There is really nothing quite like driving onto Disney property. I wish I had video of the kid's excitement as they saw the giant Mickey Mouse sign. It was just too much. Disney really is magic and you can feel it. We stayed on property at Port Orleans French Quarters. Disney knows how to do things right. I checked in online. Got a text that our rooms were ready. And we were able to use our Magic Bands that they mailed to us to go straight to our rooms. No stopping at the front desk. Seamless and easy.
We unloaded the van and got down to the serious business of having fun. The real reason for wanting a short drive on Sunday was so that Brisbane could get in some good clean swimming time. We had rented a cabin for a weekend a few months previous and all Brisbane wanted to do was swim. He's a swimming junky. He told us for the weeks leading up to Disney World that he just wanted to swim. I hadn't planned in much downtime at the resort each day so we figured that arriving early would hopefully get the swimming out of his system. So after a quick lunch, we headed off to the pool.
It was glorious. 6 inches of water for the babies. Tame water slide for the big three. Life jackets provided at no charge. Again. Disney knows what they are doing.
My parents and Becky both arrived later that night and we all tried to tuck in early for the real excitement that was to begin the next day...
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Epic Disney Adventure--Day 1: The Drive
We've been back from Disney World for over a month now. It was the best vacation I could've asked for. We haven't been on a family vacation in over three years due to Mack's medical school schedule and being poor students. We saved up and this made up for all of those years of vacation-lessness. And I'm so glad we did it!
Our theme for the trip was, "Do you have your happy pants on?" Mack and I knew that vacationing with five small children and a pregnant woman was not going to be easy. But we were determined to have the best attitude, no matter what obstacles we faced. We did have to remind each other a few times (Ok, so Mack had to remind me.) but for the most part, I think we were highly successful. A large part of that success was due to my parents and one of my best friends, Aunt Becky, coming along to help wrangle children. We needed every single adult we had and I am SO grateful they were there. Best vacation buddies ever.
But first we had to make it to Florida. Fourteen hours in the car with five children is pretty daunting. I prepared for MONTHS. I had bags labeled with the kids names and every hour they got a new activity. We took a slightly more organic approach with Della and Miriam and Della milked us for all we were worth.
We drove 11 hours the first day in hopes of having a really short drive Sunday morning. Honestly, if Mack hadn't been there, joyfully pushing along, I probably would have given up 2 hours sooner. But he was awesome....and we made it to Valdosta, GA.
The drive went better than the last car trip but not quite as I wanted. Here are a few takeaways.
1. Brisbane is incapable of giving any sort of warning that he has to pee. He had to unbuckle and pee in a cup "on the move" several times throughout the trip. As I am sitting in the passenger's seat with a cupful of my son's urine next to me, I turned to Mack and said, "This is what has become of our life". Parenting is special.
2. Even the most organized Activity Plan doesn't mean that your van will stay clean. Ugh. I hate a messy disorganized van on a long road trip. But I might need to just suck it up and accept it. Things just get out of hand rapidly.
3. Della is a lot smarter than me. It didn't take her long to figure out that there were things being kept from her in a mysterious bag at my feet. No matter how fascinating her current form of entertainment was, it only held her interest for three minutes. Because if she threw it on the floor and yelled, "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." she knew that Mack or I would eventually give in and let her have something else. She was going through our stash WAY too fast for our liking.
4. Miriam is our favorite child. At least when traveling long distances in a car. She liked being given books to read or things to do but she never once demanded anything. She could sit for hours and just ride along. She also took a morning and afternoon nap. Best. Child. Ever.
5. We love hotels that let us squeeze 7 people into one hotel room. Hey. Two of them are in pack and plays. So much cheaper and so much more convenient to have both adults in one room.
