Part Two: Destinations 3 thru 6. I survived! :)

The car has been unloaded. The suitcases are unpacked. Laundry is done. Diapers are washed (and were stripped due to a different detergent being used). Pictures are uploaded. And memories have been made (I even came home to a clean house!  WITH dinner supplies already in the fridge!). I can now sit back and watch the days countdown until our winter Tour de Florida.  Yes. I am officially nuts.

Now where is my nanny, umbrella drink, and sunshine? This mama needs a vacation. Preferably one with a massage.

The rain is falling hard outside right now, as it did through quite a bit of our vacation.  I drove in pouring rain for the majority of the time I was on the road, listening to a book on tape (book on CD?) that helped pass the hours.  At least the rain helped the babes sleep through the drive.

We left Venice Beach and headed south. I unpacked for the third time, reorganizing all I brought - books, toys, games, clothes, diapers, shoes...    I was ready for some South Florida fun.  The majority of the week was spent in the swimming pool between rainstorms.  We had a close call with Scarlett when she took her floaty wings off and ventured too far into the pool.  She kept her little head tilted back and just above the water while kicking to stay up. Her little eyes were terrified. She'll be enrolled in swim lessons ASAP. I couldn't bare to think that she could be taken from me... 

The rest of the swims were peaceful and fun.  The kids love the water and have the tans to prove it.  We ventured to a few play dates and met up with some awesome mamas.  We cooked, watched movies, slept in, stayed up too late, took walks, and just enjoyed being with my mom. I did get a few really great photos of the kids (in some super cute Cracker Barrel outfits courtesy of Mimi!) I wish she lived closer to us so we could drive to her more often. 

   

The week went by fast and before I knew it, I was repacking the suitcases and loading the car up to destination #4: DISNEY WORLD!  But before I left, we attempted one group photo... This is what we got:

Oh Heavens... Can you imagine how awesome my drive was this day?

The entire vacation was wonderful; however, this trip to Disney was pretty much ridiculous in so many ways... First off: do not do Disney the week following schools' end.  EVER.  But if you you do, go with the mentality that it is a FUN vacation.  Stressing takes all the fun out of it! Put on her patience panties and get ready to walk slow, wait in lines, and deal with crabby people. I will say that Disney in the "winter" (you know, a Florida Winter) is extremely better than the summer. I recommend waiting and going in between the holidays.  But, I'm nuts, right? So of course, I go twice a year... because... why not?  I seem to enjoy testing my own patience.

My mother-in-law met us at the hotel Saturday afternoon, where we swam and played before meeting a wonderful friend for dinner at Reglan Road in Downtown Disney.  The atmosphere was perfect, with Irish dancers everywhere pulling the kids up to dance.  We had reservations, so we just walked on in!  We enjoyed dinner and ice-cream and walked around listening to the street music and performers.  

Ariel and Scarlett playing in downtown Disney.

 Emmett tasting ice-cream.  (Not my best idea, seeing as how we have no idea what he is actually allergic to... and not to mention he already hadn't been feeling well. Oh well, he liked it!)

We were ready for Magic Kingdom!  The kids woke up happy and well rested. Everyone was in a Mickey Mouse Mood!  We started the day with Mickey shaped waffles and headed for the shuttle to Cinderella's Castle.  Little did we know just how much fun laid ahead of us...

 

We met my friend and her little girl at the gate and decided to meet some princesses (well - to sit in the AC in line sounded like a delightful idea to the mamas).  Scarlett made friends in line and was all too happy to show off her cheese-ball smile as she patiently awaited her princesses:

And princesses there were:

It was off to the rides... the sweaty, sweaty, sweaty Disney goers were already flush and dripping, despite the deodorant and layers of sunscreen. Yes, you are not imagining it.  That is a monkey backpack leash on my toddler.  I swore that I would NEVER be THAT mother with her child on a leash.  Well, I am that mother. Thinking about it now, I do a lot of crap I never thought I would do.  Eh - we are all happy, so I hope you don't stress over it.  The leash - er, uh - tail worked wonderfully!  Scarlett loved wearing it, I felt safer, and heck, it allowed me to breath a little easier inside Disney.

  

(on the merry-go-round and tea cups with Amma!)

