If you are a parent who survived winter break in Georgia last week, you deserve a pat on the back. For the most part, I like the new calendar our schools have adopted. But when a school break coincides with nature dispensing a full week of icy February rain, five days spent cooped up with children can feel like 50.

Personally, I had a fabulous winter vacation. I didn’t let the weather get me down. This was actually quite easy, considering that my family spent last week vacationing in sunny Florida. I bet you’re fighting the urge to lob rotten tomatoes at me right now. That’s OK. I probably deserve it!

We took the kids to Disney World to reward my three-year-old for successfully mastering the potty. We thought we might avoid heavy crowds by going in February. Unfortunately, it seems the concept of a “slow tourist season” in Orlando is now obsolete. Everywhere we went, there were masses of people from every corner of the globe, hoping that Disney’s self-appointed title of “The Happiest Place on Earth” proved true.

My boys were pretty darn happy, to be sure. My older son, Zach, has been to Disney World several times, but this was little Eli’s first visit to the Magic Kingdom. My husband and I will always remember how Eli beamed when he hugged Mickey Mouse for the first time, and how he wavered between fear and delight as he bounced from one activity to the next. Zach was thrilled to find he was finally tall enough to try out the attractions he missed the last time he was there. Overall, it was a wonderful day.

But my most magical vacation memory is not anything Disney created. I found my greatest contentment sitting alone with Eli on the dock at Tom Sawyer’s Island, basking in the perfect combination of warm sunshine and a cool breeze, quacking at the ducks and laughing together. I didn’t have to pay over $50 a head to experience that. It could’ve happened here at Turner Lake Park. It could’ve happened anywhere. I didn’t have to be in Florida for the sun to melt away the surrounding chaos and reveal the pure joy hidden inside an otherwise ordinary moment.

The daily reality of raising children is filled with such ordinary moments. Life after kids often feels like one continual loop of diaper changes, snotty noses, soccer practices, spilled milk, and laundry. Late at night, we parents fall into beds that hold no guarantee of sleep, only to get up the next day, and the next, feeling as though nothing ever changes. I have yet to meet a parent that has not felt lost in the monotony from time to time.

But happiness, beauty, and greatness constantly surround us even in the most mundane circumstances. They just remain hidden until we pause long enough to seek them. We absolutely must make the time to slow down and uncover the hidden jewels we’ve been given.

Mozart never composed anything as beautiful as the tinkling laughter of a happy child. Michelangelo’s most flawless paintings pale in comparison to the glowing perfection of a sleeping baby bathed in moonlight. And diamonds will never glitter as brightly as a toddler’s eyes when he presents you with a chubby fist full of dandelions he proudly picked himself.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to escape chilly Georgia last week, and enjoy Disney World with my children. But my dockside experience taught me that the happiest place on earth might just exist under my very own roof.