2013.....a new year and new vacation(s)

So it's March 2013.....again, I know I SUCK. I haven't been able to remember my log in to my blog and trying to reset my password was a nightmare. Now that I'm finally on the ball, I'm trying to catch up and work on my new 2013 vacation.

Disney is the name of the game. This will make my 13th trip to the world. It'll be my daughter's 7th and my son's 4th trip. Our last vacation was great and we did a few new things and learned a lot. Here's a quick overview:

My husband had a GREAT desire to visit during the Food & Wine Festival that is held in Epcot every year. Me personally, I didn't care when we went. The idea for me was just to go and enjoy my time in my Disney bubble. We had arranged our vacation for the end of September 2012. This coincided with my father's 6 week trip out of the country. We were booked for our flights and room as far back as June/July so all we did was wait.....and wait.....and wait. Finally the weekend before came around and we were busy with our last minute arrangements. So the day before my father left for South America, we were packed and prepped and gearing for the trip. That was a Sunday. On Monday, I had to work and do my usual stuff. I left work early, picked up my father and the kids, dropped off my daughter at dance and headed to the airport. After a much heated argument at the JetBlue counter (and I still maintain that had the counter clerks not been so rude, I wouldn't have lost my cool), I bid my father a farewell, told him to be careful and I'd see him November.

My husband was already home with my daughter while my son and I walked slowly back to our car. At 3, he knew that "Papa" was going away but still doesn't fully grasp the concept of time. He was sad that we wouldn't be getting on a plane ourselves, until I told him that we would be back the next day to get on our own plane. We drove the 20 minute drive home in a melancholy type of silence. I arrived home to a wonderful surprise....my husband had packed, cleaned the kitchen AND ordered out dinner lol. It was great not to have to worry about that. We were up until 11pm packing the last of our things, confirming that our ride to the airport was scheduled for the right time (thanks to my little bro for driving us in) and printing out boarding passes, confirmation #'s, etc. I finally fell asleep at midnight but it was a fruitless effort as I woke up every 45 minutes afraid that we were going to oversleep.

I rolled over and checked my phone and finally it read 3:30 am. Our flight was at 6:25am and our ride was coming at 4. We jumped out of bed and since we had all showered/bathed the night before, we put on fresh clothes and combed our hair with relative ease. We let the little guy sleep until it was almost time to go. We managed to get to the airport quickly and without any fuss. We bid goodbye to my brother and headed into the JetBlue terminal. It was literally all of 6 minutes to check us in and get our bags checked (unlike the sh**show the day before). We headed over to security and went through quickly. Normally we have to wait for my father as he is unable to go through the metal dectors due to the ICD he has. This time it was so quick :)

We went to our gate and all around us it was quiet. Sleepy quiet. There were other families there that were more than likely heading to Disney same as us. The sun was not yet up and my son was finally waking up. Poor baby!

After what seemed like a lifetime of people watching (including watching another mom browbeat her husband and barking orders at him.....my apologies to that husband. I could go on a tirade about the behavior of other people we encountered at Disney but really....why go there???) it was finally our turn to board....yippee!!!!

Making our way down the ramp, we finally boarded and found our seats. The two kids and I were seated together with my husband right next to me but across the aisle. I was hoping that the kids would relax and sleep the three hours to Orlando. Sadly what you hope for and what you actually get are almost never in sync lol.

The kids and I hamming it up in our seats.

Our flight was uneventful.....that is until we were about 20 minutes from landing and Isabella was visibly upset. I told her to calmly tell me what was wrong. Her ears were bothering her and she didn't feel good. I couldn't understand how it took her over so quickly. But being super mom, I had mints, candy and gum along with medicines all packed in my carry on. I'm prepared for every situation lol. We arrived in Orlando and awaited our shuttle to transport us to the other side to baggage claim. MCO is unlike any airport I've seen in that there is major organization. I love Boston, don't get me wrong....but with all the major changes that Logan has seen over the last 20 years, it leaves a lot to be desired. Sigh.....