Emmett on the other hand, experienced Disney with the same expression the entire time... You don't have to guess to long to figure out how he felt about the whole deal:

(He didn't even like the rides)

We headed back to the hotel for some pool time, showers, and clean clothes before Epcot that evening.  John's mom made reservations in Japan for dinner, which we had to push waaaaay back because of all the fun we had at Magic Kingdom during the day.  Scarlett was so excited over her Magic Kingdom purchases that she needed a few minutes to thank God (literally, "Mommy, me say thank you to God for dis new mermaid!") - no worries - here's the picture:

 
and then we were ready for dinner!  -- Just wait - it's about to get exciting!  We boarded our shuttle again.  Amma (Scarlett's word for Grandma) was loaded down with Emmett, and we were HUNGRY! We arrived a bit early and had time to visit Nemo before our reservation time. Scarlett had a blast, and of course, Emmett hated it. But oh well, he's a trooper. 

We made it to Japan and had our hands washed with warm cloths, our glasses filled with delicious wine, and were served chilled edamame before our sushi arrived.  When I tell you that this was amazing food, it does not do it justice.  The chefs (as all Epcot employees) are from the country they work in.  They are given a one year work visa to live and work for Disney.  The food tasted as good as I would imagine it to be in Japan.  We ate rolls and rolls of deliciousness... and just as we were finishing up, we thought a show was beginning.  Maybe it was the wine that led us to believe this, or the fact that there are shows every 5 minutes on the Disney grounds...  But we were wrong. It was not the sound of drums. It was not a light show. It was a MONSOON.... The heavens opened and dumped all the water possible down, drowning the world. (Well, Epcot and all the countries it holds.)  It continued to pour for an hour before we closed our tab, and took the elevator downstairs to the gift shop to hunt for ponchos.  As we exited the elevator we realized the severity of the storm.  There were maybe 3 people total darting through it to get to new destinations.  It was dark, only the lightening acting as a strobe light.  What to do? What to do? We were stroller-less and umbrella-less. We had a diaper bag, two adults, and two babies, who were melting down as the clock was approaching 10:00pm.  I called John to have him check the weather.  Maybe it would let up soon?  Nope. It would last all night. It was now or never. $30 later on ponchos, I cut mine, allowing Emmett air flow as he was snug in the ergo with a poncho over his head. John's mom held Scarlett, both of them covered as best as possible.  Removing our shoes, we were off.  Did I mention Japan's location within Epcot? Oh... the direct opposite side of the park from the exit.  I have never laughed so hard in all my life.  We were drowned rats within seconds of our sprinting. The sprinting turned to jogging, then to brisk walking, then to dancing and splashing as both kids laughed.  (Yes - Emmett was laughing inside Disney! A Mickey Mouse miracle!)  People stared, people pointed, people probably thought I was crazy.... but they should have known that already if they followed my blog, right?  We looked as though we had just swam laps in a pool when we arrived at the shuttles. We were not alone.  Others had braved the storm in hopes to get back to the hotel before morning... although I'm sure Japan serves breakfast sushi!   

Good thing Scarlett and Emmett wear the same size.  She had a change of clothes for the ride back!

We took hot showers, ate some late night ice-cream and snuggled up in bed around midnight.  We ended up laughing and talking until the wee early hours of the morning, though, which made it hard to rise for Animal Kingdom the next day.  Somehow we mustered ourselves and packed the cars and checked out from the hotel on Monday.  We boarded the shuttle and were off to see Simba.  The whole day was crappy. The kids were in crappy moods. John's mom and I were in crappy moods... all due to how packed the park was. We couldn't even walk because it was so crowded.  We headed to the baby room (GREATEST place in the park with kid movies, AC, potties, etc) to regroup.  It worked and our moods were lifted.  We decided after 3 hours there without riding anything (The train was down for the day, the rides were 100 + minute wait times, etc) we were ready to head home.  Emmett agreed: 

Destination #5: Heading home with a layover in Jacksonville.  The best decision ever was to go with the flow on this vacation.  We left earlier than expected, but made it to Jacksonville before the horrible storm that night.  We ordered pizza and watched movies in our PJ's.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and looked over the pictures. We laughed about the day before and went to bed early.  It was bliss. 

After seeing the eye doctor on Tuesday morning, the kids and I headed home. Home to John. Home to Matilda. Home to our family bed. The rain of course stayed with us the entire drive, but hey - I had nothing to complain about. I had just survived my 13 day-I'm nuts-Tour de Florida alone with the kids vacation!

Throughout the entire trip, Scarlett sent video messages to John through the phone.  They would send videos back and forth.  We missed him so much and cannot wait to do the craziness again in the Winter because he'll be with us!



I'm pretty proud of myself for tackling this trip and drive on my own. I had a great time seeing friends and family along the way.  And isn't it true, that all of us mamas are a little nuts somehow?