Back From Vacation

I'm having one of those "I can't believe it's Monday" moments right now, which tends to happen every week but this week will be more of a shock than most. It's always hard to re-adjust to the hustle and bustle when you come back from vacation. Although, since this vacation was extremely busy, maybe it will be easier this time. We took yesterday and didn't do much of anything (including unpacking suitcases) just to relax and unwind. We were only gone for a week, but managed to hit Universal Studios, the La Brea Tar Pits, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and three days of Disneyland. Phew! More photos and observances to come, for sure.

This is my third trip to Disney with the kids, and this time my mom met us there to kick off her newly-retired journey around the country. Luckily, the kids are early risers and very hardy sorts because we were at the park at opening time, came back to swim in the hotel pool in the afternoon, then were back until the park closed each day. They probably walked five or six miles a day, maybe more. Homeschooling definitely gave us an advantage for this vacation, because we managed to go right after Spring Break but before the summer rush. Disney wasn't open the longer hours that it is in spring break, but we found that 12 hours a day was plenty, and the lines were very short, the park uncrowded, and the weather lovely but not too hot. We were able to do things like go on the new Buzz Lightyear ride about ten times (trying to better our score) and walk right up to get on Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain. With three days at Disney, we were able to see pretty much everything we wanted to, and many things twice or more.