I think I should really start our journey on Monday. No, we didn't depart Michigan until Tuesday but the joy began bright and early Monday morning. Like the procrastinator I am (well I really didn't think I was THAT bad... but apparently I am) I had not renewed my license. It was due to be renewed on September 17th. OOPS. I was reminded of this when I tried to order a glass of wine at a restaurant over the weekend and was DENIED my drink. Embarrassed? HECK YES. Anywho... Monday morning rolled around and I was bound and determined to be the first one in line at the dreaded Secretary of State. Off I went, yes with both kids. I waited. Not for long, thankfully. And I had my 25 bucks in hand ready to get on with my business. After the not so helpful or friendly lady took my old license and typed on her computer for what seemed like 30 minutes, she told me I not only had to RENEW my license but I also had to REINSTATE it. What?????? Apparently my license had been SUSPENDED. HOLY CRAP. SUSPENDED. I was more than stunned. I could barely udder a sound. And of course this woman is looking at me like I'm some murdering heathen. After I got my brain back, I asked what in the world was going on... TURNS out, two years ago, when I got pulled over for having expired plates, I got a slammed with a fine (which we paid) AND a 2 year fine- meaning, for two years, we had to pay 250 bucks to the wonderful state of Michigan. We apparently hadn't paid the second fine. Therefore, my license had been revoked. Wow. After taking all the info in, I squeaked out "So how much do I owe today?" The lady pleasantly answered "Two- hundred and fifty. Oh wait. Two-hundred and seventy-five- you want to renew your license as well, right?" {insert curse word} I looked at my 25 bucks...thinking, "well that ain't gonna cut it sista." and of course I didn't bring the check book. OR the right credit cards. NOW I start my phone calls to Ryan. Phone call number one... unanswered. Phone call number two, three, four, etc. unanswered. FINALLY after texting him he called me back. I did that low-tone hissing-ticked off voice again. He got the point. Unfortunately he was in Hillsdale and couldn't come down to bail me out. So who do I call? My mom. Yes. My mom came and paid my fees. How much lower could I get at that point??? Apparently lower because the secretary of state chick who gladly collected my mom's money informed me that if I were to have been pulled over while having my lisence suspended my kids would have been given to social services. WTH lady??? Of course this sent me into hysterics. And I now have a BEAUTIFUL license picture- complete with runny mascara and red, raccoon eyes. BUT I got my temp. ID and I was set to fly. PHEW!
Are you still there???
Okay... now onto Tuesday- Let me start off by saying that traveling with TWO kids is TWICE as hard as traveling with one (DERRRRR). Go figure, right? I felt like I was drowning in baby gear. I wish I would've had my mom snap a picture of me while going through security- but we were lucky just to make it through. TWO suitcases, TWO car seats, one diaper bag, one purse, one stroller, one GIANT camera bag (anyone have a nice, small camera bag I could buy/borrow for spring break???) and oh yeah, two screaming kids. Cue the sweating. With a lot of help from friendly fliers we made it through security and to our gate. Here's a helpful tip- don't put lace up converse sneakers on your 2 year old and don't have the baby in the Moby wrap. Both had to come completely off.
The plane ride down was great. Maeve sat contently in her car seat. My mom entertained her with stamps, tattoos (ehhh), markers and play-doh. I tried to ward off screams from Henry by keeping a bottle or a nuk in his mouth at all times. It worked. We landed in SUNNY Orlando (temp was 71 I think...) and I was excited to be OUT of Michigan and out of that plane. We were picked up by "Gigi" (my grandma...Maeve's great grandma) and started our way back to Crescent City.
