The Hunt for the Mouse

It's Saturday!  And although I need to tackle my rather daunting list of chores and errands, I want to first establish the tone of my day (a little fun, a little laughter) by posting my Favorite Thing.  The last few Saturdays I have  shared a favorite thing over on my friend Claudia's blog, Mockingbird Hill Cottage.  If you have time today you might enjoy heading over to her blog and checking out what others are sharing today; it is a great way to find wonderful women and interesting blogs, and it's so much fun to see what treasures other women cherish.

Today I am going to share a favorite story, titled The Hunt for the Mouse.   When my children were young, we decided to splurge (big-time!) and go to Disneyland.  In order to save enough money for this vacation, we asked the kids for their help in coming up with ideas on how we could make the trip to the happiest place on earth a reality.  Our oldest two boys proposed a year without cable tv.  Gulp.  My husband sacrificed Sunday football for a year, and we made a thermometer poster and every month the boys proudly colored in the savings, with our goal becoming more visible each month.  Finally, the day arrived and we packed the mini-van with books, a cooler filled with sandwiches and juice, and my husband's favorite cassette tapes (I'm really dating myself here, aren't I?)  No hand held games, no drop-down televisions in the back seat, nothing but lots of highway miles and plenty of laughter and sing-alongs all the way to California.  To this day all of us can instantly sing the lyrics from Boys to Men (and I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky) and Hall & Oates (I can't go for that, no can do), which my husband played over and over and over.....

 

On our arrival at the park we were barely in the gate when our daughter spied Mickey Mouse, surrounded by a swarm of little kids.  My husband assured her that we were going to be at Disney Land for FIVE DAYS, so we would have PLENTY of time to meet Mr. Mickey.  That seemed logical.  Little did we realize, it is a BIG park and there is only ONE Mickey.  Day one, plenty of fun.  Day two, more of the same.  Day three, hmmm....where is that mouse?  Day four--oldest son has his souvenir football jersey, second son has his Indiana Jones hat, third son has his souvenir and our daughter...has no mouse encounters.  We spent all Thursday afternoon looking for the jaunty fellow, but no luck.

 

Friday morning found us at the front gates of the park, my husband earnestly crouched down in front Team Micky, urging us on to victory.  The goal was clear and victory must be achieved.  Failure was not an option. Today was...THE HUNT FOR THE MOUSE. And finally, late that afternoon as we were trudging rather dispiritedly through Fantasy Land (and I was wishing that darned mouse had never been created) we turned a corner, and there he was.  Mickey in all his sartorial splendor!  And he saw my daughter's face....went down on one knee and opened his arms wide for a hug.  Day saved.  Vacation saved.  And a favorite family story was created.

May your day be filled with all sorts of favorite things!  You can also find me today at http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/