This is really quite embarrassing. Our big family vacation to Florida was one year ago. 365 days. And I still haven't finished blogging about it. I was chatting with my Austrian Twin, Birgit, and she jokingly suggested maybe I could finish by the one year anniversary. I have opted to see it as a challenge. One I am going to accept. If I finish in the next few days, I'll be ok, because we flew to Florida on September 15, 2012. So I still have a couple of days!
I certainly couldn't blame my readers if they have to go back and re-read the previous posts. I had to as well. Mostly so I could get back in that 'vacation is fresh in my mind' mood, rather than trying to read off the scribbled notes I took last year. I have told myself I carry my small notebook with me to write things down because I don't want to forget. The reality is that it may take me a year to get the blogging done, so having the notes is useful!
After spending Tuesday at the Magic Kingdom, Wednesday was another down day. After we had booked our week, Birgit told me she and her mom were headed to Florida in September. I know I mentioned the dates we were going to be there, and I don't know if Birgit deliberately scheduled their trip around it or not, but I'm going to believe she did. I was so excited that I would finally be meeting Birgit- without having to go across the pond! It also gave me a little bit of 'me' time in the trip, and that was important.
Birgit and I had planned that Wednesday was our day to spend together. Although we first met on Sunday night. The hotel Birgit was staying at was near Sea World. My family wanted to go to an 'all you can eat seafood buffet' Sunday night. I don't like seafood, and I don't like buffets. So the family dropped me off at Birgit's hotel Sunday evening. While they were off to savor the seafood, Birgit, her mom, and I went to the Pizza Hut next to their hotel. Once we found each other, we had a wonderful time. I was supposed to call her room from the lobby of the hotel. Problem was, my mind played tricks with me and I couldn't remember her room number. Oh, I could remember the numbers, just not in the right order. That's one of the joys with fibro- my mind plays tricks on me. But eventually, they found me in the lobby and we went to Pizza Hut.
Dinner Sunday night was fun. We were trying to get used to each other. I was trying to speak slower because her Mom is not fluent in English as Birgit is. And it was hot. I remember we all complained about the heat. I don't think it was below 90 the entire time week we were in Orlando, with 100% humidity. We split a pizza- veggies for Birgit, meat for her mom & I. It was nice to sit down and just relax. After dinner my family picked me up and we went back to our condo.
Wednesday morning my sister and I had massages planned at the resort. Mom booked them for us as a special treat. The massages were done poolside, which I found really uncomfortable. For one thing- we were right out in the sun (well, under a little cabana) and heat. When it is 90* outside, the last thing you want someone doing is rubbing oil on you and touching you. At least, that's how I felt. The other thing that made it uncomfortable was that we were in our swimsuits. I am more comfortable wearing nothing than I am wearing my swimsuit. We did think it was better to do the massages poolside than in the condo, where we might be interrupted by children (which would then make it not very relaxing for my sister).
After the massages, Dad and I drove across Orlando to pick up Birgit & her mom. The plan was for them to come back to our condo for lunch, then we would spend the day relaxing and being pool rats. We forgot to send the memo to Mother Nature, however. As Andy and I worked on lunch (I made a tossed salad, Andy made a vegetable stir fry. Accompanied by brownies which I had made that morning), Birgit's mom made friends with Drew. Drew was just past his second birthday, and I had a hard time understanding things he said. The two of them had no language barrier, though. They got along fabulously. It was a lot of fun watching them.
As we finished lunch, there was a loud clap of thunder. Then it started pouring. Our pool plans were put on hold. We decided to exchange gifts. Birgit's birthday was earlier in September, and rather than try to ship the giant Boyds Bear fleece blanket that I made for her, I took it to Florida and let her carry it home on an airplane. Birgit and her Mom had brought gifts from Austria. Correction: they showered us with gifts. There were Jodelbears (little bears dressed in Austrian garb- think Sound of Music- that yodel when you press them), coffee, cookies, Christmas ornaments from Vienna. I'm sure I'm forgetting something (the danger of blogging a year later!) Drew thought his Jodelbear was the best- he kept dancing to it. When the gifts were exchanged, we sat around in the living room watching TV. Birgit commented that she loved American TV, but I never did find out what she meant by that.
Poor Sydney. She wanted to be in the pool. She kept watching the weather, and when the skies cleared up she announced it was time to go. Of course, saying 'pool' doesn't do justice to it. The resort had a lazy river that runs through it. A lazy river is a kind of pool, but instead of being oval or round like a pool, the lazy river meanders around buildings throughout the property- much like a river would. There is a little current in the river that pushes you along. We had rented a cabana at the pool for the day. The cabana was like a tent- it had four sides, with a ceiling fan! Inside the cabana was a tv and a mini fridge stocked with goodies. There was also a table with chairs, a newspaper, a fruit basket and a couple of bags of chips. It wasn't an honor bar- these were all ours to enjoy as part of renting the cabana. It also meant we had access to inner tubes for the lazy river.
When we arrived at the pool, Sydney took charge. She had been to the pool that morning while her mom and I were having massages, so she was an old pro. She showed us where everything was- including the hot tub which Birgit's mom enjoyed. Once she gave us the lay of the land, Sydney took off with one of the other adults to enjoy the pool.
