Jeffapalooza!

Happy 45th Birthday Jeff!!!

[Warning: Serious Photo Overload]

Friday, November 20, 2015

What an amazing trip! I still can’t believe it all came together. 24 people dropped everything they had planned for an entire week and loaded up into their cars and drove 10 hours to spend 3 days together at the “Happiest Place on Earth.” On the way down everyone in all 3 families and cars made homemade birthday cards for Jeff and drew pictures of things that reminded them of him and wrote nice things like how he had “great comedic timing” and he was the “coolest caterpillar.” And they wrote funny things like “You’re turning FART-y five…can you smell it?” and Kira drew cartoons showing Jeff as famous dictators (since he always needs to be in charge).

Besides bringing 24 of his favorite people to Disneyland, I think the best gift we gave Jeff was letting him be in charge of the entire group for most of the time. He was the boss, the king, the shah! He led and we all followed (most of the time). Even the big kids were great sports about it. And honestly, it was more fun when we were all together in a big group. We talked and laughed and played games in line and got to take up entire roller coasters and rides with our huge group.

We only lost two kids on two separate occasions. Not bad for such a big group. We lost Mikey in California Adventure when he stopped to listen to some musicians and we kept walking. He did just what he was supposed to do and immediately found a worker and told them he’d lost his parents. We came running back 5 minutes later searching for him. He was a little shaken up but wanted us to know that “I didn’t even cry! I was just breathing really hard.”

On our last night Jeff really wanted to have a memorable dinner. He gathered the whole group together and said something to the effect of, “we could all go have a very forgettable dinner at McDonalds or we could wait until 8pm and have a memorable dinner all together in the park.” He is very persuasive. So we all met back up for the Color Wonder show at California Adventure and then hoofed it back over to Disneyland for an amazing all-you-care-to-eat buffet at “Big Thunder Ranch.” It was honestly amazing food! And the setting was perfectly “Disneyland”: all the picturesque, quaint elements of an old western hoedown bbq with buckets of delicious bbq’d meats (chicken, ribs and smoked sausage), cornbread with honey butter, baked beans, coleslaw and corn on the cob all served in tin buckets on tin plates with our drinks served in mason jars. Banjo Christmas music played in the background after the live music ended.

Then everyone split up for a few last rides of the trip. We rode the matterhorn and Dumbo with Mikey and Isaac while the fireworks were all around us.

I loved watching the big kids (Ben, Ivy, Kira, Jillian and Garrett) palling around and having so much fun together and fully enjoying every minute of their last year with Ben and Ivy before they are off to missions and college. And I loved watching the up-and-coming “middles” with their new found freedom running around the park empowered with independence. And I loved watching the “big littles” being adventurous and wanting to try every scary ride they could find to prove they were NOT little! And I loved watching the “little littles” delight in the magical atmosphere of Disneyland.  It was a trip I think none of us will ever forget. Truly the “trip of a lifetime” and it made me truly happy to help it happen! I felt like a kid at Christmas!