I found out in April, by accident, that Roy was planning an early return home for schooling. He had planned on surprising the kids and I during our stay at the Disneyland Hotel which was 'suppose' to be a way for us to end our time of being annual passholders to Disneyland due to our move to Guam. Roy had made the reservations months earlier, for us to stay at the Hotel for 4 nights and his plan was to surprise us by knocking on the door of our room. In the meantime, as I was trying to get info out of Roy as to when he was ACTUALLY coming home, I was also texting our Best Man, Landre, to ask if he knew anything about Roy's return.
You see.....many things in our life as a couple would not have been so memorable if it weren't for the involvement of our AMAZING friends (family really) Landre and Trish. They have, on many occasions, helped us pull off surprises, parties, and most of all....they have helped to keep me and the kids sane while Roy was deployed. I know that I, personally, would NEVER have been able to pull off a surprise or two without their help! And for a fact.....Our wedding would not have been as amazing as it was and went without a hitch if it weren't for these two loving people!!! We are truly BLESSED to have them in our lives and part of our family!
So...with that, Landre assured me he had no idea of Roy's plan, but that since he was in Disneyland at the time we were texting, he was going to ask around Disney to see if they would be able to help create some Magical Memories for us. He did. He found the RIGHT person, which lead him to Erin at the Disneyland Hotel and boy did they make magic happen! And all that we knew was that the kids, my mom and I were to be at Goofy's Kitchen for prearranged dinner reservations.
On May 16th, the night before, the kids counted down the days as they had been. I put them to bed as usual and as they slept, I packed our bags quietly. All was set for the next day, but I couldn't sleep! I was tooooo excited! The next day, we had the bags in the car, put the kids in with little to no question and we got on the freeway. It was halfway to Disneyland when Tres realized where we were going. Sofia was asleep until we got there so as she opened her eyes at the sight of Disneyland, she was soooo EXCITED. We got to the Disneyland Hotel and checked in. Then went to Target to get some water and snacks to have for the few days/nights we were there and then waited and waited and waited some more. Because I sorta knew what was going to happen, the wait was just eating me up. There were many texts between Landre and I, who by the way was picking Roy up at the airport here in San Diego to bring him to us at Disneyland, which helped me to stay calm and in the loop as to when our 'package' was safely on US soil.
With the kids bathed and dressed, mom and I ready too, we headed to Goofy's kitchen for our reservations. Got confirmation that Roy and our friends were in route, so all that was left to do was breathe and eat dinner. The kids were sooooo excited to take pictures and get autographs of some of the characters, we enjoyed the food (as usual) and then dessert. And after all tummy's were full, our hostess came over and asked the kids if they ever got to meet Goofy, who stands at the front of the restaurant. They realized they hadn't so, off they went to meet Goofy. As they came around the corner, there was Goofy.....AND DADDY!!!!! Tres looked back at me in disbelief and walked forward slowly as if he wasn't sure if it was REALLY Daddy or if it was a hologram. As soon as Sofia rounded the corner, she KNEW who it was and on the video that a cast member took....you hear her little voice say "DADDY"! There was clapping and flashes from cameras and most of all tears! We took our time to savor the special moment with hugs and kisses and more hugs and the biggest smiles I have ever seen on these two kids! It was truly the most memorable and most Magical event of our lives!
After we thanked the cast members and hugged some of those that were there, we rushed to hug our other special 'gifts' for being a huge part of that night. Trish and Landre had a full schedule that day and there were some hiccups (fire season and one popped up THAT morning close to their house) , but they love us so much that they still brought Roy to us and planned on celebrating the day after with us. A Manager by the name of Ron, took us to the 'special' suite for us to enjoy the fireworks with an awesome view. After fireworks were done, we all went back to the hotel, where Trish and Landre had the adjoining room, and got the kids ready for bed. Grammie (my mom) watched the kids while us adults went out for a drink. It was the most amazing feeling to have my husband home and to be able to celebrate with our best friends! Once it hit midnight, we decided to head back to the rooms (where the kids were still awake) so that we could all get some rest before our fun day of Disney fun! Unfortunately.....it didn't work out that way. (VERY SAD FACE) Their oldest daughter got super sick in the middle of the night, so with little to no sleep, our friends had to head home instead. We did get to quickly see Landre and their youngest daughter that day to pick up some Fast Passes that Disneyland had given us for any ride (which turned out to be about 8 passes or so) and we got directions to where we needed to be for special seating for the Pixar Parade over at California Adventure that Disney had also set up. The next few days were a whirlwind of fun, especially for the kids!!!!
We will NEVER forget our Magical Homecoming! It was truly one of the BEST days of our lives! We are sooooo Thankful to Trish and Landre for all they did! Uncle Fluffy (as Sofia calls Landre), you are the most amazing person! We owe you so much for going out of your way and going that extra mile to make it such an awesome night! Auntie Trish, your heart is made of gold and I honestly don't know what I would ever do without you and your love for us!!!! We will be sending Erin and Ron a special Thank You gift and as soon as it is purchased, I will make sure to post about that too!
And they lived happily ever after!!!!!!!
(I will post a link to the YouTube video of the homecoming and also a link to the album of pictures from those few days in another post!) Thank you for reading this LONG post!!!!
