Mick & Stacy Wetzel

“We’re so busy with three kids [Zach, 18; Leah, 15; and Minor, 11] and the Philharmonic, our schedules are nuts,” says viola player Mick, 46, who also teaches and is finishing a PhD. Despite their hectic household in La Canada, he and wife Stacy, 50, first violin, still make beautiful music together: “After 23 years of marriage, Stacy’s still my first choice to do something with. We don’t see each other enough and try to get away by ourselves.”

MAGIC KINGDOM We work Friday night, so in the morning we’d go alone to Disneyland, when nobody’s there. Stacy: The beauty of it is that we can be like kids ourselves -- it’s truly an escape, utterly charming. We like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Flash Mountain, Golden Horseshoe Revue -- the vaudeville comics are hilarious! I pack a lunch and we have a picnic and stay three to five hours. Mick: We’ve also kidnapped our kids from school and taken them -- they need to get away too. RUN FOR IT Early Saturday morning we’d run in the foothills, then have a nice breakfast at home. We might go back to sleep or read -- we like historical fiction. For lunch we’d walk to the Hill Street Cafe for salads, then to Descanso Gardens -- it’s quiet and low-key, a visual feast. We can never get away from practicing, then we’d go to Barnes & Noble on Colorado Boulevard [in Pasadena], spend hours in those overstuffed chairs and spend tons of money. ISN’T IT RICH? For dinner we’d go to the Cheesecake Factory [in Pasadena]. Stacy likes the chicken Thai pasta -- I never get the same thing twice. (Being an adventurous eater got me in trouble in Paris when I told the waitress to surprise me and I ended up with pigeon.) We’d definitely get cheesecake. I like regular New York and Stacy likes the chocolate. That’s rich food, so we’d walk along Colorado, then come home and crash. Sunday the family goes to church from 9 to noon -- Stacy leads the singing. We’re homebodies after that; we watch movies together and read.

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