The (Second) Happiest Place on Earth

A couple of weeks ago, we took the girls on their first trip to Disneyland. As the time approached, my excitement built. I could hardly sleep the night before, and could barely contain my enthusiasm as I hurried everyone through the morning preparations.

Memories of my childhood, living 20 minutes away from Disneyland, came flooding back. I don't know that we went that often. We never had year passes, or a lot of money. Yet, somehow, between family trips, school and extra-curricular activities, Disneyland was a big part of my life.

One of my favorite Disneyland memories, was the trip I went with just my mother. She took me alone, for my 13th birthday, and we did all of the fun things that I had never done before (or since). We watched the Western Show while eating chili at the Golden Horseshoe for lunch, and had dinner at the Blue Bayou, on the waterfront of the Pirates of the Carribean ride. We watched the artists painting in New Orleans Square, and shopped for jewelery. The best part was getting my mother's undived attention for an entire day.

On those childhood trips to Disneyland, I remember pulling into the parking lot, and seeing the huge sign proclaiming, "The Happiest Place on Earth!" It wasn't until I started attending the temple as an adult, and enjoying the peace and joy that I feel therein, that Disneyland bumped down to second place on my "happy list."

I wondered if the girls would be old enough to appreciate Disneyland, especially since they aren't really into princesses. They were both mesmerized, and even Alyssa, seemed to be drinking it all in.

We spent alot of time waiting in lines, but amazingly the girls did great! The lines were realtively short for Disneyland, between 10-30 minutes, and we munched on snacks, and laughed and joked, which made them seem even shorter. Walt Disney must have worked his magic on my girls, because there was no crying, whining, fighting, or impatience. Even with missed naps, and late nights, they were better behaved then I'd ever seen them!

Audrey loved climbing the rope at Tarzan's treehouse...

and driving the car at Autopia.

She talked us into doing Autopia twice, and would've done a third, if we'd let her. Alyssa's favorite was the Winnie the Pooh ride, or as she describes it, "Pooh, Bunny, Choo-Choo." And the family favorite, by far, was "It's a Small World." It was magical to see the glow of excitement on the girls' faces as they took in all of the music and dancing dolls.

But the best part about Disneyland, and why it really is the second happiest place on earth, was just being together.

In fact, as we headed home at 10:00pm that night, we realized that we had never spent a day like that: 12 hours entirely focused on one another. No interruptions, no other distractions, just fun and laughter and the joy of being together.

Later that week, when I attended the first happiest place on earth, I thought of my wonderful family, the joy I have in being with them, and the anticipation of spending time together in the temple when the girls are grown.

And I learned that for me, the happiest places are where I can feel the love and joy of my family, both earthly, and eternal.