My grandma's house is about the size of our house- maybe a tad bigger due to a Florida room, but its pretty tight quarters. Maeve, Henry and I were all sharing a room and I was nervous from the get-go. We had one play pen. Who would sleep in it? After a lot of debate, I decided Maeve should sleep in it simply because I have this fear of her escaping and wandering out to the pool. That left Mr. Man without a bed. Obviously, he was going to sleep with me, but I didn't feel comfortable completely co-sleeping with him. The bed was a queen and I was picturing him rolling off in the middle of the night. What to do, what to do? I decided to buy a wedge. One of those sleeping wedges... off we drove to Walmart. And let me put your wonders to rest- if you think OUR Walmart is bad, head to a Walmart in central Florida... OMG. Gross is all I have to say. Anyways, I got the sleeping wedge and it worked like a charm. Henry actually slept the best he had ever slept- and he is currently sleeping in the wedge right now. The only problem we really encountered with all of us sleeping in one room was when Henry would wake up in the middle of the night to eat. I'd try to be totally prepared but EVERY single time he woke Maeve up. Henry would start to fuss, I'd get situated to feed him and up would pop Maeve. Then I'd get Henry back asleep and I would have to listen to Maeve for the next hour thumping and fussing. That was rough. But we survived! :) And it was worth it because we had some great times during the day...
We made a trip over to St.Augustine every day. The highlights of St. Augustine were the usual... feeding the birds, eating the crazy-good food, walking along St.George street, playing at the awesome parks, sneaking in some sinfully delicious cupcakes from LULI's and just enjoying time together. It was truly great. Relaxing as it can be with two kids and a non-stop mom. :) Here are some of my fave. pics from St. Augustine...
Yes... Henry was there. I promise. But looking back I'm sad that there are a grand total of about 5 pictures of him. Poor dude.
Okay... ONTO DISNEY! Still with me???
I was SO excited for Disney. I mean SO excited. I told Ryan I got goosebumps as we pulled up to our hotel. There is something magical about Disney World. I can't put my finger on it... but there's just SOMETHING. We were lucky enough to stay at the Polynesian and let me just say it was MAGNIFICENT! Who needs Hawaii when you can take a 2 hour plane ride down to Disney's Polynesian resort? I mean really, I felt like I was IN Maui. Hmmm... that Disney magic again I suppose. :) Our first day there we explored Downtown Disney.. fab as always. Maeve had a mini-meltdown but after my grandma showered her with candy (siggghhhhh... but I guess that's what Gigi's do) she perked up again. We ate at the most fantastic restaurant I've ever been to. In fact, I've already made reservations at The T-Rex Cafe. HOLY COW what a place. I walked around with my camera in AWE of it. Maeve wasn't a huge fan of the noises coming from the giant T-rex but she loved the Octopus and the baby dinos. ***PARENTS IF YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEY- GO TO THE T-REX CAFE. IT WON'T DISAPPOINT!***
After our afternoon at Downtown Disney, we headed to the hotel. I was a tad desperate to get the kids a nap since we had a big night ahead of us. We agreed that Maeve wouldn't nap if my mom was in the room so after we got settled, my mom & grandma took a walk and I began my mission: NAP TIME AT DISNEY WORLD. It turned out to be mission impossible. Instead of napping, Maeve ended up running around the hotel room, in her diaper, ripping up the stationary, dumping out the complimentary lotion and shower gel and accidentally dialing the front desk. All the while, I was trying to get Henry asleep... lets just say by the time my mom returned I was ready to get out of that room. ehhh...
We went to the luau on Saturday night. Again, if you're visiting Disney anytime soon- go to the luau at the Poly.- I've been to two luaus in Hawaii and three at Disney- I can't tell the difference! :) Fabulous! I think I might have eaten an entire loaf of the coconut bread they serve you. Maeve got called up on stage to hula dance which was such a treat to watch... and I also was able to witness my very first Heimlich maneuver. Praise the Lord it wasn't performed on anyone at our table- just the table next to us. But wow! Talk about excitement! All was well thank God- she just needed to take it easy on the pork ;)
After the luau, we took a monorail ride around the entire Disney World complex. We got to see the fireworks and watch the castle light up in all sorts of different colors. I thought Maeve might explode from sheer excitement.
Sunday morning came bright and early- we had a character breakfast at 7 AM. My mom and grandma were dragging... I however, had been up since 5 with a cranky man. Prior to coming to Disney, we had gotten Maeve a Snow White dress. We ALL had these high expectations that she was going to put it on, twirl around like a princess and pose for beautiful pictures. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. In fact, the dressing of Maeve got so intense I left the hotel room with Henry and let my mom deal with her. I was ready to let her go to the dang character breakfast in her diaper. Thankfully my mom persuaded her to put the dress on and we were off.
