A Vacation Story

For Christmas, our whole family was given a 4 day trip to Disneyworld followed by a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. Wow, crazy right? So, the time finally came and all 32 of us loaded up and headed for Orlando. Oh wait. It wasn't that easy. First came the packing. The goal: pack 4 bags under 50 pounds with everything we would need for 10 full days, keeping in mind we wouldn't be able to wear anything more than once due to the crazy humidity/heat as well as having dress clothes for our dinners on the cruise. Also, be sure to include enough diapers, pull-ups and swim diapers for this amount of time. Oh, and umbrellas since the forecast said rain, snacks and toys for the plane/shuttle bus trips, camera, cell phone and iPod chargers, cups with lids for the kids, swimsuits, floaties, sandals, tennis shoes and dress shoes, hats, sunscreen, etc. etc. Packing isn't quite as easy with kids, especially when you know you'll be on a ship for 4 days with no means of going to the store if you forget something. In any case, after many trips to the store and multiple days of organizing, I finally managed to get us packed. And, I was successful in my attempts to pack all this in two large suitcases, one tiny suitcase that could count as a carry-on and a garment bag - all underweight. Yes. So, now that we were all packed, it was time to depart on our fun adventure.

Day One: Travel Day to Orlando

I woke up at the crack of dawn to get myself and the boys ready, as well as finish up a few last minute things. Silas was overjoyed with excitement after 6 months of anticipating this trip. He probably wasn't sure if it was ever really going to happen, after all that anticipation. That's a long time for a kid to wait, seeing that they really have no concept of time! And of course Eli had no idea we were going. We kept telling him we were going to see Mickey Mouse and he'd get all excited proclaiming, "Mouse! Mouse!" At 6:00 a.m. we headed to Dusty's grandparents house to drop of our car and get a ride to the airport. This worked out since they had a later flight that day and we certainly didn't want to leave our car parked at the airport for 10 days. The only problem with every single person in the family going was we all had to figure out rides to and from the airport. So we were dropped off at the airport, proceeded with all the usual duties of checking in and going through security and waited to board the plane. I wasn't sure how this day was going to go. Silas is great traveling, but Eli has always been a whole other story. But luckily, I knew there was lots of back up if I needed help entertaining him. This was the first time he had his very own seat and I must say, it worked like a charm. We set him up with some headphones and an iPod filled with his favorite movies/tv shows, gave him more than his share of snacks and also had some fun little surprises in my bag for him throughout the day. We had an hour and a half layover in Austin where we got a good lunch and then waited for our next plane. We finally made it to Orlando at 7:00 p.m. and took a shuttle from the airport to our hotel for the night. We knew we had made it the second we stepped off the plane - suffocation. Woah - even though I lived in the humidity for my entire childhood, it's impossible to adjust to it. There's nothing normal about it - it's wretched. Also, I'm spoiled in our San Diego weather but that's a whole other story. Dusty took the boys to the pool since they were way to excited to go to bed yet. We wore them out and turned in for the night, since the next day was the big day - Disneyworld!

