Florida - Day 1 - And So It Begins

So....Florida.  This trip has had more twists and turns than you would ever believe.  Scheduled for last November, postponed by emergency surgery for Craig's mom, unable to reschedule due to Christmas, Craig's schedule, my pregnancy, and Carter's arrival and infanthood.   We finally scheduled it for this week, even though it meant Jacob would have to miss school.  Not ideal, particularly given all we've been dealing with lately, but we had to do it sometime and this was what worked for Craig's parents.  Well, then Craig's dad had chest pains in Pittsburgh, which led to a triple bypass last week.  So, now it's just us.  I feel bad that it seems like we're not going to get their money's worth since Jacob is so difficult and Carter is too young, but we'll certainly try to make the best of it.  We're grateful for the chance to try, anyway.  Like I've been saying for the past week...if we're going to be struggling and miserable dealing with Jacob's issues, we might as well do it in the happiest place on earth.

The good news about the trip here is that we were able to schedule a non-stop flight in the afternoon.  As much as it's nice to leave early and get a whole day at your destination, with two little kids and a lot of packing to do, as well as eight days here, I was fine with losing part of a day if it meant having all of us well-rested and de-stressed.  The packing was slow but pretty decently organized.  I packed both kids in one giant suitcase, me in another medium-sized one, and Craig packed his own large duffel bag.  I spent the last couple days before we left dumping random stuff into a couple bags at the landing at the top of the stairs, knowing that it needed some major organizing to strategically sort out our carry-ons and other miscellaneous items. 

I managed to get done right around when I wanted to, but we still had a trip to Wegmans to pick up a last minute prescription and a glue stick so we could do some of Jacob's homework on the road.  We made it to the airport and through security pretty easily, but seriously...I don't know how moms who travel with more than one kid travel solo with their kids.  It's crazy. 

The flight was iffy.  It started out okay.  Jacob was good, Carter was sleeping, and we got good seats.  We did some of Jacob's homework, had some snacks, and Jacob settled in with a movie on my laptop.  And then it started to fall apart a bit.  Carter woke up and could only be distracted so long.  He cried for the entire descent, and Jacob fell asleep, making him a bear to wake up.  Still, we survived and Carter was making friends all over the place with his big smiles, so apparently no harm done.  We did catch this photo op while walking through the airport, though not without a lot of effort!

The Magical Express to Disney was pretty good but still a process.  They got our bags separately and we just hopped on a bus to the resort, Old Key West.  By the time we got here and got settled it was dinnertime.  We explored our villa a bit--very nice with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, laundry room, and outdoor patio.  While exploring the patio, Jacob and Craig were almost "attacked" by this guy...

HUGE!

It was around that time that I figured out that I was catching the cold Carter had been dealing with, and I knew I was in for a rough week.  We decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner.  It was already late and we didn't really know how long it would take to get there.  Once we were there it took a while to find somewhere to eat.  We ended up at Wolfgang Puck's for some pizza and salad, enjoying the pleasant night outside.

Hot air balloon observation ride

On our way back to the bus, we stopped at the Lego Store.  We have to go back so can get pics of the outside creations in daylight, but I did get this one of the giant Hulk!

We also saw the Rainforest Café volcano erupt!

Our last stop was at a sports themed store.  Here are the big boys with a giant bat!

We didn't get back to our villa until way too late--though thankfully our luggage was waiting for us.  It still took way too long to get both boys down for the night, and by the time they finally did, it was nearly 1am.  Carter had slept the entire time we were at Downtown Disney so I was less worried about him, but while I expected that Jacob's nap on the plane would keep him up, I never expected he'd be wired until 1am!  Ugh.  I had a terrible night's sleep because of my cold--not being able to breathe is awful--but vacation awaited so there was no rest for the weary.

I  guess the day went as well as could be expected.  The trip wasn't a total disaster, and Jacob was at least manageable.  Carter had his moments, but it could have been worse.  Day Two turned out to be quite significant for a reason we didn't expect, but more on that soon...