Life is funny sometimes.  Just when you think something is impossible…….it shows up at the exact time you need it.  Remember last November when I went to Hawaii for a press junket? I got up early one morning, sat on the beach with a cup of coffee and looked across the water.  Well, guess what was right next door……Disney Aulani.  I watched parents play with their kids, and thought……”Someday we'll bring Lydia here.”

To be honest, in the midst of graduate school expenses, teacher salaries not exactly being the highest, and life……it seemed like a far off dream.  After our amazing opportunity to go on a Disney Cruise this summer, I was pretty sure we were done with Disney magic for the year.  The school year started, and we all got back to the grindstone.  

After a especially challenging morning at work (teachers, you know how tough the start of the year can be….especially for children with special needs)…..I walked back in to my office and scanned my emails.  And there it was.  An invitation for ALL OF US.  Four days.  Disney Aulani.  And I literally cried in my office.  Dramatic? Maybe.  Grateful.  Definitely.  More so than I can express.  Most of all for the chance to take Lydia.  She has never complained.  She has two more than full time working parents.  And trips like these? Aren't something we can do all the time.  The opportunity to take a few days together as a family in one of the most beautiful places on earth?  It's more than I could have hoped for.

So, we leave next week.  And this is where I need YOU GUYS.  Have you been to Disney Aulani?  What do we need to pack?