Day Two: Disneyworld, Day One

We woke up early and took a shuttle back to the airport, where we would take another shuttle to the Disneyworld resort. Our travel agent did a lovely job of organizing everything so we traveled seamlessly from place to place. It took us about an hour on the shuttle to make it to our beautiful hotel, Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort. All the while, the kids could hardly stand the anticipation. Silas knew we were going to Disney that day, but it was taking longer than he had expected. Once we got all checked in and ate lunch, we headed over to Animal Kingdom around 1:00 p.m. We knew our first destination. I had showed Silas everything on the Disneyworld website and watched tons of videos, so he was all excited about the Dinosaur land and wanted to ride the Dinosaur ride. I had no idea what to expect as far as how he'd do on the ride. From the video, it looked a bit scary, but he was determined that he had to ride it and was big enough. Let's just say I got scared at one point. He was pretty nervous at the beginning and I had a hard time reading him during, but he ran off the ride all excited to tell Grammy and Pappy about his adventure. He was so proud of himself for being so big and we couldn't help but smile at his sweetness. He convinced Grammy and Pappy to take him on the ride yet again. At this point, we were already overheated and ready to leave. Honestly, I don't know how on earth anyone could stand out in that heat all day. Besides, Silas got a huge dinosaur out of Grammy and Pappy after the ride, so he was more than content to leave. Eli was practically passed out in the stroller, so we took the shuttle back to the hotel to rest up a bit. Don't worry, we had a plan. Since we were staying at the resort, a different park is open late each night after hours. Since we were in Florida in the middle of July, we knew there was no way any of us, especially the kids, could stay in that heat all day. So we planned to go to the pool or water parks during the day and explore the parks in the evenings when it's bearable. That night, Epcot was open until midnight so that's where we went. Silas and Eli loved the big ball, so they called it, that welcomes you when you enter Epcot. We did our thing, exploring the park and checking out the rides until midnight. Oh yeah, don't worry - this was okay because our time is 3 hours earlier. So really, it was only 9:00 p.m. our time. This worked out fabulously with the kids, because they didn't really get off their schedules and were able to stay out late exploring. Perfect. On our way to the exit we found this amazing place that had 5 of the Disney characters all lined up. If you've ever been to Disney, you know you have to hunt them down somewhere on the streets or in the character houses. This makes for standing in lots of lines, but here they were, all in one place. Silas had a book to get their autographs and took this task very seriously! Here, he got Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. This was bigger than life to him. Eli only had eyes for Mickey, only meeting him. He snubbed the other characters, although we did wake him up from a deep slumber to meet them. There was no way we could let him sleep through Mickey. So, maybe if he wasn't half asleep he would've been nice to the others.

Day Three: Disneyworld, Day Two

We all had reservations at Magic Kingdom for breakfast at a character dining place. It was a great buffet and the kids were overjoyed to meet Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Again, Silas got all their autographs, smiling from ear to ear with each one. After breakfast, we were too hot to even think and the boys were already dripping in sweat.

Two words - Blizzard Beach. No way were we going to be suckered in to standing in the heat all day. Nope, we were off to the waterpark. This was probably one of my favorite days. There was a huge lazy river that was bigger than any I've ever seen. The boys had the best time floating down the river and were so happy. I'm not gonna lie - we quite enjoyed it ourselves. There was a great kid's section where Silas had a ball on one particular slide. He would get in a tube and ride all the way down, pick up his tube and walk back up again. He would've done it all day if we had let him. Eli found his own favorite little spot, an area for tiny kids that had some really small slides. He was all smiles, grinning from ear to ear. After awhile we left the kid's area and rode this family ride where you took a lift up to the top and got in a huge raft. The ride was crazy fast, but oh so fun! I couldn't believe Eli was big enough to do it, but Dusty held tightly onto him and he yelled, "Iron Man! Iron Man!" all the way down. He truly believes he is Iron Man, and I guess he thought he was flying. It was so fun! In the early afternoon we headed back to the hotel so the boys could rest up for the evening. They each slept for about 3 hours, we ate dinner and headed to Magic Kingdom. The park was closing at midnight, but open to us until 3 a.m. You got it - 3 a.m. Really? Who could possibly do that? Well, that was our plan. We ran into pretty much everyone in the fam while we were there, and everyone eventually dwindled off. And then there were 4. That is, Dusty, Silas, Zoe and me. Mark and Brenda took Eli back to the hotel to sleep and we stayed to ride as many rides as we possible cold. And mind you, we did. We lasted until 2:30 a.m. and left because we couldn't think of anything else to ride. Even Zoe was ready to take off, though Silas may have made it until the next morning. Needless to say, by the time we took the half hour shuttle back to the hotel, the only thing that was keeping me going was consciously telling myself to pick up my feet and walk. I think we fell into bed, where we stayed until 11:00 a.m.

