Our vacation started on Saturday, September 15. Amazingly, even though we were traveling from two different locations, we were able to get flights that arrived in Orlando fairly close to each other. My family left Albany at 7:20am. I left Dayton at 7:50am. When Sydney was telling me about the trip, she told me that her flight was early in the morning. She had to be up "so early you wouldn't believe it!"
The adults had planned the vacation for a year and a half. The children found out about the vacation about 2 weeks before, at their birthday party. Except they didn't find out the WHOLE story. The children knew they were going to Disney World with their parents, and my parents. They didn't know that I was going to meet them in Orlando for the week. If the flights were on time (and if you have flown at all, you know that can be a big if), I was supposed to arrive in Orlando 30 minutes before they did.
Before the trip, Mom designed special t-shirts for everyone in the family. She went for a royal blue shirt, with hot pink lettering. The shirt had a picture of a castle, and read 'Our Family Vacation, Florida 2012'. The shirts were, well, a little loud. I was certain we'd have no trouble spotting each other. The only thing is, the blue was actually the same color blue as the shirts the TSA agents wear, so it was hard to spot them in the airport.
Mom and my sister decided everyone was wearing their shirts through the airport. I was given a reprieve though, and told I could change into mine at the Orlando airport before they arrived. I was grateful for this, because I thought I'd get some pretty strange looks traveling as a party of one wearing a shirt that said 'Our Family Vacation'. As it turned out, my flight into Orlando was a few minutes early. When I came out of the gate, the ladies' room was right there, so I popped in and changed into my tshirt and shorts (it was 45* that morning when I left Dayton, there was no way I could wear shorts out of Dayton). I stepped out of the ladies room and checked the monitor which showed the arrivals. The Albany flight was listed as 'arriving'. Wow- looks like we both got a tailwind. I left my Dad a message on his phone and told him to call me when he was there. I went off to find baggage claim. While I was waiting for my bag, Dad called to say they were on the ground. Once I had my bag, I returned to just outside the security checkpoint to wait for the family.
When I saw them, I tried to get a picture. When Sydney saw me she said "YES! I knew you'd be here!" This was complete with a fist pump. Mom said they told her on the plane that she had one more surprise waiting at the airport in Florida. Sydney said "Yes, it's Aunt Amy." Mom asked her why she thought that, and Sydney said "We couldn't have this much fun without Aunt Amy!" She kept hugging me and giving me big smiles while we waited for our luggage. Drew was in his stroller, wearing his Mater hat that I bought for his birthday. He reached his arms out of the stroller and said "Hugs Aunt Amy", so I half-crawled into the stroller to give him a big hug.
Once we had the bags, it was off to get the rental cars. We had reservations for two cars, but saved quite a bit of money by getting one large car. While the rest of the adults went to the car rental counter, I was appointed keeper of the luggage and children. Drew, who was so wound up, wanted out of his stroller and unbuckled himself. I helped him climb out and then he proceeded to climb all over his sister and I. Sydney had a lot of energy when she was two, but I swear Drew has four times the energy she did.
With the reservation settled, it was time to get our car. Or our motorcade. We rented a charcoal gray suburban. We joked throughout the week that it looked like the President was visiting. We stopped for lunch at Bob Evans, because we knew it was a place everyone would like. Several of us ordered iced tea to drink, so the waitress just brought us a bowl of lemon wedges. Drew reached for the lemon wedges and popped one into his mouth. Probably other people would have stopped him from trying to eat a lemon, but we were curious. My Grandpa Wager used to suck on lemon wedges. Drew is named in part for my Grandpa; Drew's middle name is Lewis, which was Grandpa's first name. So when this little boy reached for a lemon, we wondered how much like his namesake he is. He sucked the lemon wedge for a couple of seconds and made that inevitable pucker face. Then he took the lemon out, set it next to his plate, grabbed another wedge and put it into his mouth. He grinned and batted those big baby blues at us, with the same twinkle my Grandpa had in his eyes. Perhaps the exhaustion of travel had set in, but we all erupted in laughter. It seems Drew was aptly named!
After lunch we drove to the resort and checked into our condo. The kids ran from one room to another exploring the place. Mom and Dad had the master bedroom, which had a king sized bed and a huge bathroom. It also had the most extra room, so Drew's crib went into their room. Another room had two queen beds, and the third room was more of a little suite, with a queen bed, a couch that opened into a sofa bed, a sitting area, and a bathroom. Sydney wanted her own bed, so she took the room with two queen beds, and declared that her parents were going to share the room with her. That left Aunt Amy with the mini suite! It worked out well, I didn't have to worry that my night-owlness would keep anyone else up.
One of the reasons my parents have a timeshare is so that when we go on vacations, we can cut on some of the expense of eating out. The condo has a full kitchen. The girls headed to Publix to go grocery shopping and the boys stayed home so Drew could take a nap (turns out, all the boys took a nap!). The grocery store was just off the resort, not even five minutes from our condo. My sister was the only one of the girls who was authorized to drive the rental car (Mom and I both said 'no way!' at the thought of driving the behemoth in Orlando traffic), so she climbed in behind the wheel. Just as we started out, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. Torrential downpour. The wipers were going so fast it was throwing the water about 3 feet off the car. Mom and I both said that even if we were driving our own vehicles, we likely would have pulled over in that rain. My sister did an awesome job and got us to the store. We sat in the car and waited for probably 15 or 20 minutes until the rain let up. Then we went into the store and started gathering the things 7 people with different likes/tastes/ and needs would use for a week.
When we checked out, we were asked the same question we had been asked several times that day. "Are ya'll together?" Now why they would think we were all together just because we were a party of 4-7 people (depending on what point in the day it was) wearing the SAME t-shirt?? Maybe we all just shopped at the same place! I really wish I'd had a sign with me so I could hand it to some of these people.
After grocery shopping, and getting all the groceries to our condo on the fourth floor (let's just say it's a good thing there was an elevator!), we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening unwinding and settling in. We made homemade pizza, with Drew and Syd's assistance. While we were eating we talked about the plans for the next day. Sydney wanted to know how early we had to be up. She said "I bet the girls will be up before the boys". I had to tell her that the girls would NOT win that race, as they had Aunt Amy on their team.
Andy got a head start on the next morning's breakfast by pre-cooking some bacon and sausage Saturday night. The smell of bacon filled the condo. Drew came into the living room, dancing and screaming 'Bacon!' He was so excited that his Dad was cooking bacon. He jumped up and down, waving his arms around and yelling 'Bacon, bacon, bacon!' I wish I had thought to videotape it, it was hilarious.
Eventually everyone else went to bed. I went to my suite and tried to browse facebook before reading on my nook. My eyes were so heavy, I never even opened the book. I quickly crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. It's a good thing- because the next morning would come much earlier than I expected!
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