I KNEW the breakfast was going to be interesting to say the least. My kid is one of those that hates characters- ya know, the ones dressed up in the outfits? So I was 100 percent positive we were going to have a freak out as soon as Mickey appeared. And BOY did I call that one! I can't remember if it was Pluto or Lilo (from Lilo & Stitch) but whoever it was, came up from behind and that was it. She was done. For the rest of the breakfast her head was buried in my mom. Oh well. We got some great Mickey Mouse waffles & some delicious mango juice. I also had a blast watching an old man and his wife get wasted on mimosa's at 7 in the morning. Good times at Disney! :)
After breakfast, it came time for the magic moment. THAT moment of Maeve walking through the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Seeing the castle. Hearing the music. I was giddy with excitement. I was also shivering from the cold. The ONE day we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom, the sunshine state was not living up to its name. It was cloudy and COLD. 50's- maybe even 40's. I don't know. All I DO know is that my ears hurt like heck and my nose was running. We had to buy Maeve a sweatshirt to put over her (ahhhheemmm sixty dollar) Snow White dress and my mom actually bought a scarf. It was bad. We were running from ride to ride and store to store. I never thought I'd be wearing my Northface at Disney World. But, I did. The good thing about going on this cold, Superbowl Sunday, was that it was DEAD. We walked on everything. In fact, we were done with all the rides Maeve could do by 11. Seriously.
We decided to go back to the hotel for a nap & lunch. Thankfully, when we ventured back out into the park that afternoon it had warmed up into the 60's. YES! We did a few of Maeve's fave. rides again ("Its a Small World" & the teacups). We watched a terrific parade and then I decided that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to ride "Space Mountain." I had heard it had been revamped so I was kind of wanting to check it out. My mom and grandma were more than willing to take the kids on some more kiddy rides while I went off BY MYSELF to ride "Space Mountain." Yes- I was one of those dorky single riders. In fact, when I got up to where you board the actual coaster, the man at the gate yelled "Any single riders?" I meekly raised my hand and stepped to the side. Oh how I wished Ryan was there... :) But I rode it- by myself, in my own cart. (haha yes I know its a funny mental picture). It was great though- and yes, very revamped. Fast and dark!
After my "Space Mountain" adventure, we headed out of the park and to our dinner reservations at the "Kona Cafe." Maeve spent the bulk of that meal on the floor. I couldn't be too upset though... she HAD spent the entire day at M.K. She was overwhelmed to say the least.
Our flight out on Monday morning was earrrrrrly. We had to be at the airport at 7. YUCK. We were all grumpy. Maeve especially so. And she showed us as we boarded the plane. Everyone- please try and make a mental picture of this: I- carrying Henry, the diaper bag and my purse, with Maeve behind me. My mom, carrying Maeve's carseat, her carry on bag and her purse, and OH YEAH her giant Starbucks coffee, with Maeve in front of her. We're shimmying our way down the aisle when all of a sudden Maeve sees a man- yes, a man. She stopped dead in her tracks and laid flat on the floor. Ummm. Maeve? Get up. Walk please. Nope- that kid wasn't moving. It took ANOTHER nice man to carry Henry, and my bags so I could pick Maeve up off the floor and carry her to our seats. I was ready to be home. SO READY.
We're home. Yea :) It's cold... but its nice to be with Ryan again. I'm counting down the days to our vacation in April. I'm sure the bulk of you (who are still reading this) are thinking that we're nuts for doing Disney again so soon. But its really MY favorite place to be. Especially with kids. So... in the upcoming months I will be making reservations at restaurants, planning out our Disney vacay and dreaming of Mickey.
PHEWWWWWWWWWWWW that was too long! Thanks for reading! :) Believe it or not, this was a brief summary of events- I still have lots of funny stories from our vacation that I'll be sharing... so stay tuned. In the meantime... goodnight & see y'all real soon ;)
