The past few years my Man and I have been blessed to take a long weekend away from the chillies in October to celebrate our anniversary. When the time came this year to decide if we would go away I just wasn't feeling up for it. We have been talking about taking the kids to Disneyland this fall and I felt like we should save the money for that. My Man kept asking, "you sure you don't want to go away for our anniversary?" Finally I gave him the go ahead to plan something since he kept asking. He was paying for it after all, and I wasn't going to refuse a vacation dangling in front of me. My Man said he would take care of all the arrangements, finding a baby-sitter and pet-sitter, and surprise me. I was SO okay with that.
For two weeks there were quiet arrangements made between my Man and his sister, Denise, for the chillies to stay with them and do all kinds of activities while we were gone. My excitement for a quiet weekend for two to sleep in late, eat relaxing meals together, and slow down to recharge was starting to build. One night my Man asked me if I was even curious as to where we were going. Of course I was, but surprisingly, the control freak and planner in me didn't really mind not having to worry about the details. He said we were heading to San Diego for the weekend, and would drop hints every once in awhile about relaxing in the tub with a good book, or window shopping in downtown San Diego.
Since I was doing all the packing for the family I was told to pack swimming gear for the kids, clothes for four days, and all the gear necessary for a day at Six Flags (hat, sunblock, good walking shoes/socks, etc.) I kept telling Aunt 'Nisey she deserved a saint hood for not only taking all four of our kids for the weekend, but also for planning such awesome activities. Aunt Lauren also deserves mega brownie points for being willing to have Ruby with her while Dan was away most the weekend. The dog is still very puppyish and is always so rowdy around their dog, Simon.
Dave really did take care of everything and we left last Friday from work after his last patient. While I was waiting for Dave to finish with patients I noticed his schedule for the next week was completely empty for Monday AND Tuesday. I was told we were coming home on Monday. I started to get suspicious and anticipated him surprising me once we were there with an extra day of playing. Then as we were driving out of town he said we were stopping off on the way to San Diego to meet with one of his patients to go to dinner. Fast forward six hours later and stuck in LA traffic and I really began to wonder what was going on. He had been texting someone all day like he was keeping tabs on them. As soon as we got off on one of the Disneyland exits in Anaheim I began giving him mind-prying eyes to figure out what he was up to. He said his patient was staying at a hotel near Disney and wanted to take us out for dinner on our way down to San Diego. Plausible. Still fishy. Was he taking me to Disneyland for that extra day first? I was looking forward to going to Disneyland with the kids not just for me. Six Flags and Disneyland were very similar in preparation. He would not dare plan a vacation to the Magic Kingdom without me! Would he?? We pulled into a hotel right across the street from the front entrance to Disney. Why are we walking back to his patients hotel room instead of them meeting us up front? We don't know these people that well. I just want to keep driving and get in that huge warm tub with my Man!
I will admit it took me about 12 hours and a night of restless sleep to get over the fact that a) the two of us were not going to be sleeping and relaxing this weekend b) I wasn't going to be using the long book, candles, bath salts, and lacy things to wear that I packed and c) we both missed the kiddos reaction when they found out they were going to Disneyland. Dave wrote them a note about how they were going to drive a little longer to go to Disneyland instead of the 75 minutes it took to get to Six Flags. (Arnold and Denise recorded them reading the note, but it was accidentally erased from the camera before we could see it) :( I had to completely switch gears in my head and change my expectations about how our Disney adventure was going to start, and then it was all good.
We has a fabulous, exhausting, amazing three days at the Happiest Place on Earth. We could not have done it without Arnold and Denise and are thankful they were willing to brave Disney with our clan. Me and the kids kept giving huge thank-yous to Dave for providing such an awesome vacation for our family that they will never forget. The chillies had an unforgettable first trip to Disney.
Also, I've decided Dave owes me at least a night away for teasing me with the prospect of a romantic weekend in San Diego.
Also, I don't know if I can trust him to plan a trip again- or maybe I should ask him to surprise me more often........