Day Four: Disneyworld, Day Three

So yeah, seeing as how we had such a late night, we took it easy on this particular morning. By the time we got up and moving, the waterparks were both closed. They close once they're at a certain capacity, and in the Florida heat I think everyone had the same idea to go there. We decided to go to the resort pool and hang out. There was a water slide that Silas loved and there's no telling how many times he went down it. After spending the afternoon at the pool, Dusty and I decided to make dinner reservations for just the 4 of us. We took a shuttle and then a boat to the Beach Resort where we went to a delicious seafood buffet that was well worth the time it took to get there! We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and then headed to Hollywood Studios. This was definitely a fun park, reminding us a lot of California Adventure at Disneyland. Silas was thrilled to ride Star Tours and got to get a "spaceship" after the ride. Each boy had a certain amount of money that they could spend to pick out prizes. Eli got a spinning R2D2 that lights up when you push a button. There wasn't that much for Eli to do at this park - really none of them except Magic Kingdom. So, when I talk about Silas riding the rides, it's because Eli wasn't big enough for most things. That's a whole other story though. I have a definite opinion of Disneyworld vs. Disneyland, of which I will talk about later. But first, I have 6 more days to go. Whew!

Day Five: Disneyworld, Day Four

You guessed it. We headed to the resort pool again for the morning. Sorry, it was just way too HOT. The pool pretty much sums up most of that day. For dinner, we all had dinner reservations at a German restaurant at Epcot. This was a fun and entertaining little place, as we were serenaded with music and dancing while we ate. Afterwards we explored all the different Pavilions - this was actually really cool. There are countless pavilions, each beautifully representing the architecture, food, culture, etc. of that particular country. The kids get to make a mask, and each country gives them a stamp and something to add to it that represents something special about that country. This was a fun thing that Silas particularly enjoyed. At the end of the night there was a magnificent firework show that was out of this world. You haven't seen fireworks until you've seen fireworks at Disney. Absolutely breathtaking.

Day Six: Travel Day/First Night on Boat

We all met at 9:30 a.m. and loaded up on another shuttle bus. This took us to Port Canaveral. We tagged all our luggage, turned them over to the workers and with passports in hand, lined up to check-in for the cruise. We eventually got to our room and Silas was thrilled to have his first experience on a top bunk. That was his little space and he practically lived there any time we were in our room. There was nothing significant about this day, other than our first dinner on the cruise. If you've ever been on a cruise, you know the dinners are a treat. Fabulous, three course meals that are so yummy. On a cruise, you have 24 hour access to food - between the formal dining, room service, buffets, etc. I've never seen people eat so much in my life. Hands down, anyone could easily gain 5-10 pounds on a cruise, just saying. Oh, and Silas went to Kid's Club to check it out. I don't remember what they did that night, but we had him all amped up to go. Eli was too little to go, so he stuck with us and we took him to get some soft-serve ice cream. Yeah, did I mention there's a station for soft-serve ice cream readily available at your pleasure from 3:00 - 9:00 p.m.?

Day Seven: Cruise Day Two

We went to CocoCay Bahamas, and it was beautiful! Crystal clear water, that was warm!! Our Pacific Ocean here in Cali is pretty chilly - brrrr! Sandy, white beaches - heavenly! We got some rafts and floated in the water, enjoyed some time laying out on the beach chairs, the boys played in the sand, we had a yummy lunch provided by the island, etc. CocoCay is owned by Royal Caribbean, so we were the only ones there and the reason lunch was provided. We hung out at the beach for about 5 hours until the boys were overdue for a nap. Eli was super fussy that day and as it turns out he had a horrendous rash, which is why he probably didn't want in the salt water. Poor guy - I felt absolutely terrible after seeing it. We went back to our room and slept probably a good 3-4 hours. That's what vacation is for, right? I do not feel guilty about any of the naps I enjoyed during my vacation. It was formal night for dinner, so we got all dressed up. We headed down and had family and group photos, which turned out really nice! Silas went to Kid's Club again after dinner. Each night had a different theme, so we'd get him all excited about it. For the life of me I can't remember what the theme was this night, but it got him geared up to go. All the boy's got together to play poker that night while we turned in!

