Wrap up

OK, it has been a while since I posted and I've missed writing, but I'm torn between a lengthy, self-serving post about our awesome trip to Florida and moving on to what is up now. So, here is the short version, later Florida posts will involve more description but be labeled so that they can be skipped by those who don't want to hear it! :-)

December 26 - Left our house at 7:30 AM with Andy, 3 kids and my parents packed comfortably into my dad's Navigator. 11:00 AM - I throw up on the exit ramp in West Virginia (this is only the 2nd time EVER that I have thrown up from car sickness-I sat in the front seat the rest of the trip). We arrived in Savannah, Georgia around 7 or 8 PM and stay at a Homewood Suites. The kids did great!

Dec. 27 - We left around 9 or 10 and arrived in Orlando at 4:00. The traffic was ridiculous but it was hard to complain when it was 70 degrees!! After settling into our condos, we went over to Downtown Disney for dinner at Bongos (cuban cafe) which was great. I couldn't believe that I was wearing a short sleeved shirt with jeans and no jacket-at night!

Dec. 28 (Sunday) - My dad came with us to EPCOT and my mom stayed at the condo to visit with some Florida friends. I wore shorts and a t-shirt because it was 80 degrees-no humidity and sunshine (is this heaven?) We were there from about 11-8. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at the Disney rewards Visa character greet. Only waited about 20 minutes to see all three and it was magical.

Dec. 29 (Monday) - We went to Magic Kingdom with both of my parents. This place is crowded but since my new best friend is "Fast Pass", we did pretty well. Another beautiful day.

Dec. 30 - We took a day off and spent some time at the condo's pool. We had dinner at a seafood place in a nearby town called Celebration.

Dec. 31 (Weds.) - Back to Magic Kingdom. My mom stayed home with food poisoning from the clams she ate the night before. OK folks, I knew that this is the busiest time of the year to visit Disney, it was our only option. But seriously, this was ridiculous. They stopped letting people in at 11 AM because they were at capacity. Some fool started passing out New Year's Eve noisemakers around 4 PM-Who was the genius who thought giving those things to teenage boys 8 hours before they were needed was a good idea? 3 PM - Sewage leak in Frontierland. Seriously, raw sewage bubbling up into the now closed streets of Disney World. In an effort to keep our sense of humor (especially since about 1/3 of the restrooms were also closed meaning that waiting in line for the bathroom was sometimes longer than waiting for an attraction) we came up with a few funnies, but this was my favorite, "We were all over Magic Kingdom today and couldn't find Tigger, but we did see a lot of poo!!" We left at 8:30

Jan.1 - Animal Kingdom for a very nice, much less crowded, day. It was great except when Muffin (age 8) wanted to go on the Mt. Everest roller coaster - until half way through when she began clutching my arm screaming, "I don't want to ride it anymore!! I want to get off now!!" Sobbing as we excited the ride, I felt like the world's worst mom.

Jan. 2- We were back at EPCOT for a wonderful day. We had breakfast at Norway with the Princesess and got to meet Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Mulan and Aurora. We stayed for the fireworks and got home about 10, totally exhausted which is always great the night before you have to be in car for 13 hours.

Jan 3 - Left Orlando at 9:00, arrived in Wytheville, VA at a fantastic Comfort Suites at 10:00 PM. It was the nicest hotel under $100 that I've ever stayed in.

Jan. 4 (Sunday) - Left Wytheville around 10 and got home around 4. Whew! Back to school for everyone tomorrow!

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Okay, two things I loved about this trip:
1- I don't think I've ever been on a vacation with my parents and not my brothers. It was pretty cool. They joked about being our other two kids that we had to look out for but really it was so great to have extra adults and finally outnumber the kids!

2- Spending time with my kids and husband that I just don't normally do. We were together almost every waking and sleeping moment. Those hours we spent walking or waiting in line were opportunities for interaction and cuddling and laughing and no everything wasn't perfect. But it was Awesome and a super blessing.