Journey Home

Packing was a much more daunting prospect going home than it was heading out to Disneyland. I finally threw everything in a pile and just started counting- do we have 4 of these shirts? Four of these pants? Four of these shoes? Believe it or not, we were out of clean clothes so I told the girls just to wear whatever they wanted and it was fun to see what they pulled out. Everything else was separated by color and thrown in the suitcases so I could start laundry as soon as we arrived at home. We had a fridge to clean out and toiletries to collect. We'd been at the hotel for so long we had really settled in and it was tough getting it all packed in a suitcase with souvenirs to boot. 

I took the younger three girls in to Downtown Disney (Liesel had to catch up on homework) to check out some of the shops we had passed by. Our time in Galaxy's Edge gave Sydney a new appreciation for these ears at the Star Wars Trading Post.

The Lego store had some pretty sweet displays unique to Disneyland.

The girls wanted one last churro. We also got some lavender ice cream from Salt and Straw.

At long last, it was time to go and our Lyft arrived. We packed everything in the back and headed to the airport. The girls got quieter and quieter. Brent turned around to find them like this:

They were plum worn out and they crashed hard. It warms my momma heart to see them all tangled in each other like this- just how sisters should be. 

We learned what a hole LAX is- apparently always under construction and the ticket counter had an alarm perpetually going off. Memo to me, memo to me, avoid LAX. Oddly enough there weren't many good places to get food but I found some refrigerated sandwiches and pulled out a bag of treats- some chocolate- and the girls feasted one last time. We played Spot It while we waited to board and then we were airborne. The scenery changed below us from beautiful cloudscapes to beautiful desertscapes.

Egads that's stunning! I'm always reminding the girls what a privilege it is to fly. Most of the people on this earth have lived their entire lives with their feet stuck to the ground and we get to take part in the miracle of aviation. Never take that for granted.

We flew just south of our home- once Brent and I went for a walk by the lake and noticed the line of planes in the distance- now we were part of that line of planes! 

Seeing the girls walk off the plane with their Mickey ears made me so happy. They wanted to hold on to that magic just a little bit longer.

The bathrooms at O'Hare have been revamped so you can wash and dry your hands right there at the sink. 

How cool is that?

I love this hallway leading to the concourses!

Brent headed to get the car while we collected the luggage. He ran into a member of the stake on the shuttle and told him briefly about our surprise trip to Disneyland. When we arrived at home we found the inside of the house was actually colder than the outside. The batteries had run out on the thermostat and even though we changed them and turned it back on as fast as possible, everyone threw on sweatshirts and snuggled under a pile of blankets. The girls were completely worn out and happy to be home. Brent and I were ecstatic that we pulled off an epic vacation.