We surprised our kids with a trip to Disney world last Saturday. Luke'd been planning the trip for about 6 months, but we decided to wait til close to the trip so the excitement wouldn't get the best of them.

They've never flown before... or been to Disney World so except for a couple of concerns (Kate, 2 at the time, was afraid she might fall off the airplane) I had a few worries before the trip. I wouldn't be me if I didn't obsess over a few details :)

How am I going to go on a 6 day trip with no time to myself? This is what I breathe on a daily basis.
I knew the kids would have fun. However, vacation to me has always felt like some suspended reality... I like real. I can rely on real. Will I be able to enjoy myself?
It's Disney. The most magical place on earth... that's promising a lot...I'm wondering if that's a big load of BS?
We're bringing 4 kids 7 & under to Disney world... how's that going to go?

There were so many great parts of our trip.

The Storm Trooper March (maybe a little loud for Anthony), but I thought it was awesome and I couldn't care less about Star Wars.

We had a really great brunch with the characters and watching Leo connect with them truly delighted me.

Wandering through Animal Kingdom was amazing. There was so much attention to detail. Watching their concepts come alive... for me that's thrilling. And we also saw a ton of animals, ones I can't even see in a zoo, in their safari.

Enjoying fleeting moments like this.. .. .. I think was some of the very best part.

There were also things that I didn't enjoy.

25 minutes to get anywhere. It felt like it took forever to get anywhere... Lugging strollers, bags, etc. probably didn't help. Leo enjoyed it, but Luke's still trying to invent a more efficient way to get from here to there :)

Getting stuck in a people jam on a bridge at the Magic Kingdom for 30 minutes while having Leo in the baby bjorn and not knowing if someone would start pushing. Looong lines for rides. But there was so much greatness. We had a rainy day, which made us be able to walk right on a lot of rides. My kids, even Leo felt it was a magical place. He was excited about everything. And because of having my wonderful mother in law on the trip. We had 2 date nights!

Bringing 4 kids... there's nothing idyllic about travelling with 4 kids... spills... strollers... meltdowns. No fairy tale. We had the stomach flu go through all 4 kids from 5 am before we left till the night before we flew home. I lost my magic band on the bus ride to Hollywood studios, something that's essential to our Disney well being. Luke lost his driver's license making for an extra special trip through TSA. I'm so thankful for Luke's mom Chris to help carry the weight.

Happy birthday to my sweet Kate!! The flu didn't get her down!

Fortunately, we had a great trip. The go go go was hard for me. I like to savor, take things in. With so much to do and see and just not enough time, that wasn't possible. We did get to go back to the room for a couple of naptimes. I didn't even freak out about messing up naptime!

Ultimately, I learned that vacation is what I make of it. If vacation isn't an escape from real life, because my life is one that I am happy living, then I no longer have negative feelings about vacation. I also no longer have the major let down I used to feel when it's over, because i have placed so much that I love doing in a normal day.I loved that despite all of the challenges we just trudged through. It didn't get us down we made the very best of our time together.

Now we're back and it's time to get in the groove!

We got back on Saturday night, and Sunday we got our luggage unpacked and got some normalcy back in our lives. I filled orders and!! met my 15 piece quota for the day.

Today, (yes I'm writing this today), not as efficient... naps didn't line up, didn't get things accomplished! And now I'm remembering why I have to be so uptight about a schedule!

Structure is everything to me. If I don't have structure. I don't accomplish things. I don't move forward. I need my checklists, my schedule, progress! I love my routine :)

This is my beloved real life. No magic here, but so much I want to remember.

We're back to reality but I couldn't be any happier. Our time together as a family was just great. It's such a wonderful feeling when you look forward to your every day life.

Hope you have a great week!

Thanks for reading!

Maker Monday: Bouncing back after vacation