A life lesson from a very smart man!

Life is Plan B, so hang on for the wild ride!

When I was in college, my favorite professor (Dr. Chatlain, for those of you who went to Weber and may know him) always had little sayings or phrases that went along with whatever lesson he was teaching that day. I always loved hearing them and there is one that sticks out in my mind and definitely applies to our recent impulse trip to California - "Life is Plan B."

Plan A: Take a trip to California with husband and kids.
Plan B: Husband is busy with work so my sister, Wendy, and I drive the kids down on our own.

Plan A: Kids scream for the majority of the trip. Anticipate MANY stops. Expect tired bodies, ruptured ear drums, and crossed eyes upon arrival.
Plan B: Lincoln watches movies (mostly Cars) for much of the drive. Even though he only sleeps for about 45 minutes of the 12 hour trip, he is surprisingly relaxed and seems to be enjoying the ride. Amelia sleeps for a good portion of the drive and ends up watching The Backyardigans for a while. Hallelujah for portable DVD players! Only TWO stops!

Plan A: Kids will not sleep well when not in their own beds. Kids will wake up every couple of hours and require the same amount of time to fall back to sleep.
Plan B: Lincoln sleeps better than he does in his own bed. He gets a good twelve hours with no white noise (we run a fan at home) to block out the sounds of the house. AMAZING! Amelia doesn't sleep as well as at home, but way better than anticipated. Big sigh of relief!

Lincoln stayed very busy with Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, and many toys. Maybe that's what knocked him out at night! Just wanted to throw in a picture of his Cars pajamas. He loves them!

Playing peek-a-boo with Grandma.

Plan A: Feed some ducks at the pond.

Plan B: Feed some ducks outside the 7-11 instead!

Plan A: Take a trip to Disneyland with husband and kids.

Plan B: Since husband is busy, I debate whether to wait to take the kids until he can be there... since it is their first official time. Decide to go after husband reminds me that they won't remember it anyway.

Plan A: Have a very exciting and fun filled day at Disneyland. Lincoln will smile and frolic through the park.

Plan B: What was I thinking?! End up getting to Disneyland around 2:00 when Lincoln is ornery and ready for a nap. Load everything out of double stroller to get up on the tram and hope that nobody and/or nothing falls off along the way. Lincoln is still so little that he doesn't quite know what to think of everything so he mostly sits and looks around with a blank stare.

When I ended up telling Derek about how our trip to Disneyland had gone, I explained that it was good, but it just wasn't how I had imagined it. He said, "That's funny. That's exactly how I would have imagined it!" Funny man.

Plan A: Wait in line for ride and then get on.

Plan B: Lines take longer than Lincoln has patience for. Out of boredom and curiousity, he sticks his head through the fence bars while waiting to board Dumbo. No worries, we ended up getting his big noggin back through and we were on our way.

First Disneyland ride - he was thrilled!

Too bad you can't pick up the tone of sarcasm in my voice!

Amelia even got to ride on my lap.

We even ended up meeting Daniel, Chanda, Ryan, Autumn and all of their kids too! A big thanks to them for waiting for us to get there... since we were running a little behind the scheduled time of 12:30 (Plan A). This is all of us on It's a Small World. It's the only one I ended up getting of everyone. Bummer!

Trina, Grandma, Kelli, Wendy, Great Grandma, and Lincoln.
I love the castle at night!

My best friend Trina even ended up meeting us there. Thanks to her for waiting for us too! She was even my own little personal photographer. She's the best!
Grandma even got Lincoln a big Mickey, which he now carries around all the time and sleeps with. Good ol' "Gickey!"

Plan A: Pack clothes for warm and cold weather, but more for cooler weather.

Plan B: It is WAY warmer than anticipated so Lincoln ends up wearing his swimming trunks because it's the coolest item of clothing he has. I'm sure he was in heaven since he doesn't like wearing clothes much anyway!

Plan A: Go to In-N-Out!
Plan B: Went to In-N-Out! Surprisingly, this is the one thing that I had planned that actually ended up panning out just how I imagined and wanted it to. M'm M'm!
Overall, the trip was great, weather was FABULOUS, and the company was even better!
I guess Dr. Chatlain was right, Life is Plan B. Life doesn't always go how you expect, plan, or imagine it. Sometimes, though, it turns out better anyway!