Happy New Year! The past week in Florida has been wonderful. It started and ended with one of us vomiting but hey we were together. I don't know if it was nerves, anxiety, stress or food but I was sick the night before we left. Ellie was sick the night before we came home.
The flights both way were fine. We rented a house in a resort not too far from Disney. It was nice because it really had a ton of room - 4 bedroom/4 bathroom house. We went grocery shopping and stocked the fridge for the week. We went swimming in the gorgeous pool - lazy river and water slide.
The resort had a New Years Eve party that I had purchased tickets for earlier in the month. It wasn't terribly well thought out but it was fun. We sat down by the pool and they had a live band playing. The kids loved the appetizer and sweet buffets. We didn't make it until midnight.
We went to the east coast on Sunday. Driving past Cape Canaveral and then up to Daytona Beach. The kids loved the ocean - not so much the salt water but the beach. The house had beach toys that we brought with us and we combed the beach for shells. We drove past the racetrack on the way back. We stopped at Downtown Disney and walked around. It was nice, all the Christmas decorations were still up at all the parks. Ellie got her hair wrap done. Nick got to ride the train. We all got a treat from the sweet shop.
Monday we went to Epcot - my favorite. Even though the parks were crowded we were able to maneuver pretty well. We spent the entire day/night there - from park open to park close. The kids got their bear passport stamped at each of the countries. We watched the Illuminations show and traveled back home.
Tuesday we went to Hollywood Studios. It was a frigid day. We bundled up and tried to stay inside. We were able to hit Toy Story and everything else just seemed to fall into place time wise. We had a character lunch and finished the night with the Osbourne light spectacular - over 5,000,000 lights and snow machines along Main Street.
Wednesday we had a goof off day. We went to the outlet mall and then the Orlando Science Museum. We watched their Holiday Light laser show and the kids got to do a bunch of labs. We had a nice dinner out and then came home and the kids watched Wallace and Grommet.
Thursday we hit the Magic Kingdom. Once again - awesome timing with rides and shows. We did take advantage of the Fast Pass this visit. We were able to fit another character lunch in. We saw both parades and Nick and I even saw a 3rd one while Ellie and Rob rode Splash Mountain. We were able to hit every ride and show the kids wanted to and even got to do a dew favorites a 2nd time. We finished the night with an autograph session with the princesses. The highlight of the visit was Splash Mountain for Ellie and the monorail ride back to the parking lot for Nick. The entire week he wanted to ride the monorail and was finally able to.
Friday we drove to the Gulf coast. We started at the Tampa Children's Museum. It was a nice assortment of exhibits. We had lunch and then headed to the beach. The beach was covered in seashells. The water was freezing but that did not stop Nick from going in. We walked the beach looking for interesting shells. We found sections of conch shells and Ellie found a huge shell but it somehow did not make its way back with us. We drove South to visit Mixon's citrus farm. They had the best orange twirl cones. We had big plans for the evening - pool, Downtown Disney and packing up. It finally was warm enough to go to the pool and Rob took the kids while I got our airplane reservations taken care of. We went to Downtown Disney to pick up souvenirs. We headed back to the house and that is when Ellie's tummy problems began. I packed up as much as I could. Thankfully, Ellie's tummy calmed down enough for her to sleep.
Saturday we finished packing and cleaned up the house. Ellie still wasn't feeling good - couldn't keep food down. We stopped and had breakfast - still couldn't keep food down. We got to the airport early anticipating lines. We sat at the gate and Nick was super excited to watch the planes take off and land. Ellie finally reached a plateau with her tummy. We boarded and had a fine flight home...terrible seats. Mom and Dad picked us up and we went back to their house. We had dinner with them and then headed home. Very nice to sleep in our own beds.
Today we packed up Christmas and I got all of the laundry washed and put away. Rob helped me clean up and organize things. The living room looks so naked now. We went to Mom and Dad's for family Sunday. Mom made a great tomato Tuscan soup, paninis, salad and fruit. We shared our pictures and the kids shared some of their souvenirs. We came home and got things ready for back to school time tomorrow.
It was great to be away. It was great that my health wasn't a thought in my head all week. Yes, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt but all of ours did. I am looking forward to this year being far less bizarre and much more normal. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
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