Day 8: On the road early this morning. We stopped to see my grandparents for a few hours and then got back on.
It was a great vacation and were all sad to be leaving. I really cant think of anything I would do different next time. We talked about doing only 2 or 3 days at a park, but the YES program offers 3+ and the difference between 3 days and 5 days is tiny. The water parks would have been nice to go to, but the kids are still a bit too young to just go off and ride the slides and with 3 babies under 2 it would be a bit much for me. Im kind of hoping we can go back next year, even though I know that 2 years from now will be the start of everything getting easier (when the boys are 4 and Q is 2). So well see. Tonight were stopping and hoping to get an early start tomorrow to finish up the trip.
Day 9: Woke up at 3am by DD2 puking all over the sleeping bag.
DS1 woke up shortly after with a headache and stomach ache. Then DS2 had it and DD1 had it. DH and I were just praying neither of us got it. That would have made for an even worse trip home.
We had stopped at a Savannah KOA last night (we had been hoping to get farther before stopping, but that didn't happen) so had a very long trip to get through today. Hit almost no traffic until Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where it was dead stopped at 9pm. That wasn't fun (all the babies woke up screaming) and put us home at 11pm. We survived the trip home, which counts for a lot in a case like this.
Random Notes:
We were in 800 loop (had requested either 400, 500 or 700 loop). When we checked in they said the loops we requested were all full, so they put us in 800. It was not as close to the marina as we wanted, but the loop itself was awesome. We literally could not see another camper from our site - it was that empty. I think there were between 3-4 other people on the entire loop. Crazy - and I'm sure it will never happen to us again! It was awesome though and we loved having the privacy!
The loop itself was farther than we had wanted it to be, but closer to the pool and trading post, so that was nice. We picked up our Kenny Cart on Sun (he had us pick it up from the marina, which worked out a lot better than trying to meet him in the overflow lot like last time). I'm always so glad we get a cart. His prices are awesome and we spend a lot of time on it. Even when it's parked in the site driveway the kids play on it and pretend to drive. While we were theoretically close enough to the pool to walk, it was nice to be able to drive.
This was the first time we had eaten at the Trail's End and were surprised it was quite good! Friday we picked up a bucket of chicken, mac and cheese, biscuits and fries (more fries than we could eat!) It was only $25 and we had chicken left over after all of us ate.
The crowds at the park were so low that we pretty much walked right onto whatever we wanted to go on! It was awesome. I think it was even quieter than late Jan/early Feb when we've gone in the past.
If anyone is considering the YES program, it's wonderful and they make it very easy. It's a great way to save some money and let your kids participate in a special program. Like I said before, most places would charge extra for that - yet Disney actually discounts your tickets when you participate.
We're definitely sad to be home and looking forward to our next trip to the fort - whenever that may be.
Oh - and a bit thank you to the person who posted the recipe for Campfire Nachos. They are so easy to make and something that we'd whip up when we got back to the site while we were making dinner. I bought a huge shaker of Taco seasoning from Sam's Club and it made the recipe really simple. Our slow cooker was wonderful to have too. I wish I had planned a few extra meals since there were nights where we just didn't feel like cooking and the meal I had planned was a time consuming one. On those nights we either had pancakes/eggs or PB&Js.
Thanks to everyone who followed us along on this trip. It was a great one and I can't wait to see all the photopass pictures! I have a few more of my own to share once I get my computer unpacked.
And just in case anyone is a photo junkie, I brought along my D700 with a cheap 28-200 used lens that i got from B&H's used section. It's a wonderful walk-around lens. I had a bit of CA, but overall was happy with the sharpness and colors and loved the extra reach I got with it. I brought a 70-300 too and never took it out. And of course a 50 1.4 (don't leave home without it!)