The Vacation Crasher

As mentioned in last week’s post, David was on vacation in Southern California. No Southern California vacation would be complete without a trip to Disneyland! You know what that means, a Disney themed shirt! David chose this vintage pattern from 1977, and after a quick trip to the fabric store, he chose this villain fabric. Time to sew!

All of the pattern pieces were there. You never know with old patterns if they are complete or not. I got it cut out, and ready to sew.

The instructions regarding this part of the front facing didn’t make sense to me. I had to ask my think tank, and Michael, then I finally figured out what it was wanting me to do. But it wasn’t just me who didn’t understand, so I don’t feel too bad about it.

David liked this fabric because it had Hades, the villain from Hercules on it. He’s kind of rare.

It went together quickly after that. It was a pretty easy shirt to make. Hemming up the sleeves.

And putting on the button holes.

David’s stop at Disneyland wasn’t just any stop though. Aunt Tamy, Russell, Marisa, and their daughter Maria were all going to be in Disneyland at the same time that David planned his vacation. He decided to “crash” their vacation.

You might be thinking that this could be rude, or intrusive on David’s part, but not to us. Disneyland vacation crashing has become a long standing tradition in our family, well, I don’t know if it’s a tradition, but we all have at one time or another crashed another family member’s Disneyland vacation. The family member who was notorious for doing this was my cousin James.

The most memorable time of this happening for me was when my Aunt Carol, Uncle Gerry, Christopher, and Elizabeth planned a trip to Disneyland. They might have been down there for one day already, and Carol called me in the morning. Mia and David were at school, Michael at work, and I was getting ready to clean house. Carol convinced me, which wasn’t hard to do, to pull the kids out of school, and drive to Anaheim to join them! And that’s exactly what I did! Mia and David both still talk about it! Getting called to the office because they were going home, and being so confused. When we got to the car I told them, “We’re going to Disneyland!” It was a magical and exciting moment!

So off we went! We had gotten about an hour down the road, and James called me. He was bored and asked what I was doing. I told him we were running away to Disneyland. He was quiet for a moment then yelled, “TURN AROUND, I want to go!” I told him no way! We were an hour from home and he was two hours away from that! He quickly devised a plan. He drove the two hours to my town, convinced Michelle to go too, and as soon as she got off work, they were headed to Disneyland!

It was such a fun trip, and really was a “the more the merrier” situation. It was a trip I will never forget and one I will forever be glad that I took. Aunt Carol and James have both since passed away. It’s a memory I will always cherish.

Just for fun, here are some Disneyland photos some of our “vacation crashing” moments!

The Tower of Terror is always a favorite!

James smiling at the Happiest place on Earth, and his impatient face while waiting to get in! HA!

Crashing Disneyland with Aunt Carol, Uncle Gerry, and Elizabeth.

My nephew Mateo crashed our trip once when we were there to take David’s senior pictures!

Not to be outdone by her brother, Kira also crashed a trip to Disneyland!

Several times we’ve been there the same time as our cousin, Matthew!

And more than once, my cousin Elizabeth has crashed Michael’s family’s Disney vacation! But we’re a close family like that, so no one minded and everyone had a great time!

And who doesn’t love Splash Mountain pictures? Don’t be confused, the masked guy in the back is Christopher! HAHA!

We’ve been Disneyland crashing as long as we’ve been going to Disneyland. Here are little David, Mia and Elizabeth. She was crashing our vacation.

So as you can probably tell by these pictures, and my past blog posts and sews from Disneyland, it’s a favorite spot for my family!

David was determined to keep the Disneyland vacation crashing tradition alive. After all, James and Aunt Carol wouldn’t want it any other way! And James would definitely want his mom and brother’s Disney vacation crashed!

David recorded himself surprising them at California Adventure! Forgive the blurry pictures, but you can see the surprise and delight on their faces! Side note, Aunt Tamy recently had knee replacement surgery, but recovery is going well and she’ll be in Disneyland walking shape soon! I love how she didn’t let it hold her back from some family fun!

Surprised face selfie! Yes, that isn’t David’s custom shirt. He was saving it for the next day, which was in Disneyland, not California Adventure.

And here it is! Disneyland and blog photo shoot ready!

Cooling off by a water feature in Star Wars Land.

Then the Star Wars ride, “Rise of the Resistance” broke down. But no worries, spirits were still high, and they did get to ride it later in the day! Again, forgive the blurry pictures, they were taken from a video.

Despite a minor set back and the heat of summer, David and his shirt were holding up well!

Hanging out in Frontier Land.

Showing off his smile!

A trip to Disneyland always brings joy!

Smiling still, even though he had to take a break from fun for some photos!

But David is always up to something, he had to try to get behind the scenes. It didn’t work.

A great time was had by all!

But on the way home, David was rear ended by a distracted, texting driver. The car is totaled, but David is fine.

This trip, and his accident are reminders that you never know what tomorrow holds. I am so thankful that David is fine, but life can take a turn very quickly, and unexpectedly, so….

Enjoy the people in your life, make time for them, and the things that matter. Never be afraid to drop everything for an adventure with the ones you love. You’ll never regret it, I don’t!

And beware family, yours might be the next Disneyland vacation that gets crashed!

As for me, onto the next!