An Imperfect Vacation Full of Perfect Moments..

Life as a father during the past nine years has provided many important lessons that I don't always want to accept as reality.  One of the more prominent lessons that seems to recur is that the best laid plans don't always lead to the best executed experiences.  But, I have also learned that even imperfect situations can still be full of perfect moments.  This was certainly the case with our family's recent trip to Disney World.

While our vacation got off to a rocky start due to a dirty room at a Disney Hotel and the fact that it rained three days we still managed to have a really good vacation.  Palmer turned five years old on our 4th day into the Disney trip and he really lived it up!  We heard  "happy birthday Palmer" from so many cast members we lost count!  He was able to ride his first "big boy" roller coasters and had a blast.  Probably the most impressive part was he made it the whole week without a stroller! Palmer really worked the camera and as expected was quite the ham.

Caleb followed in his older brother, Logan's, footsteps and became the hero of Magic Kingdom when he pulled the sword out the stone.  He finally reached 48 inches, which allows you to ride everything at Disney World.  Anyone that knows Caleb knows he wears his emotions on his face.  So, we know he had a wonderful time, since he was always smiling.  His favorite ride was Rock'n Roller Coaster!

Logan once again was able to ride everything. The greatest thing was watching Logan get so excited to see both his younger brothers get to experience so many new things this Disney Trip.  He still turned red when he got pictures taken with the princesses. Logan really enjoyed the Hoop Dee Doo Review and he had several "Laugh Out Loud" moments!  One of those moments was when there was a Tarzan Call during the musical and the lights turned on Caleb and the cast blamed Caleb for the loud noise.  His favorite rides were the Rock'n Roller Coaster and the orange line of Mission Space (the most intense line).  Even at nine years old, Logan finds the magic in Disney!

These were just a few of the experiences that stood out to me and I am sure that each of us could add to this list for days.  Although this Disney trip was not the perfect vacation it was certainly full of countless perfect moments that Laura and I will cherish for the rest of our lives. Most of which were simply soaking up our boys laughter and smiles of experiencing the Disney magic for a week.  This is one lesson in reality that I am beginning to accept!  Imperfection can still produce perfect moments.