The Magical History Tour

I took my parents and kids on The Magical History Tour this summer.  I had the desire to do some family history and wanted my kids (and me) to know the stories of my parents' lives and also to see important places in their life history.  My parents were in a terrible roll-over car accident last summer so I feel like I am on bonus time having them around.  I want to take advantage of every moment with them.

My parents' car after the accident.  They were on the way to visit me, driving across the hot desert.  It was a miracle they came out of this relatively fine.  No major injuries and several good Samaritans to help them.

I put the cheesy sign at the top of this post on each side of my mini-van.  True, we got a lot of funny looks from people as we drove around Orange County and Los Angeles County. 

My parents knew we were going to do a family history tour but I decided to be playful and call it The Magical History Tour (a pun from The Beatles, The Magical Mystery Tour).  My sons and I played THIS SONG early in the morning to introduce the theme of the day and sung to it (I'm sure my teenagers loved it). 

We had snacks or little gifts at every stop.  For instance, at the temple where my folks were married, we got Ring Pops.  At my dad's childhood home we had oranges and raisins, his favorite childhood after-school snack.  You get the idea.

They were great sports and we had a wonderful 13 hour day driving all over southern California where they grew up and still live.  We visited their childhood homes, where they were married, relatives graves, old church buildings we attended, colleges, elementary schools, old hangouts, etc.  We took pictures, did video recording and my parents spoke into a digital recorder about their memories.  It was a day we'll never forget.  PRICELESS!

My dad at one of his childhood homes.  My grandpa was a builder and designed and built this house.

UCLA - One of the colleges my mom attended.

The church building that our family attended when I was young.

My mom's childhood home.

My Aunt Nancy's headstone.  She drowned in the family pool as a toddler.  Very tragic story.

Of course I had to make a themed poster representing our day.  I put this on the goodie bags and also printed and framed a copy for my parents.

I would highly recommend having a Magical History Tour of your own.  Worth all the preparation and time for sure!