Florida Vacation--It's a Loooonnngg Drive

I have been planning our Disney vacation for months.  So, you can imagine how excited I was when the day of departure finally arrived.  Actually, it was a morning of departure.  We decided to give 3AM another try.  The last time we left at 0300 was two years ago and it was a disaster!  The kids never really fell back asleep and were tired and cranky the entire drive.  But, they are a little older now, so we decided to try and drive straight through and start early.

The night before, we put the kids in their comfiest clothes.  They knew we were leaving in the middle of the night and were anxious to start the vacation.  In fact, when I went and checked in on Jack around 8:30pm, he asked me if it was time to go.  Eventually, we all fell asleep.  Thomas' alarm went off at 0215.  We showered, finished packing the car and then went to get the kids.  I woke up Anna first.  I tapped her shoulder, and said it was time to leave for Florida.  She literally jumped out of bed, grabbed the bag she had prepared for the drive and ran out of the room.  All 3 kids woke up very easily, went to the bathroom and threw on their flip-flops.  We left by 0315.  At 0324, Kara commented that Daddy was right, "it is a long drive."  We were afraid for what was in store.

The treat bag.

However, the fear was unfounded.  It was possibly the greatest drive ever.  Well, maybe not the greatest drive ever, but it was far better than I had anticipated.  We drove for 5-straight hours before stopping.  That made the day go by quickly.  We watched 2-movies, listened to lots of kids cd's, and periodically handed out surprises from a treat bag.  We had figured the drive would take about 16 hours, we did it in about 14:30, which included a nice picnic lunch at the "Welcome to Florida" rest-stop.

We drove straight to my Dad's house and then we all (my Dad, his friend Maggie, and the 5 of us) went out to a pizza buffet for dinner.  It was hard to get the kids back in the car, but I was excited to see the changes in my hometown--namely the addition of Legoland.  After that we stopped off at my brother's house to say hello.  He has a really friendly dog (Shadow) that all the kids loved.  When we got back to my dad's house, one of my best friends stopped by with her husband and son--neither of whom I had had the chance to meet yet.  It was an incredibly full day, but so much fun!

The next morning, I called my sister to see if her family wanted to go out to breakfast.  Her kids heard the message, so there was no way for her to say no.  After breakfast, we hung out at my sister's house and she finished Kara's Drizella costume.  Then, it was back to my Dad's for a family clamboil.  After the delicious dinner, we headed to our rental house in Orlando.  Originally, we were going to stay at Art of Animation, but after our very successful trip to Lancaster, we decided a house was the way to go.

The house is huge and beautiful!  It has 6-bedrooms, so my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew came up to spend the weekend with us. The girls took over the princess room (complete with carriage beds) and the boys slept in the pirate themed room.   (No one wanted the room with the Mickey Mouse mural.)   It was so much fun!  Kim (my sister) and Dave (brother-in-law) had a date night Saturday and the kids all played so well together.  They really enjoyed the game room and pool.   Sunday, we went to the Orlando Science Center.  We didn't realize it was $5 Walmart day and the place was packed!  But, it was still a lot of fun.  Sunday night, Thomas and I had our date night.  We went to Colorado Fondue.  We had gone there during our weekend stay in Orlando following our wedding.  We even got to sit in the same booth we did almost 9 years ago.  It was a wonderful night.

Swimming with their cousins in the calm before the storm.

Sunday night, Tropical Storm Isaac started his long passage over us.  Despite being way out in the Gulf, we got a ton of rain that last all Sunday night and well into Monday.  The kids enjoyed playing together, and the grown-ups even got to play a game.  My sister's family left shortly after lunch on Monday (we were sorry to see them go, but they had school and work to get back to).   The kids were finally forced into naptime.  Then, another of my good friends came to see us.  Our vacation was off to a great start.

Thomas entertaining the 5 kids.

The house has a game room with pool, air hockey, foosball, and toys.  Made waiting out the storm much more fun.

Summertime, and the living is easy!

In reality, there isn't much difference in our house between the seasons.  The kids aren't in school yet, so while the temperatures change, our schedule is pretty static year-round.  You will be pleased to know that Kara has stopped swearing (and hitting).  She isn't quite her former sunny self, but overall has been much more pleasant.  Jack has taken over her role as "the difficult one."  (Personally, I think it is okay to label children, so long as: 1) they don't know about it and 2) you are willing to change/modify labels as necessary.)  We have been doing a lot of activities with the local Mom's Club.  Jack has managed to embarrass me at several of these.

Here's an example, on Tuesday we were at a friend's house swimming.  Everyone was sitting around eating lunch, when Jack approached the hostess and asked her "why do you have a big tummy?"  I politely tried to shoo him away, but he would not be deterred.  Instead, he said loudly, "Mommy, I can't go play,  I have to ask her something... Ms. Jane, is there a baby in your tummy?"  Of course, there is no baby in her tummy.  In his defense, it has been baby central around here lately, with several friends being pregnant, and Jack really likes babies.  And, it did provide us with a good conversation on the way home (appropriate versus inappropriate conversation, which did not go so well.  Hopefully, they at least learned not to ask people if there are babies in their tummies.)  Jack was a roll that day, we had to leave early because he refused to follow the playground rules, which consisted of "don't climb the slide."  

The next day, we went to the Fire Department.  The kids loved it!  They got to climb on the fire equipment and learned some good safety information. There was one temper tantrum when I tried to move Jack in the group picture, but we all enjoyed the experience. When we got home, they spent the day pretending to be firemen, which was very cute.  There were some minor squabbles.  At one point, I went in to check on them and asked Jack what was going on, he ran up to me and slapped my arm.  Hard; it left a red mark.  So, it became nap time and he was off to his room.  I often wonder why the kids are never good at the same time.  There is always one (or two) who are "going through a stage."  They are like Siths, there is a master (worst behaved), an apprentice (middle), and a Jedi trying to maintain high standards amid the chaos.  They seem to rotate through these roles.  I am glad they are never all Masters, but I would like some time with just Jedis.

Okay, I am digressing.  Other fun stuff--the kids all got haircuts.  I took them all to the Hair Cuttery (same place we went after last year's hair-cutting incident).  We got there shortly after opening and the place was empty.  One woman took Anna, the other Kara.  I asked them to cut their hair to shoulder-length.  That meant two different things to the two different people, but it's okay.  We also went back to the Natural History Museum to visit the dinosaurs (again).   On the way home, I had another fun conversation with Jack after Thomas noticed that he and Jack were dressed alike in jean shorts and gray baseball shirts:

Me: Jack, you and Daddy are twins today!

Jack:  No!  Anna is my twin.

Me:  But, Anna's a girl

Jack: Yes, but we are both 4

Me:  Daddy's not 4?

Jack <laughing>: No!

Me: How old is Daddy?

Jack: I don't know.  Daddy, how old are you?

Me: Is he as old as the dinosaurs?

Jack: Nooo!  <pause> But, grandpa is.

On a positive note, the kids have been playing really nicely together lately.  They have been very good about including everyone and have found games they can all enjoy.  It has been a lot of fun for me to see their imaginations at work.  They love to build stuff and can be very creative.  I also love that they are developing more sophisticated senses of humor.  It is so fun to hear them try and make up jokes and to make each other (and Thomas and me) laugh.  Sometimes, I just look at them and can't believe how big they are.  It is certainly a fun ride we are on!

Haircuts!  Hard to see here, but Anna's is much shorter than Kara's.

Fire truck fun.

We all enjoy the insect exhibit at Natural History.

Thomas' favorite exhibit.  Apparently, people used these before cell phones were invented.