Friday, June 25, 2010:

We’re on the road now, having packed up and eaten. About 3 hours away from the Bay Area. We’ll stay at our Aunt’s house tonight, then leave for Sacramento tomorrow.

This morning, before we left the hotel room, my wife and I were alone for a second. I said, “Next trip we take, no matter what, I’M planning it. There will be as little reasons as possible to cause stress.”

And I mean it. I’m going somewhere with no security cams, no undercover guards, no hard-to-save and reheat food, no hard-backed ride seats…

To sum up the Disney trip from my perspective: It was a stressful mess with shots of real happiness. Actually, I’m probably still upset from yesterday. I shouldn’t let that stain the whole trip. I had fun. I don’t regret it at all. I’m thankful.

From my daughter’s perspective, it was a dream vacation, and that makes me very happy for her (and heartbreaking for having missed a day and a half of her fun). She was beaming. She skipped and hopped around, she danced, she shouted for joy. She wore her Mickey ears. She was my sweet, carefree kid. I love the little brat.

Because I’m coming back rather disappointed with how Disneyland knocked my body around, I have an idea… more on that later.