my mental health trip to DL is now a real trip and I met someone FAMOUS!!!!!

[pigletforever]

The last couple years of our lives have been crazy. In May 2007 my husbands company decided to move us to New Mexico. We had 30 days to get moved. So we left our son who was starting college in Kansas and left our home and moved to Albuquerque. We were in ABQ for a week when we got a call that our son was T-boned when a guy ran a red light and hit our son going 45 miles an hour. Angels were with him - he walked away but had to have surgery 6 months later on his knee which was damaged in the wreck. We had a trip to WDW planned but had to cancel because of money problems after the move.

6 months later my husband's company had him commuting to Sacramento 3 weeks a month. AFter 6 months I told him the company needed to move us to Sacramento because I didn't move away from all my friends and family to be a single mom with no support in ABQ. They agreed. So exactly one year after moving to ABQ we moved to Sacramento. This was June 2008.

October 2008 my husband's colon perforated and had to have emergency surgery. He got sepsis and nearly died. Docs said if we had waited one mroe hour to get him to the hosptial he could have died. Cancel second trip to WDW so DH could recuperate.

April 2008 DH had surgery to finish repairing his colon. September 2008 my dad had brain surgery to remove a tumor that was growing in his skull and pushing on his brain. After all of this I told DH to pick a weekend in October - any weekend and we were going to my happy place. WDW was out of the question due to $$ so we decided to do a long weekend at DL. October 21-25 were the dates selected.

The morning after I booked our trip I got a call at 630. DH was riding his bike to work and got hit by a car. Luckily he was fine except for the broken collar bone.

I can't make this stuff up.

I walked into the hospital and after I made sure he was OK I told him "I don't care if you have to watch DS7 and I ride every ride and you sit on a bench don't even think for a second this gets you out of going to Disneyland in 3 weeks"

DH knows I need this trip and the doc has said he can go as long as he doesn't ride a few certain rides.

So we are booked at the Sheraton Anaheim. I bought AP for the 3 of us. We are going again the first of Jan when DS 20 comes to visit over Christmas break. I have breakfast for Minnie and Friends October 22 at 810 - as soon as the park opens. Tickets to ToT party that night.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART - DS 7 has absolutely no clue we are going. We homeschool him and on the monthly school calendar I put field trip tags on teh days we will be gone. We are getting him up at 5 AM and putting him in the car. We are hoping to keep it a secret until we pull up at the hotel.

pictures of the participants will be up later.

[jenniferrose]

Oh. My. Goodness! You DO deserve this trip. I can't wait to read the rest. Sending up a little prayer that nothing else will try and derail this trip!

[becpee]

I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip, you deserve it!
The look on your DS's face will be priceless when he see where you are

[pigletforever]

Here are pics of us a couple years ago at WDW


This is Andrew our now 7 year old.


This is DH. He is now 80 pounds lighter.


This is me. I am usually the one behind the camera so this was about the only picture of me on the whole trip.


this is our now 20 year old. He won't be on this trip but will be on the one after Christmas.

[PrincessKell]

Wow...sounds like the craziness in my life. Its never ending. BUT happy and healthy for the most part that is the best. Im glad you are getting to go to your happy place.

I look forward to reading and pictures! I love those kind of trips for kids! They are the best.

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Wow, you really need this vacation! I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[pigletforever]

We leave 2 weeks from this morning.

I am so scared to get excited. so many times it has been a go and then something has happened to cancel the trip. DS knows we are going some where but not where. I refuse to tell him because 1) I want to see the look on his face when we get there and 2) if it falls thru i can come up with some small day trips so he won't know the difference.

I have started prepacking with the anticipation we are going. Found all of DH shirts with Grumpy on them. As well as our matching shirts from our trip to WDW a few years ago. I did have to hide them because DH threatened to hide them so he wouldn't have to wear them.

I also started finding all of DS Disney shirts. He has WAYYYYYY too many too count so I figure he won't miss a few.

I am trying to come up with a sign idea for him to use so he can get picked for the Jedi Training. Any thoughts?

I am trying to come up with a time table for each day but not having much luck. Everyone sayd since the parks are so close it is easy to hop back and forth. I guess I need to figure out what events to catch in the evenings and go from there.

So far I know
October 21
Leave Sacramento around 400 AM(that is UGLY EARLY to me)
We should arrive:around 130
Check in and
head to DL to get our annual passes taken care of.
Then????

October 22
Breakfast at Minnie and Friends at 8:10
ToT party that evening

Ocotber 23
????

October 24
?????

October 25
Breakfast at Goofy's kitchen at 915
Head back to Sacramento.

I am usually such a planner but this time I am not. Guess I am too scared.

