It’s been a few years since we’ve been on vacation, and I’m not complaining, I just think it’s time to get out of the house for a while. Our last vacation was to San Francisco, in 2008 and littleBee1 was 1 1/2 years old.
I mostly remember her eating sand on the beach. It was a great vacation, low stress until the flight home. Our flight was canceled at the very last minute. I mean, while we were checking in, they said… “Sorry, your flight has been canceled”. Hmmmm… OK, now what. So they, American Airlines, arranged for us to catch the next flight, which was on another airline. Fair enough, so we got our new boarding passes and got in and extremely long line for the security check. As some of you know, it’s a bit of a pain to travel with children. They have to go through the same security check we do, even having to take their shoes off. Only thing that makes it even trickier, is that you have to get yourself through, and them, while trying to keep them safe, not touching them, pushing the stroller, car seat, carry-on bags, etc… Not to mention the sighs from the people behind you in line.
To make matters worse, we had been flagged by security because we switched flights at the last minute. WHAT? I didn’t switch flights, they canceled my flight and put me on a different one. Well I guess that much information doesn’t get to the security people, because all they new was that we had changed flights at the last minute and now we were a security risk. All three of us had to go through additional security, and we had already waited in line to get our new boarding passes and now in a very long security line, and we were running out of time. So I figured a few extra pat-downs and off we’d go. Well there was only one security person assigned to the 3 of us. So the procedure took 3 times as long and we ended up running to catch the plane. Seriously running, crying, and yelling for them to stop the plane.
So now brings me to a month ago. I say to hubbyBee… “I’d like to go on vacation!” He says, “I think you deserve a vacation!” Ahhh, my sweetheart! Smart man!
So here I am trying to plan a vacation for a 4 1/2 year old and 3 -16 month olds. AM I INSANE? Yes, I know the answer to that! So I start thinking about where I want to go. Somewhere warm, fun for the kids, and relaxing for us. We’re going to Disney World, of course.
We have American Airline miles, so we decide to look for flights that fit our schedule. Children can sit on your lap up to the age of 2, but we only have 2 laps, so we ask AuntieD to come along. So 4 seats, and 3 lap children, and the flight is booked. Now we need to decide, where we are going to stay. We don’t have a time-share, nor do we want one, and hotels are way to expensive, because we’d like to have a kitchen and 4 bedrooms. The obvious solution is to rent a house. We did this in San Fran, and it worked out great.
My next decision… beach house or home in the Disney area. I must have changed my mind 20 times before going with the Disney area. I just couldn’t get the image of 3 toddlers eating handfuls of sand out of my mind, not to mention having to travel an hour back and forth to the parks.
I’ve spent 2 weeks looking at homes in the Disney area, lying in bed thinking of all the things I will need this house to have and finally I have narrowed it down to 2 houses, but just can’t decide. I show both to hubbyBee, he tells me which one he likes, but it doesn’t seem to help. I can’t help thinking that this decision will make or break our vacation, so I sit on it for 2 more days thinking that there is gonna be a sign that will help me decide.
Finally this morning, one of the owners says that someone else has been inquiring about the home for the same dates, so if I want to rent the home, I need to tell them now. So the pressure is on. One last look at Google Maps and I commit! I closed my eyes and hit ‘send’.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. one more detail to check off. I’m relieved and just hope that I will only have nice things to say about this home after our vacation.
So over the next few days, I will set up crib and high chair rentals. Yes, there is a company in Florida called Baby’s Away, that rent everything you’d need for your vacation, and they deliver, setup and pick up for a $20 fee.
Check back in a few days and I’ll continue to write about my planning, and hopefully we can both learn a few things during this process.
~Sue
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