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Seeing that Mike and Kelly are finally spending their first night at the happiest place on earth, we were finally able to tell the kids that we were going too! For those of you who don't know my sister, they have kept their trip to Disneyland a secret from their boys. Woke them up this morning and surprised them. (I'll let her tell the full extent of the story) Well, just to be sure that they were able to pull their surprise off without a hitch, we decided to wait until they were gone to tell our kids about our trip. Our trip has been a year in the making. Talking about it but no serious planning until this past summer when we had to cancel our beach vacation because of Bryson's broken foot. We originally had planned on going next fall. See, next year is our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went to Disneyland on our honeymoon so we thought it would be cool to take our kids there around our anniversary. Then, doors just started opening and everything fell into place and so now instead of heading there in a year, we will be there in 23 days!
To break the news to the kids, we had originally planned on having Garrett and Carson call Maddy and Bryson tonight to tell them about their first day in Disneyland leading to Maddy and Bryson asking if they were ever going to be able to go...however, Jeff and I changed the plan up a bit (partly because I could hardly wait any longer in the day to tell them...I hate secrets and I held unto this one way too long!...and partly because we wanted to "drag" the reveal on a little longer). Looking back we could have incorporated both but I wasn't thinking. Anyways, this is how we told them-
We sat them down on the couch and told them we had a big surprise for them but we wanted them to try to guess what it was. They came up with everything from the fun we were going to have taking halloween pictures tomorrow to a new toy to candy. After a few minutes of them guessing, we sent them to Maddy's room and where they were sitting I put this
Stuffed animals and a count down chain to when we leave (the paper mickey hangs above the chain). When they came back out, they were excited to see the stuffed animals and totally looked past the chains. Our conversation then went something like this-
Us: do you guys know what that means?
Them: (excited but with a tad bit of confusion on their faces) yeah, this is Mickey and Minnie.
Us: would you ever like to go visit the "real" Mickey and Minnie
Them: yeah
Us: Well...we are! We are going to Disneyland in this many days (showing them the chains)
And then after we peeled Maddy off the walls from her excitement, Bryson started to cry. Seriously?!? Come to find out, he doesn't want to wait till the chain is done. He wants to go now! Could be a long 3 weeks for him :)
We sat down and watched a video we had gotten with our vacation package and the kids were so fun to watch. They got so excited when they started listing off and seeing all the characters we get to meet. Maddy would squeal with excitement, Bryson's eyes were as big as I have ever seen them and his mouth would just drop to the floor.
Yay!!! The "secret" is out and the anticipation has begun!!!
Awe...what a neat story! How creative!
Posted by: Emily | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 04:27 AM
cool! I'm soo excited for you guys as well! So much fun!
Posted by: summer | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 07:56 AM
Great moment for a parent to see such excitement on their child's face. Love the chain - very nicely done. :)
Posted by: Dionna | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 08:07 AM
That's so exciting!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip. We're planning on going next fall so you and Kelly have to give me the scoop on the good deals! :)
Posted by: Jen K | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 09:27 AM
Aw, that is so fun!! I'm so excited for you guys and can't wait to hear all about it. :)
Posted by: Sam | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Fun! I am jealous you both get to go...but happy! Have fun!
Posted by: Kim | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 02:21 PM
I'm so happy for you and the kiddos! The time is going to fly by, I bet. (Hopefully for Bryson for sure.) Looking forward to hearing about the trip!
Posted by: Kimberly | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 03:21 PM
Yae! You too, huh? Have a great time!! I like your chain - very cute. :)
Posted by: Jessie | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:08 PM
What fun you'll have ... Kelly, Mike and the boys can give you the scoop on everything to see and do :). 23 day will go by fast!
Posted by: Andrea | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:10 PM
I hope it goes by fast too. :) You guys are going to have FUN!
Posted by: Kelly | Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 04:38 PM
I'm so, so excited for you guys! You're going to have a blast. Let the countdown begin. :)
Posted by: chrisanna | Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:48 AM