6. When you see a sign that says "Chick-fil-A Dwarf House" don't get too excited that your kids will be able to run off steam in a Playplace. We had planned on stopping for dinner somewhere with a Playplace. We figured the kids could run around while we ate and when we were done they could load back into the van and eat there. Nothing entertains kids on the road quite like food. Win-win. So Chick-fil-A was our first choice because the food is a cut above and the Playplace is cleaner than other options. Well if you stop at the Child-fil-A Dwarf House you find yourself at the first Chick-fil-A EVER with a small dwarf sized door. But that little door does NOT lead to a Playplace... it leads to a Chick-fil-A with half a fast food restaurant and half a SIT DOWN TABLE SERVICE restaurant. At Chick-fil-A?!?! I probably would've normally found this set-up fascinating. But after 10 hours in the car, we were bummed. Real. Real. Bummed.
But we made it to Valdosta and still loved all of our children. And we were excited to make it to the Happiest Place on Earth the next day!
Our theme for the trip was, "Do you have your happy pants on?" Mack and I knew that vacationing with five small children and a pregnant woman was not going to be easy. But we were determined to have the best attitude, no matter what obstacles we faced. We did have to remind each other a few times (Ok, so Mack had to remind me.) but for the most part, I think we were highly successful. A large part of that success was due to my parents and one of my best friends, Aunt Becky, coming along to help wrangle children. We needed every single adult we had and I am SO grateful they were there. Best vacation buddies ever.
But first we had to make it to Florida. Fourteen hours in the car with five children is pretty daunting. I prepared for MONTHS. I had bags labeled with the kids names and every hour they got a new activity. We took a slightly more organic approach with Della and Miriam and Della milked us for all we were worth.
We drove 11 hours the first day in hopes of having a really short drive Sunday morning. Honestly, if Mack hadn't been there, joyfully pushing along, I probably would have given up 2 hours sooner. But he was awesome....and we made it to Valdosta, GA.
The drive went better than the last car trip but not quite as I wanted. Here are a few takeaways.
1. Brisbane is incapable of giving any sort of warning that he has to pee. He had to unbuckle and pee in a cup "on the move" several times throughout the trip. As I am sitting in the passenger's seat with a cupful of my son's urine next to me, I turned to Mack and said, "This is what has become of our life". Parenting is special.
2. Even the most organized Activity Plan doesn't mean that your van will stay clean. Ugh. I hate a messy disorganized van on a long road trip. But I might need to just suck it up and accept it. Things just get out of hand rapidly.
3. Della is a lot smarter than me. It didn't take her long to figure out that there were things being kept from her in a mysterious bag at my feet. No matter how fascinating her current form of entertainment was, it only held her interest for three minutes. Because if she threw it on the floor and yelled, "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." she knew that Mack or I would eventually give in and let her have something else. She was going through our stash WAY too fast for our liking.
4. Miriam is our favorite child. At least when traveling long distances in a car. She liked being given books to read or things to do but she never once demanded anything. She could sit for hours and just ride along. She also took a morning and afternoon nap. Best. Child. Ever.
5. We love hotels that let us squeeze 7 people into one hotel room. Hey. Two of them are in pack and plays. So much cheaper and so much more convenient to have both adults in one room.
6. When you see a sign that says "Chick-fil-A Dwarf House" don't get too excited that your kids will be able to run off steam in a Playplace. We had planned on stopping for dinner somewhere with a Playplace. We figured the kids could run around while we ate and when we were done they could load back into the van and eat there. Nothing entertains kids on the road quite like food. Win-win. So Chick-fil-A was our first choice because the food is a cut above and the Playplace is cleaner than other options. Well if you stop at the Child-fil-A Dwarf House you find yourself at the first Chick-fil-A EVER with a small dwarf sized door. But that little door does NOT lead to a Playplace... it leads to a Chick-fil-A with half a fast food restaurant and half a SIT DOWN TABLE SERVICE restaurant. At Chick-fil-A?!?! I probably would've normally found this set-up fascinating. But after 10 hours in the car, we were bummed. Real. Real. Bummed.
But we made it to Valdosta and still loved all of our children. And we were excited to make it to the Happiest Place on Earth the next day!
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