DISNEY CHAPERONE - BAND

Luckily, the second Disney chaperone trip went off without a hitch (ie no bus accidents)! The band trip was a completely different experience than the choir trip - not better or worse, but its own unique experience. Instead of taking classes through Disney's Imagination Campus, the Disney band group participated in a music festival at local high school, took a clinic at a nearby community college, had a single day in the Disney parks, and visited the Grammy Museum before heading home. As much as I love Disney, it was fun to watch these kids participate in the festival AND receive a gold ranking for their performance. And because our day at Disneyland didn't have any interruptions, we were able to knock out 23 rides in a single day!

DISNEY CHAPERONE - CHOIR

At the end of March, I had the opportunity to travel to Disneyland with my oldest on a jr high choir field trip. To say that our experience was eventful is an understatement. Our trip began with discovering that the travel agency used in booking the trip had made errors in money management, so a friend and I (both well-versed in Disney) immediately set to work finding a solution for the group. Then, to the utter and complete shock of us all... our charter bus hit a semi truck while driving full speed on the interstate. AMAZINGLY, no one was injured. But it did take us 2 hours to get off the bus and created a 5 hour delay in arriving in Anaheim. My group of boys (which didn't even include my own son as he had been asked to switch buses at the start of the trip) entertained themselves at Chipotle and Five Below in Indio while waiting for our backup charter bus. Once IN Anaheim, things ran relatively smoothly. We had two full days in Disneyland and California Adventure - with a brief pause for classes through Disney's Imagination Campus. I buddied up with my good friend, Kim, and, in two days, we rode over 30 rides, walked 28 miles, and ate a million snacks. At one point, we combined with a THIRD group and had a Super Group of 20 people. It was seriously such a blast! 

BACK TO THE FOREST

After our last camping trip, a nunber of our kids were leery about another stay in the woods. But there was no way that we were backing out on camping with cousins. And this trip did not disappoint. On the Friday kicking off October Break, we headed up to a reserved spot at Forest Lakes and set up camp. For the next 2 days, we enjoyed swinging in hammocks, playing card games, and chasing one another through the trees. We even set up a projector to watch Hocus Pocus 2 and play on the Nitendo Switch. Between the ease of camping in a designaated campground, enjoying delicious food, and spending time with the best of campany, this trip helped remind my kids just how fun camping can be without weather related issues. I'm pretty sure cousin camping trips might become a new tradition...