Note to self:

Never, ever, misjudge the power of electronics.

You know, I always get all uppity with Mr W about how the children will not be damaged if they have to <gasp> read or entertain themselves on road trips...and then I remember that sometimes, the forty-five minutes to my Mom's can seem like an eternity, and I consider other options.

My brother bought us a car-DVD player for Christmas, and we finally put it to the test recently.  And it only took Audrey a week to, um, break it.  I got it replaced, after a moderately unethical act; and all was well once Mr W went and got the necessary equipment to make the van an entertainment center on wheels.

He was positively giddy the night before our journey, because he got it to work exactly the way he wanted it too.  We were slapping high fives in the garage like we'd just won a prize.

The prize, my friends, was silence.  Happy, happy, children, and silence.  (Okay, silence interspersed occasionally with "I gotta go potty" and "Are we there yet?") 

A little peace goes a long way towards maintaining my ability to read a map.  We even remembered our area where we got kinda turned around last time, and although we did it again, we managed to get back on track without all the fuss from before. 

We got to the hotel okay, we used the staff to take our bags up, and once I figured out the keycard, made it into our room.

(Hey, I had to use the bathroom, and there were three bodies pressed up against me, looking over my shoulder as I made the effort.   You think I'd be used to it by now, but it made me all thumbs.  Big surprise.)

I walked in, to a nice room with a couch, and tables, and...wait a minute.  Where's the beds?

A closed door...hmm, are they on the other side?  No, another closed door...

I'm thinking, okay, maybe we have the room next to us too.  And I try to access it with the keycard, but the door resists a bit.  I'm thinking I might be barging in on Sal and Amy from Duluth, so I go back to the room I know I can access, scratch my head, and brainstorm with Nolan.

Ultimately, I decide to consult the front desk, knowing full well that odds are, that is our room, and odds are, they're going to be laughing about the rube in room 1503 for the rest of the night. 

It was our room next door, it turned out.  In my defense, it was a bigger suite this time around, and a different setup, and obviously, I don't get out much.  I swear, the door resisted being opened.  Really. 

We had a view of the pool from our room this time, not the park...and so the second the kids saw it, all I heard was "Let's go swimming!"

Let's not...and say we did...

"Maybe later." 

We opted to head to Disneyland for the evening, and our adventure began.  It was cold, and wet, and cold. 

We all rode the Matterhorn.  After that, we watched the parade, Audrey on her Dad's shoulders, waving away like she was greeting old friends.

And I didn't feel so cold anymore.