We are back!

We are back from Florida and I am very happy to be home!!!

April 11 Day 1:

Ron and I wake up at 5am and start getting the last items in car loaded, we wake kids and with very little turmoil we get off and on the road by 6am. We had one little speed bump while turning the corner of our street we realized quickly we didn't lock the camper on and it fell off the hitch. Thank God it happened then and not on freeway! We packed breakfast so the kids eat in the car ( cereal- poptarts), Ron and I have bagels w/cream cheese. Not much to tell about our ride except that Ron missed a few of the state welcome signs.. why do I trust that man with a camera? The kids were pretty good on the way down, of coarse we had a few fights and constant nagging but hey with 7 of us in the minivan with all our stuff its a tight fit and it tends to happen. We stopped what seemed like a 100 times for potty breaks, and even though I didn't plan on that ( altho I should of DUH potty training toddlers) we made good time and rested in Georgia for the night.

April 12 Day 2:

We woke and both Ron and I took showers, woke the kids and were off and on the road again by 7. We were about 4 hours from Disney and starting to get pretty excited. We accidently discovered a back road and missed paying on the toll road. We made it to Disney by 11am and even though check in is 3pm we were lucky enough to check in right away. We got our site 2008 and were off. Now this being our first camping experience in a pop and with the kids we had no idea how to back up the camper to our site LOL. Ron did what he could, unhooked and walked it back by hand..whatever gets the job done right? Now ... this is where it gets fun :) We started to set up the camper and the kid pile out of the car, even though we told them to stay in. The twins are running all over, in the wood area, by other campers areas and in the street all while Ron and I are trying to set up the camper. Painfully we get it all set up! We go in and change and then head off to the bus stop to go to Downtown Disney ( by now its after 3). We stop at Earl of Sandwhich and eat ( except Zach) and go to Lego Store where Zach, Quinn and Ashton get extremely spoiled. Then we go to a few more stores where Kye and Emmy get a few things, stop at Mcdonalds and head back to our camper for an early night. We get back.. sleeping sucked.. Florida is muggy there for everything is damp. Yuck.

April 13 Day 3:

Hollywood Studios!!! Ash was too short to ride the Star wars ride altho he really wanted to, Quinn cried on it. New buzz lightyear ride was super fun altho we had to wait till after 9 ( with a fasspass) to ride it. Park was super crowded. Zach and I start feeling ill... Go see Indiana Jones show ( via Zach) who loved it he then gets his own Indi-kit. Kye, Emmy, Ash, and Quinn all get faces painted $65! The 3 boys make their very own light sabers with light and sound! Kylie gets her fill of the villians store and I think bought every Jack Skellington item in there!!! We opt to leave early due to feeling ill.

April 14 Day 4:

RAIN.. RAIN.. LIGHTENING.. THUNDER.. OH YEAH AND A TORNADO! That day was fun, 7 of us in the camper all day. It stopped raining here and there but we didn't want to risk it. We ended up running to the store and hanging out till about 6pm when it finally cleared and then went to Magic Kingdom. It was such a good day there, we rode alot of rides with little wait, ate, and really enjoyed ourselves. Despite the rough start it turned out to be a great day.

April 15 Day 5:

Animal Kingdom. Ya know what happens in Florida when it rains .. it gets super muggy. Yep and we decided to do the jungle that day. Muggy+ jungle= buggy! Blah it was pretty miserable. Dino land was fun, we caught the Lion King Show ( always good), and saw the parade ( first time and I was not impressed). Thankfully we bought one of those mist fans early in the week and that helped keep us cool. Rode the dinosaur ride ( awesome) got pics from that. Ron and Kye rode the Yeti rollercoaster. AK closes early (8pm) so we headed home.

April 16 Day 6:

Epcot. This is by far one of my fav parks. We got in and Quinn insisted on riding the ride that went in the big ball. He loved the ball. We hurried and got our registration for the Kim possible missions and checked out the fire station. Everyone liked that. Rode a few rides ( nemo, figment) Kids did the masks and the missions, we ate at Moccorro, China, France, America, Mexico. I got a purse from Japan and a Nemo shirt. Kye got a cute shell necklace. We stayed for the lasar/firework show and headed home after that.

April 16 Day 6:

Magic Kingdom. Crowded, crowded and filled with rude people. Despite that we did have a great time and even though we stopped what seemed a million times to use the bathroom we got great seats for the fireworks and actually saw tinkerbell fly over us. We tried to shop after fireworks but the park became an insane made house! So we head home via ferryboat for our last time. We got to the camp and packed up a few things, the stroller and sorted our clothes ( clean vs dirty). Went to bed.

April 17 Day 7:

Ron and Ashton develop colds. We pack up in about an hour and head on the road at 8. After getting on the wrong florida toll road for an hour we finally find our right road ( we are now 1.5 hours behind). We stop at rest stop and as we undo our seatbelts to get kids out to use bathroom, Quinn pukes all over himself. We spend 20 mins at rest stop cleaning up Quinn and the car. He is now beginning to get a fever. We pass Macon Georgia to find dead lock traffic, we get off exit to find bathroom and buy moltrin for Quinn. Thankfully a wonderful clerk at Rite Aid gives us directions around construction, this delays us more but is quicker than freeway traffic. We get back on highway for a bit.. finally we get out of Georgia as it starts to get dark!! Took us over 10 hours... at a stop I notice we have no lights on camper.. we check and find we blew a fuse ( Quick cliff note: During our stay Kylie snuck into car and plugged in a converter we bought for dvd player to plug her mp3 player in. It drained our battery and we had to get a jump start from a fellow camper, we think this blew the fuse). Anyhoo more delay.. At this point we are considering stopping for the night and trying again in the morning. Determined to get home Ron and I drive all night, taking hour cat naps. We make it home at 9am, 25 looooong hours. Whew. We couldn't go back to sleep due to the kids being up and sorta rested.. so we unpack the car and camper.