Birgit and I have a lot in common, even though we grew up on different continents. We are close in age, and have many similar interests. There are even some things that others consider 'quirks' that we share in common. So even though we hadn't met in person before this trip, we had a lot to talk about. The lazy river would provide more.
We walked into the lazy river, and it was enjoyable. We went over to the spot where you get the inner tubes and decided 'sure, why not'. We showed our wristbands, and were each handed a large black donut shaped plastic ring. Birgit and I looked at each other; a look that said 'now what?' We confessed we had never done this before. I turned back to the resort employee and said "I don't mean to be dumb, but how do you get into this thing?" Thankfully, he did not laugh at me. He told us the easiest way was to go over to the steps, put the inner tube against the steps and kind of slide into it, rear-end first. He also said we could step into it.
He may not have laughed when he answered my question, but if he saw us trying to get into the tubes, he might have had a good laugh. We went over to the steps and tried the 'sit into it' method. My father, twenty plus years older than me and with a surgically repaired leg, was able to get into his tube with no problem. My niece, thirty years younger than me, also had no problems. I felt like a greased pig on a slip and slide. Maybe it was too many steps... I can't drive a clutch because trying to coordinate the two pedals with the shifting just throws me off balance. So maybe trying to lean against the stairs, while sliding your bum into the hole was too much for me. I can assure you there is no way to get into an inner tube gracefully. Somehow, (I seem to remember we tried to hold the tubes for each other), Birgit and I ended up sitting in the tubes, our legs dangling over the front, and we were off... gently kicking our way and drifting down the lazy river as we chatted. It was relaxing and fun. Until we came to the Torture Chambers.
Every so often on this lazy river, there are 'caves' in which water streams down on top of you. I suppose it is meant to make you think you've drifted under a waterfall. I do not like water on my face. I don't like water streaming onto my head. So to me, they were torture chambers. For each 'cave', there were two sets of waterfalls- one at the beginning, then you went in, and a few feet later there was another waterfall. There is no way to avoid them... you can't go to the side and scoot around it. You can't go to the middle in hopes of the stream being lighter. No. Full force all the way across. The first time, the torture chamber took me by surprise. Suddenly, I was underneath a tremendous shower of water. I sputtered. I screamed. I kicked my legs as fast as I could to get out of there. Yet I couldn't move. Looking back, I am sure I was moving, just not fast enough for me, and so my mind felt that I was trapped. I think in the first one, Dad came along behind me and pushed me through. Ah ha! We found a way out. I need a push.
I was prepared for future Torture Chambers. I closed my eyes. Held my nose shut. Ducked my face down towards my chest. And found out how good of a friend Birgit is. As we approached the Torture Chambers, she pushed against my tube and using the handle on the side, pulled me through the Torture Chambers. As fun as it was to travel down the lazy river, we both were so very grateful that there is no photographic evidence of this afternoon!
After a round of showers, we were ready for dinner. My sister and brother in law were going to their special restaurant to celebrate their anniversary. Which left the rest of us with the children. I had booked a reservation at the Rainforest Café. I asked my sister before doing it if the kids would like it. She thought they would. She said when they went four years earlier, Sydney was scared. But she said Sydney was that much older now, and Drew was a different child than Sydney, so it should be ok. We went in, and the kids (and adults) were amazed as we walked through fish tanks and saw all the animals. It was neat. Then we were seated back in a corner. Every 15 minutes, the lights flash, there is thunder, and it is meant to simulate a stampede in the rain forest. The animatronic elephants trumpeted and stomped their feet. It was a little scary for the adults. For Sydney and Drew, it was terrifying. Even their favorite food (macaroni & cheese) didn't make the situation better. They both ended up taking their food home and Mom walked them out of the restaurant while the rest of us finished our meal. Once they were outside, they were fine. Lesson learned.
I also learned not to mention the word 'allergy' at the restaurant. I wanted to order a hamburger, but wanted to make sure before I did that it wasn't served on a wheat bun. Since my gall bladder surgery 10 years ago, I can't eat whole wheat. So I have to eat white bread, buns, etc. It's not a gluten issue. It's just a whole wheat issue. The server didn't know what type of bun the hamburger was served on, so they sent the chef out. I ended up trying to explain to the chef that I don't have a gluten issue, if the hamburger is on a white bun it's fine. She wouldn't give in (I guess terrified at the thought of a patron having an allergic reaction to her food). I gave up and ordered chicken.
After our not so spectacular dinner which left Aunt Amy feeling like some sort of monster for leading the children into the 'forest', we wandered around Downtown Disney. Which of course includes a toy store. Sydney by this point knew that I liked Donald Duck, so she pointed out every Donald Duck toy in the store to me. Birgit is also a fan of Donald, so Sydney tried to enable Birgit too.
By then we were all tired, adults and children alike, so we took Mom and the munchkins home so she could put them to bed, then Dad and I took Birgit and her mom back to their hotel. There may have been some bumps, but it was a fun day and I really enjoyed meeting my Austrian twin!
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