Birthday Surprise

For Andrei's 2nd birthday we were thinking about having our first family vacation. You know, the "Are we there yet" kind, but thankfully his language skills aren't good enough to say that yet. We're still going to have a regular birthday party. Or at least a 2-year old's party which is really more of an adult party with some kids around. We don't think Andrei needs a full blown kids party yet. He's only 2, so he really won't get it.

But we did want to do something special. And Andrei's B-Day happens to also be right around Mother's Day. And, of course, this is Stef's very first Mother's Day (talk about two major events). Thus I wanted to have something very special and fun for her as well. Something that we could all share. So I worked out a very secret and very special trip for us to Disneyland. And as I type this Stef and I are getting ready for tomorrow's 6 hour drive down south to Anaheim. The minivan is already loaded with the key items (plenty of toys, Elmo videos, and other minor stuff like luggage). Tomorrow we'll just finish off with snacks, etc.

I actually grew up in L.A. and have probably been to Disneyland at least 50 times. And both Stef and I are...well not huge...but pretty big Disney fans and have been there several times together. But this is what we will consider our first real visit since we get to have a kid along and not look like these two older people playing at being young. Again, we love Disneyland and have been there many times together but I always felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole "adults at Disneyland" thing.

So here's the plan. We're hitting the road right after breakfast, a 6'ish hour drive (thank God for the minivan's DVD player) and then Disneyland till Friday. It's sure to be a blast and we're all pretty excited about it. It will certainly be very interesting for us to see Disneyland through Andrei's eyes. We have a character breakfast lined up but everything else (rides, etc.) is all going to be on a play-it-by-ear basis. Whatever he seems to want to do, we'll give it a go. But based on Andrei's personality we're pretty sure he's going to be excited to do everything all at the same time.