The Big Reveal

Yesterday I mentioned that we had a second place in California to visit. Bryan and I had planned that leg of the trip for just as many months as we'd been planning the rest of the trip. The big difference was that this part of the trip was a big secret. We had thought about telling the kids as we were on our way, but we were concerned that they might guess the surprise. Also, we were afraid that if we told them while in transit they would scream and Bryan would drive off the road. True story.

So instead we told them on Friday, the last day of virtual school. Bryan had the presence of mind to film the reveal.

So, on Sunday evening, we said our goodbyes to the grandparents and drove up to Anaheim. We had picked a hotel that was a ten minute drive from Disneyland because it included a free breakfast and looked bigger than our other hotel option that was across the street from the parks. When we arrived at said hotel we discovered it was not only much smaller than advertised, it also had a gross dirty mattress on the foldout couch and stunk like cigarette smoke. We were exhausted and discouraged. Cooper took a few pictures of the kitchen, to show it's size.

Bryan called the front desk and asked if they had a different room. No, this was the last room big enough to hold a group of our size. We opened windows and tried to make the best of it. The kids refused to put any of their bags down and stood huddled together near the door. Bryan and I stepped into one of the bedrooms to conference. The smell was even stronger in there. Cigarette smoke is a trigger for my asthma and I was feeling it with every breath. In the few minutes that we'd been there Bryan had found a different, more expensive hotel room for us. But could we get out of this hotel reservation? And if we could, could we afford the more expensive room?

As we talked I said a quick prayer in my head. I didn't ask if we could afford it. I asked if we would be safe staying in that smelly hotel. The answer came to my mind immediately, "You didn't have to pay for a rental car." We had budgeted for a rental car, but hadn't had to use that money thanks to our generous friends letting us borrow their van. We hadn't reallocated the money anywhere, so we did have a financial cushion that would cover the new room. I told Bryan the answer that I got and he left to ask the front desk if they could cancel our reservation.

The front office was in a different building than the one we were standing in. The kids and I watched out the window as Bryan walked into the office. Then, what felt like moments later, Bryan came running out of the office and across the parking lot. He burst into the room and said they wouldn't charge us and would cancel the whole reservation if we left immediately. We hauled ourselves out of that room so fast and were loading back into the van in less than a minute. As soon as the person working the front desk had said they would cancel, Bryan booked the other room. We were on our way to our second hotel of the night.

I wish we had more pictures of that first hotel to highlight how completely different these two hotels were from each other. While the first one was old, small, and stunk, the new one was indeed new, spacious, and gloriously clean. The kids all heartily approved of our new accommodations. In his excitement, Cooper took several pictures of the new hotel.

When Bryan checked in to the new hotel the clerk told him that this was the very last available room in the hotel and apologized that it was an accessible room. That's why it was so huge, it was big enough for a wheelchair. We did not mind at all.

Now that we had a clean, safe place to sleep, we surprised the kids by handing out the souvenirs (little backpacks, hats, shirts) we'd been secretly gathering for months and tried to sleep in spite of our excitement for the next day.