Now .. would I do it again? Not anytime soon, but I optimistic that in a few years ( 2 to be exact) that it will be easier and I think despite the cost... we will fly there :) Nothing with my family is ever easy but in the end my family is always worth every bead of sweat and every tear shed.

But I can say without any doubt.. I am not a camper and will not be going camping inless I am forced .... ew did I meantion public bathrooms and showers LOL!

gullbladder

One day at the end of the day I started noticing my stomach hurt, having the flu a few weeks prior I immediately thought I was getting another batch of it. 1 day lead to 3 and by day 3 I was in agonizing pain. I went to the doctor the next morning and he gave me a order to get a ultrasound of my gullbladder, oh and of coarse to make it fun a total blood work up in which I had to fast 10 hours prior. That night .. I thought I was dying the pain was so bad I prayed for my life to end ( which I never do). So Ron took me to ER 1130-430 I was there only to find out that their ultrasound room is CLOSED at night! Yep you read that right...CLOSED. So they did some blood work up gave me an IV, so very tasty pain meds ( Im talking better than morph) I was flying and not in pain so home I went. The next day I got my u/s and blood work done. Coarse this was Friday, soo I waited the whole weekend with no results. However the kind dr. at the ER did give me a prescription for pain meds (lame ones) and that helped me during the weekend. So Monday I call.. no results.. Tuesday finally after all the waiting I find out ... I don't have gull stones! I am so defalted as I am still having pain and now I have to go back to get a gullbladder scan ( whatever that it is). But of coarse I can't get in till the 20th. If that comes back negative then he is suggesting I get the glorious camera down the throat procedure! I guess time will tell, I don't know what to think except aging ...SUCKS! If only I bought a extended warrenty on this body of mine.

Disney update

Where does the time go? My last post was 40 days ago .. I suck at this blogging.

So huge updates;
1) Ron got a pay cut so we are considering cancelling our vacation because of the large cost. But after adding some numbers and calling a few people we were able to save our trip.
2) Orginally we were staying at a All Star Music Suite ( very luxerous AND expensive $326 a night I believe). We were staying 5 nights and trying to go 5 days to parks. Now we are borrowing my sisters pop up camper and staying at the Fort Wilderness Campground, we have stayed there 2x already once in 99 in my mothers RV and in 2007 in the cabins. They are quite lovely. But more than that we are staying for 6 nights and its only costing us $436 total with our applied deposit from the suites we only owe $110. Wow huh? Plus we plan on eating a few breakfast and dinners at the camper so that will save us additional money as eating per meal cost us almost $40.

We had to get a hitch put on to the van so that cost and gas will be a bit more due to the pulling the camper. But all in all we will save about $2000. Im thrilled and honestly am thinking we will probably camp at Disney from now on.

So today it's 25 days till we leave. I have been busy cleaning the camper, and packing up. Making a gazillion list in the hopes I don't forget anything but via every trip I usually do. Last trip (myrtle beach) I didn't pack Ron any pants LOL. He is packing himself this trip! Hey I'm only human right?

Hopefully I will blog again before we go but if not I will after we get back with a ton of pictures.

Not even sure if anyone even reads this... But I love having it for myself and I am a really good listener. :)

Disney

Well just 65 days till we arrive at Disney. I am so excited and pray this time no one gets sick so we can enjoy it to the fullest. We are driving, which really doesn't bother me, I guess because I have never flown there so I just don't have any other expectation. I have been on the search for discount books, and travel games for the kids and us to play for weeks now. This year is a brand new year for me as I have put a lot more time in thinking things out. I got fun car games such as license plate find, and car bingo. I am opting out of a chip/sweet treat and looking for more healthy selections that won't send the kids into a sugar high. We are going to be having a jump rope contest at each rest stop, so that every one's blood can get flowing again. We are taking the time to eat lunch at rest stops to avoid mess and boredom. Normally when we get to Orlando we check in our hotel, unpack and head to Downtown Disney. This time we are checking in and going to Magic Kingdom, since that day is extended hours we can stay longer. I sent for our own personal maps, and if God willing the twins will be potty trained. Now some things will stay the same, we are still staying at a Disney Resort, we are still only going to the Disney parks. We will go to Downtown Disney but will save it for after we check out on our last day.

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Its amusing to me how people get so upset at the fact that we are spending so much on our trip. One must go to Disney to know why we continue to go back year after year. We never feel like we are wasting money in fact we feel we are building memories that will last a life time. We have gotten alot of " they won't remember". That is silly of coarse the twins won't remember.. they are 3, but they will see pictures and video and Kylie, Zachery and Emily WILL remember. Also who cares.. Kylie was 4 years old the first time we took her, she doesn't remember BUT.. I do we were walking hand and hand through the gates to Main Street in MK and she saw the Castle for the first time, she heard the music over the speakers and she was ear to ear grin. She was so excited and I remember her saying later " mommy these are MY princesses" as if Disney was completely put there "just" for her. That moment is priceless and although I know she doesn't remember it I know it one of the best days of her 4 year old life. Now really if we can offer that kind of moments ... shouldn't we?

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So here we go our 5th adventure to Disney has a family. Sadly Zach's favorite rollercoast " Space Mountain" will be shut down for renovations, but he amped to go on new rollercoasters. Kylie as well is talking about the rollercoasters and Emily is excited to reride them (yep that's right my 5 year old rode rollercoasters last time we went, front row even). The twins keep asking about Buzz Lightyear so I am already anxious to ride the new Buzz ride and have them meet Buzz. As for Ron and myself, as much as we are kids ourselves it's alway a treat to see Disney through our children's eyes.