[Chris420]

Wow, sounds like this is a much needed trip for ya
hope you have agreat time

and every disney trip is a mental health trip in some way shape or form, thats what makes disney so great, no matter how bad things are, none of it matters while your there

[PrincessKell]

I do the same thing as you. My dd has Aspergers so I normally do not share with her the things we are doing until I know 100% for sure we are going.

I love leaving super early when driving. I leave around midnight or 1am thought.

[bumbershoot]

Oh my goodness!

I feel for everyone's everything, but I especially feel for your husband and his colon...right before my wedding, my best friend had a problem similar to that (she had a stent from her gall bladder, and a "one in a billion" chance happened and the stent perforated her small intestine) and had to have that big surgery. The only fun of it was watching her on morphine (she has a good relationship with morphine clickers, having had many surgeries in her life)...other than that it was just utter Hades watching her go through it and feeling so so bad for her.

4am is ugly early for me, too. And it's just a bit before we'll be leaving on Saturday for the airport. And we have Minnie's on our first full day, too!

[pigletforever]

Originally Posted by PrincessKell

I do the same thing as you. My dd has Aspergers so I normally do not share with her the things we are doing until I know 100% for sure we are going.

I love leaving super early when driving. I leave around midnight or 1am thought.

Understand the Aspie. for a long time they thought DS had Aspergers but instead they decided it was severe Sensory Integration and ADHD. When he gets overloaded he shuts down.

How is DL for a GAC? We get one for DS when we are at WDW. Usually they let us thru the FP lane or the handicap entrance. Wondering how DL handles them.

[pigletforever]

I am so excited.

We head to DL this week. The orginal plan was to leave Wed AM early (4:00) and arrive in Anaheim by 2 in the afternoon. I got to thinking last night when I was suffering a bout of "too much to do and not enough time before we leave for Disney" insomnia that maybe it would be better to leave Tuesday late afternoon evening and arrive very late tuesday night/Wed AM. DH said no.

SO........

At church this AM I took a couple good friends who used to travel to LA most weekend to see boyfriends to put a bug in his ear about how it would be easier to leave Tuesday to avoid the major traffic.

As we were leaving church this AM DH looked at me and said "Lori and Lois were talking to me after service about traffic during the day around LA/Anaheim. Why don't you book a room thru Priceline for Tuesday night. and we will leave when i get off work"

So I got a room at Red Lion Inn Don't know anything about it but I figure it is for one night to sleep only and then transfer to our regular hotel.

Do you know what this means???? I get a full day at Disney on Wed instead of a half day

We haven't started packing. We need to get the house straitened and do laundry because for some reason it doesn't seem to want to do it on its own

I have been to Target more times this week than I have been in the last month. But I got my standard Disney kit - moleskin, bandaids, ponchos, purell, handiwipes, tide stain stick, Advil, Tylenol, more socks, a new must have Star Wars shirt for DS so hopefully he will get to fight Darth Vader. DS has Aspergers and LOVES Darth Vader - I have had dreams/nightmares of when DV comes up thru the floor DS running and hugging him instead of doing what the Jedi tell him and running away. How popular do you think that video would be on You TUbe?

I need to call in the morning to make reservations for the Jazz Kitchen for dinner one night it looks really good.

I can't believe 48 hours from now I will be in final countdown and frantically trying to repack and recheck everything before I load it in the car.

[pigletforever]

Totally nonplussed. That is the only way to describe it. We told our son this morning when he woke up where we were going on vacation. I was expecting hugs, cheers, shouts of "your the best parents in the world", accolades, parades, or at least a YIPEEEEE. None of that

We got a smile and"OK can I have some milk with my poptart" What did I do wrong. I thought I raised this child with a love of all things Disney like my older son. My husband actually thought his non reaction was amusing and my reaction the non reaction hysterical.

Oh well I know once we get there there will be parades ( well not in my honor for being the best mom but parades none the less) I know once we get there the excitement will set in. He is more like his father. Doesn't get excited until the actual event. For me the excitement of any vacation starts teh minute we plan it. Planning is half the fun for me.

And DS20 will be here for Christmas and we are going back in January so I can go with someone who "gets it"

Off to the store and bank. Then must clean and pack.

[1-disneyfan]

leave it to kids we are flying down this Friday the 23rd. My DD6 has been there twice last year and WDW once. I didn't make it to Disneyland until I was 17! while planning this trip she said "when we go next year, I'm planning what we do everyday" little stinker just thinks it's normal to go every year! Your little guy will feel the Disney love as soon as you go through the gates. Have a WONDERFUL time.....you deserve it I'll have my LG tag on my backpack maybe we'll run into each other on the 23 or 24

Kris

[pigletforever]

can't miss me I am the pooh sized person with a lime green bagallini.