Friends... it's happening!!! I can't believe it, but it's really happening!!!
Earlier this evening, I found out that my Mom is going to come with the rest of us on our California trip to the D23 Expo this September!!! This is so monumental that I had to write a blog post about it. (Confession, I'm actually typing this post Monday morning and backdating it to yesterday because last night was a flurry of activity.)
Basically, Southwest opened their September flight calendar last Wednesday the 30th, and since then I've been scrambling to figure out the best options for our trip. We decided that this weekend, we'd make the arrangements. I had spoken with my Mom and Jeremy about it last week, so Eliot and I had an idea of what to look for. We have been discussing adding a few days to our trip so we could go to Disneyland. Then, Jeremy mentioned that it was Labor Day week, so both he and Eliot had the extra day off. It was starting to make more and more sense to go out a few days even earlier than planned to make the most of our trip and time in California.
The more days we added on to the trip, the more unsure my Mom was at first. She was worried about being home alone with Nana for so long. I was feeling guilty about us all going to Disneyland without her, and I kept telling her that there was no reason she couldn't come too. Then, on Saturday, Mom started to hint that she might be interested in going. After speaking with Jeremy, he and I decided that she was coming and we were going to kidnap her if we had to. (Eliot agreed to assist.)
Sunday evening around 7:30, I called my parents to let them know what Eliot and I had come up with for flight options. Both Mom and Dad got on the phone since it was a quiet time for the business. (Clients usually don't call Sunday evenings.) When we started discussing the flights and options, suddenly Mom was saying "we would be flying through" instead of "you guys would be flying through" and I noticed the subtle change. I asked her about it, and before I even gave her a chance to say anything I blurted out that Jeremy and I took a vote and that we decided she was coming... and then she actually said that she was planning to!
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Now, to know how monumental this is, you have to have a little bit of a backstory. My Mom has flown once in her lifetime. She was still in college when she, my Dad, my aunt and my uncle all flew down to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World, and they drove home. They landed in the middle of the thunder and lightning storm, and my Mom has never flown again. Daddy has flown with us to Las Vegas, with Jeremy out to Comic Con, and to other places around the country. But when Mom and Dad go somewhere, they always drive. My Mom has said she has nothing against flying, but she hasn't made any effort to fly anywhere in the 37 years that I've been alive. She's wanted to go to California to "dip her toes in the Pacific Ocean" but she's always talked about driving out there... never once has she mentioned flying there.
I admit, I really thought we were going to have to kidnap her and drug her in order for her to ever commit to flying somewhere. I never imagined she'd willingly want to go.
After discussing options of flights, she was suddenly going. We added one to our searches, and checked pricing. We made plans to change the hotel reservations to add a person, and we also looked into extending our stay since we're leaving multiple days earlier than we originally planned. We made one more late night call to Mom and Dad at 12:30 am to confirm a few small details before booking our flights home. (They were still up... perks of tax season and we're all night owls.) Eliot and I stayed up late into the night (morning) booking our flights and getting that all situated... until 2:30 am to be exact. (Which is why I'm finally writing this Monday and backdating it.)
So, after all of Eliot's and my work booking flights late into the night... all five of us are going to California for our September D23 trip. Now, it's more of a Disneyland, D23 Expo and some Southern CA highlights trip... and I couldn't be more excited! We're flying out early Sunday September 4th and we don't leave until late Monday the 12th!
We still have to figure out a lot of details. We need to finalize the hotels, rental car, and get Mom's D23 Expo tickets. Then, we'll have to figure out our Disneyland park days so we're ready to book those dates when it's time to. (We're leaning towards getting five day tickets since it's only $20 more to go from 4 to 5 days.) We are planning time to visit Downtown Disney and maybe even booking breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.
I want to take Jeremy to the Funko store, so we're planning a trip up to Hollywood for that and the Disney Studio Store that we missed on our last trip. Now that we'll be out in California a few days earlier, I'm thinking we should take a full day to visit Hollywood and do the Walk of Fame thing. Plus, there's Madame Tussauds in Hollywood. Eliot and I had a blast at the one in Las Vegas years ago. Maybe we will even do one of those double decker bus tours around Hollywood. Eliot and I are going to do a lot of research in the coming weeks so we come up with the best plan of action.
And Eliot and I are also going to make sure we plan some time to go to one of the local beaches. None of us are beach people, but we have to make sure that my Mom gets a chance to dip her toes into the Pacific Ocean during her first trip to California. It has been a long time coming, and after all of the trauma of her five surgeries in 2020, it will be poetic justice for her to have the chance to dip her toes in the Pacific Ocean.
I still feel like I'm walking around in a dream that this is really happening. Hopefully, nothing happens that will change our plans and everything will go smoothly so Mom can enjoy her trip to California with us. It's sure to be one that we'll remember!!! °o°
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