Vacation, our way.

We got to enjoy a great vacation/field trip.  Once again Tall One's scholar group has been studying Anne Frank, holocaust, prejudice and decided to take a field trip to LA the the Museum of Tolerance.  With home schoolers it becomes a family affair.  We began the drive very early.

We camped at Leo Carrillo state park. A beautiful campground with beach access.  My favorite day of the whole trip was the day I stayed back with the three little ones while the rest went to the tolerance museum.  It was a little cool so we started with hot coco in the tent trailer and playing UNO.  As it warmed up we headed to the beach.  We ended up joining a small group of California homeschoolers on a tour of the beach and tide pools.  We learned about carbuncles, sea stars, anemones, purple sea urchins.  We returned to our camp to chase squirrels, watch for rabbits, guard our lunch from blue jays and climb really cool trees.  We got story time and a nap too.

We visited muscle man beach (Santa Monica) and had fun on the equipment and in the water.

We walked along the pier and had Bubba Gump shrimp with our lunch.

We also visited the Getty Museum and Villa.  They were amazing fine art museums that my kids don't yet appreciate.

We attended church in LA and then visited the LA temple grounds.  As always, a beautiful, peaceful place.

Finally we ended up at Disneyland and were able to use the vouchers we had earned with our service day.  Disneyland was a lot of fun but so very shallow.  Actually I didn't really enjoy it.  The excitement in my little ones eyes was fun but it was only occasional between long lines, long walks . . . I learned several things while there.

First Mr. O. has a need to conquer the park.  He had certain rides he felt worth going on (big, fast, exciting) and so we raced around to get to those.  He was all about winning or the hunt, finding the best way to get the most rides on for the time we were there.  I was much more content to pick an area and try to experience the ambiance, the theme, the little rides that were not nearly as exciting but very much enjoyed by my little ones.  There favorite one was the merry-go-round.

Second, Disneyland is just one big advertisement for there latest productions.  I realize that most of the experience was related to a movie.  If you hadn't seen all their movies then  your experience would not have made much sense.  They are about crowd control (which is necessary) but once again so much was not real, it was a counterfeit of true fun, joy, togetherness.  Doodles was anxious to see the princesses.  She wanted to find Cinderella in her castle.  The castle is just a gateway, Cinderella is not there.  Eventually you can find a wall where you stand in line for a chance to enter a private area where you will see and be able to take a picture with a princess.  So much was contrived, set up for a brief moment picture so that you could pretend that Disneyland was all about these moments that were actually few and pricey.

Overall it seems like go to Disneyland is the thing to do because it is popular and you learn about our crazy culture and what it currently values but I have no desire to return to Disneyland.  Next time we will enjoy the real beauty of nature, of true talent, of family time spent getting to know and socialize with each other rather than the racing, line waiting in hope of a quick thrill just to say we have been there.

And then it is back to real life, putting our home back together and in order.  Home to a place where each of us is needed, enjoyed, and loved.