Hoobastank, or: Part 2 of our Disneyland Adventures

With Steve's leave cleared, airline tickets booked, and a hotel room on lockdown, we were giddy with excitement.

Seriously giddy.

The next morning when we woke up, the first word out of Steve's mouth was, "Disneyland!"

Which obviously reminded me of that scene in Hot Rod, when Andy Samberg returns to consciousness exclaiming, "HOOBASTANK!"

And from that instant, a new code word was born.

Since we'd decided not to tell the kids, we simply started referring to our upcoming surprise Disney trip as "Hoobastank."

"Are you SO excited for Hoobastank?"

"Hubs! I can't wait for Hoobastank!"

The kids--even usually inquisitive Grace--had less than zero percent interest in these conversations, leaving us free to discuss in front of them with no fear of discovery.

And you guys. We were EXCITED.

We were SO excited.

Not just at the thought of going to Disneyland (which, let's be honest, is more than enough) but also at the relative spontaneity of the trip. Because we have four kids, and because Steve's job has almost never allowed us to just pick up and go without at TON of notice, deciding to make a trip just three weeks away felt delightfully freeing. Maybe even a little irresponsible--but in the absolute best way.

In the days leading up to our trip, our text messages devolved quickly into lovey dovey Disney gifs and exclamations of HOOBASTANK!

And then, two days before our flight, I pulled out my phone after dinner and took this video of the kids:




They were delighted.

And then there was nothing left to do but pack.

Wake up at 4am to catch our flight.

And have this beautiful little piece of meant-to-be Disneyland magic pop up on the radio as we drove to the airport:

What are the odds?

Go back: We Didn't Mean to take the Kids to Disneyland (Part 1 of our Disneyland Adventures)

or

Read on: Part 3 of our Disneyland Adventures