[tinker_me_happy]

Who is going: Me Karen, DH Jeff, DS Corey (19), DD Alicia (18) DS Evan (16)
Leaving for The World 03:30am 14 August 2008
Returning to wait for the next trip 21 August 2008

Every good story starts with a beginning. It is difficult to remember the exact beginning of the planning for this trip… so let me give you some history.
I Love Disney! When the kids were little, money was very tight. Ok, we were dirt poor. One of my dreams was to have a chance to bring them to Disney World one day. The kids grew, I went back to school, and we were able to buy a house with the help of my brother. Money was still tight, but more manageable. However, family vacations were not in the budget. I started a coin collection jar “Our Disney Fund”, but somehow the quarters were snagged to pay for school lunches on the mornings DH was in charge. When after 12 years I finally turned in the coins, it amounted to $89 and change. Still, someday…I would take them to Disney! Somehow time does its thing and before you know it my three little children are young teens.

When my oldest was in eighth grade, there was a special field trip to the Amazon jungle. It had limited openings. The middle school had been doing it for a few years, and it was something he really wanted to do. I worked a year of overtime shifts to pay for his trip. While there, the teacher who ran the program invited Corey to join him on a trip to the Galapogos Islands. He would be going when Corey would be a sophmore in high school. Again, being a bit of an eco-science nerd, Corey REALLY wanted to go. But this time it was not a chaperoned field trip, so Dad would have to go with him. And I worked another year of overtime hours to pay for the two of them to go. Disney would have to wait.

Then came the move to a bigger house. Next it was the school trip to Europe for middle child Alicia. More overtime for mom to pay for her trip. And the youngest is now asking to go to California with the chorus. Though the least expensive of all the trips the kids have been on, it was still outside of the budget which meant … yup you guessed it… more OT for ME!

Jump ahead to June 2006. DS #1 has now graduated from high school. It is a great time to take the family on a real vacation TOGETHER. But he gets sick, and we spend the summer in and out of the hospital. Not only that, the youthful excitement of someday going to see Mickey Mouse has been extinguished. Corey has no interest in going anywhere.

to be continued...