Day Eight: Cruise Day Three

I'm gonna be honest, this was a day of naps. I wasn't feeling so great. The night before I started to feel a bit congested and had a horrible headache. This headache lasted the rest of the time and I'm convinced I'm just not a good sailor. I got super sea sick on our Alaskan cruise two years ago and didn't expect to feel it this time. I was being optimistic, but I felt nauseous most of the time. Anyhow, we got up early and went to breakfast - ready to head out for the day. We ported at Nassau on this day, which is the capital of the Bahamas. During breakfast it happened to be raining, so after we ate we headed back to our room. This was our downfall. We all fell asleep. The shades were pulled and the lights were off - and well, we slept...and slept. I'm not sure how long really, but we pretty much didn't leave our room until dinner. I know. We're on a cruise, our ship is at a fabulous port, and we were all in the room sound asleep. At least we made it to dinner, right? I mean, this was my favorite part of the cruise! It was pajama night at Kid's Club, but Silas was not having it. He told us, "I am so ready to go back to San Diego and go to my school. I don't want to go to Kid's Club." There was no point in forcing him to go if he didn't want to. Afterall, we had Eli anyway, so it wasn't like we could send them both to Kid's Club and be kid-less for some time to ourselves. Grammy and Pappy saved the day and watched the boys for a couple hours. We didn't have to be back on the ship until 11:30 p.m. so after dinner Dusty and I actually got off the ship and explored a little of Nassau. Sadly, most of the shops were closed so we didn't hang out too long. But, it felt good to get out. We headed back and got our sweet boys and went down for the night. I'm surprised any of us could sleep, but we did.

Day Nine: Cruise, Day Four

This day was just for cruising. We were on our way back to Port Canaveral, so we were on the ship all day. I still didn't feel up to par and began taking cold medicine. Neither of us were really up for much - and Silas was still ready to go home. Not to be a downer, but by this point I think all four of us wanted to be home. It certainly doesn't help when you don't feel well. I felt like my head was in a cloud and all the motion of the ship didn't help. We had lunch, roamed the ship a little and tried to occupy ourselves. Again, we enjoyed a spectacular dinner and I did convince Si to go to Kid's Club because it was Pirate Night - aaarrrrghhh!! He loves pirates and they were going to have a Pirate Parade, so there's no way he could miss it. I told him if he went I would come watch the parade. This was the key!! As soon as he knew he'd see me, he wanted to go. The parade was adorable! I'll have to get the video posted soon, because he was way too cute! When I picked him up he wanted to go to pajama night. I told him he missed it because he didn't want to go, but he didn't quite understand. Lesson learned: no matter what Silas says, I need to encourage him to do things. He doesn't ever want to go anywhere, but once he's there he has a blast. It's good for him to branch out and even be stretched. Sometimes it's easy for me to rationalize why he doesn't have to, but in the end I know it's good for him.

Today: Laundry, Cleaning, and Reflections

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. by default because the boys woke up. I finished all the laundry, cleaned the whole house, sent Dusty to the grocery store, ran to Target, worked more on my photos and just got everything settled. I feel ready to start a new week on Monday. Hopefully I can get over this head cold before then! I still feel like everything is spinning. Ugh!

Quickly - DisneyWORLD vs. DisneyLAND. Hands down, DisneyLAND!! I am not partial because I live here and because Disneyland is our second home. I really feel like most or all of us felt this way. I am so glad I got the opportunity to see Disneyworld and it was an experience of a lifetime going with the whole family. We are all so blessed to be able to do this! However, Disneyworld is HUGE, being soooo spread out, but I don't feel like there's that much more to do. In fact, Magic Kingdom is basically Disneyland except looks cheaper and all the other parks only have a handful of rides. AND, there's basically nothing for the little kids, like Eli to do - minus Magic Kingdom. Disneyland feels magical. Seriously, you walk in Disneyland it it really is "the happiest place on earth" and there's no way to describe it. Nothing about Disneyworld felt that way. My favorite ride - Peter Pan - was embarrassing. Seriously, everything was half-way done and looked cheap. I'm not being negative - it's just true. Ask anyone that's been to both. Now I know that's just my opinion, but it is what it is. Take it for what it's worth. If I had to pick, there's no choice - Disneyland for me. I'll stick with the original, not the copycat! And with California Adventure and all the crazy new additions they are making to it, which is just as fabulous as the Disneyland park - it makes my choice even easier. I love Disneyland. No comparison, folks.

This trip truly was an amazing experience and I know our whole family is so very thankful that we had this experience together. And now, we are all happy to be back home. There's certainly no place like home - just ask Silas.

p.s. At some point I'll have more photos. A lot of these are from my phone. I'm working on it...