Disneyland ::Who We Met::

Because you all were dying to know (or because I am too lazy to come up with a better blog post) I will show you a bunch of pictures of my kids in Disneyland without you. We missed you, though! No. Really. 

We managed to go to Disneyland and not see a single Princess. Some would call this a success, but I think my daughters would disagree. Not that they were in the least unhappy with who they did meet. Note to grandmothers: yes, I will be giving you copies of all the pictures; no, it won't happen this week. Soon!

So that this isn't the most boring post ever for everyone else, here is some unscolicited advice: if your kids are at all interested in charaters GO TO A CHARACTER MEAL.

Seriously. It's worth it to be able to sit down, enjoy a mediocre meal and have all the characters come to you. It saved us hours in hunting down characters and whining from our son who couldn't give a rip if he saw a singe one. It also satiated the girls' need for character interaction enough so that not meeting princesses was really no big deal. Wheew!

Our youngest daughter is super into characters even though she kept saying things like "How does the guy see?" "Why won't the guy in there talk to me?" "Is it hot in there for the guy, mommy?" I spent half the time shushing her so she wouldn't destroy other kids' dreams. Princesses, by the way, she completely buys as real because they are "people" not costumes. Hilarious, that kid. And way too smart for us.

Always Magical

Disney certainly gives cynics plenty to be cynical about: market over-saturation, mediocre movies, high prices, large crowds, crappy pay and benefits for those who work there, etc, etc. Regardless, I still find it magical, even though I probably shouldn't. No place on earth can make our kids speechless and grin till it hurts quite like Disney. Charlotte has never been to the parks and even though we couldn't do a full Disney trip the character breakfast was perfect for her to get her first taste of the crazy delight that is Disney.

The obligatory family picture that they then tried to sell to us for $30. Insert cynical statement here _____. This is the crappy one from my camera. Naturally we all looked tan and gorgeous and thin in their version.

 

Pluto hugs

Can you tell Charlotte was a bit freaked by Captain Hook?

Kisses for Chip (or Dale)

Baloo. Lily enjoyed this more than anyone. She grinned the whole time and I don't think she actually ate anything!

My favorite picture of Lily. Best smile ever.

For weeks leading up to this Tyler declared he was waaaay too old and that we had to tell the characters NOT to speak to him. You can see how that turned out.

This is the part that I think overwhelmed Charlotte. Actually she was probably less overwhelmed and more confused as to why strangers were singing to her.

The cupcake makes up for the singing awkwardness.

The highlight for my daughters. Lily was adorable. Charlotte was happy to see Cinderella but maybe a little over it at this point.

Hi 5'in Mickey Michael Jordan style.

Can you totally tell my husband was humoring me at this point?

Money, Money muuuh-nay!

Teaching kids fiscal responsibility is a foreign language to me. It seems like it's a really fine line to teach them that money is important and we all need it, but not to treat it like an idol or let money matters consume you. I feel like it would be as easy to become money-obsessed in the name of fiscal responsibility as much as it is to be so in the name of greed.

We haven't done a whole lot to teach our kids about money at home, but we have been pretty good when on vacation. Our last big vacation was at Disneyland, home to consumerism at its best. To combat the obnoxiousness that comes with seeing, then wanting everything in sight, in the months leading up to our trip, we had Tyler save change to be used as his spending money.

We got our boy a wallet and gave him $30 from the change jar - $10 for each day we were there. Once we got to the park, the very first thing we did was take him over to the "Bank" so he could get Disney Dollars. Seeing the pride on his face while he exchanged his money was awesome, though at first he was confused as to why this guy was taking his money.

Ultimately, at nearly 5, he was more interested in rides and characters than treats and toys (thank God) and he never really spent any of his money. Instead on the last day  I he bought a bazillion piece Disney-themed Mr. Potato Head set which is still a favorite of grownups and kids at our house, so good spending!

 

How is this relevant to now? Both Tyler and Lily are old enough to understand and somewhat appreciate the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn a dollar. We told them that for our next Disneyland trip (whenever that is) that they would be responsible for earning the money for their own tickets. That is $200 per kid to pay for a 3 day ticket and be able to tithe or donate some of it to charity or a missionary at church.

(Imagine how thrilled I was when Lily asked me, "Mom, how old will I be when we have enough money to go to Disneyland?" Thank God the kids don't think they will be able to do this overnight! She will be six in October; I told her not to be surprised if she was 7 or 8 when we went.)

The kids have come up with some great money earning strategies. In addition to the classics - a lemonade stand and allowance - they have decided to have a "Project" (craft) sale, a talent show, and house sit while our friends and neighbors are on vacation. A friend suggested collecting cans and that one is the top favorite for now (because it's the easiest perhaps?). 

 

This is actually further fruit of Aaron's job challenges - if he got that perfect job right away we likely would have gone of vacation as planned and done nothing more than give the kids their daily stipend. Not having the extra money to spend requires us to think outside the box and gives us an opportunity to teach the kids about hard work, saving, giving and then enjoying the fruits of their labor.

I think this is going to be a great lesson for all of us.