially popular) & games on the ipad (More Breakfast is a new favorite) and a new DS game for Simon (Star Wars: The Complete Saga).
We flew to Seattle (yep, sometimes you have to go north to get south) and then proceeded to wait a couple of hours until Jessica, Jeffrey and Gabrielle arrived at the airport. We planned that Gabrielle or Jessica would tell Simon and Anna. Simon and Anna didn't know we were meeting them either. By the time they arrived Simon was about at the end of all this surprise business. I told him that we were going to be meeting someone very soon who would tell us about the next phase of our surprise (very thankful at this point for the ability to text with my sister and get the exact details on when they would show up).
Here's a video of what happened next:
We Are Going To Disneyland from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.
Such a fun moment.
I love the pointing back & forth - the you & me?
I love that Anna really didn't care and was more excited to get to play with Gabrielle.
I love that this was something I got to share with my sister and Jeffrey.
I love that Simon is all about the magic. So much sparkle in that boy.
I'll share more in an upcoming post about some of the details and general thoughts on our actual time at Disneyland.
So fun to see your video & hear how the surprise went with your kids! When my daughters were 8 & 12 we surprised them with a trip to Disneyland too - we told them about it the day we booked the trip. We didn't realize it was April 1st when we bought out tickets, and that evening we told them at dinnertime we were going to Disneyland!! Of course they didn't believe us----we didn't realize why at first! It's still my oldest daughter's favorite place to go - she's been there 2 other times since with friends, and is going again this summer. Fun memories!
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Love how you are showing us the story! Disney is amazing - I can't wait to take my niece there!
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LOVE IT!! We took our kids last summer (ages 5/3) and I actually took your travel journal class and made a book for the trip! (which I LOVE btw! it turned out so awesome)
It is a "magical place" - the hype is true - I can't believe you kept it a secret - I wanted to do that but just had no restraint! What an amazing adventure to do with your kids and for YOURSELF...Magic is good for everyone!
Thanks for taking us on the journey with you!
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This is AMAZING! !! haha, love the way you pulled it off. Think my kids would have Anna's reaction still but want to try this in the future.
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thanks for sharing the ups and downs of your life with us. and a huge thank you for sharing this video, it bought real tears to my eyes watching simons reaction and 'seeing him' for the first time. i was watching with my 5 year old son and his first question "can we go to disneyland?"
my answer - 'one day' as from New Zealand it's a LOT of money and i figure we'd have to build in loads of down time to cope with the flights & time changes.
I'm so glad that you got to pull off your surprise and that you have had some MAGIC in your life of late!
julie
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So exciting... My spectrum kid HATES suprises, so when we tell him we usually just get the "Oh" look from him. He does love the airplane ride though. It was so great to see how excited your two were... Hope you had a great time and that is something they will remember for the rest of their lives...
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So much fun!! Last Oct my grandkids did this to me! I screamed and jumped up and down like a kid-we had the best time and made fantastic memories. Simon & Anna will never forget this.
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Wow, that did bring tears to my eyes!
Special moments.
As always Ali, thanks for your generosity in sharing with all us onlookers, inspired scrappers, friends, fans, and supporters, your very special and treasured moments.
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how fabulous and what a wonderful surprise, we are 21 sleeps and counting :)
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what an awesome surprise! our boys are almost 11 and 8 - and both would dearly love to go to Disneyland. We've decided that we will have to try and make it happen in the next 3-4 years.... it's an international trip for us! :)
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Thanks for sharing your special moment with us.
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Tearing up reading that. Just so wonderful. There is something about early morning adventures and surprises and childhood that is just magical.
I went to Disneyland (Tokyo) when I was in high school. It was such a big trip for us - part of a school trip to Japan. I will never forget that the youngest of my travel mates (maybe 14 years old) said "I can't believe we are going to the place that people wish to go to for all their life".
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Awesome and Amazing!!
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That is fantastic! Thank you Ali for sharing.
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Oh you made me cry! So fun. I don't know how on Earth you kept it a secret though, it would have killed me not to spill the beans!
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What a fabulous moment to have on video! I'm so happy for you that you got to share the experience of surprising your kids and taking them to Disney! It is a truly magical place!
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Thanks for sharing Ali! The joy is so fun to see on Simon's face. What a great kid. And you are a great mom! How cool to keep it a surprise!
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I saw your post on facebook, and just had to come over and read the blog. I have to say that I actually got emotional just reading about it and then even more so after seeing the video. I'm so happy for you and this special moment with your children. What a treat!
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This is SUCH sweetness! Loving how Simon played so "cool". Thanks for sharing.
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Awesome! We are planning a Disneyland trip with family and friends this summer.
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Just wanted to point out that march 29th was a thursday. Just in case it matters when you scrapbook this (i only know bcz it was my birthday :-)
Thanks for your blog
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Hi, I've just noticed, the clouds in the background, and the little aeroplane going UP!
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Tears in my eyes. What a precious boy you have, he's a gem. That look on his face with the pointing "you and me" - gorgeous!
x
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Thanks so much for sharing such a special moment in your families' journey. I felt those warm fuzzy butterflies when I watched this Ali. You are a wonderful Mum, inspiring all of us in so many ways. So glad you had a great time & a lovely Easter.
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this is so, so sweet ali!
the video is amazing, but i just love the photo of you and simon together - it brought a smile to my face on a very hard day.
thank you so much for sharing your life with us!
have a great weekend!
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