Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[Angies1274]

Wow! You were busy on departure day!!! I was tired just reading about it.

I hope you had a smooth flight!! Can't wait to read about your arrival!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by MEK

Sorry. I got a chuckle out of this because I can just change one word and get ......

Brian's common sense factor is not operating on high lately lets put it that way.

OMG, I seriously had a couple of moments on the trip where I thought I was reliving yours last year. And REALLY understood why you've left the big boys at home since.
We swear he turned blonde at times on top of it. He had some doozy's!

Originally Posted by Angies1274

Wow! You were busy on departure day!!! I was tired just reading about it.

I hope you had a smooth flight!! Can't wait to read about your arrival!

LOL! It really wasn't bad (departure day that is)

[Sleepingbooty]

Aww, Hank and Melvin are adorable.

So, not TOO crazy of a departure day. Oh, who am I kidding? That sounded pretty packed full! But I love how insane things get before you leave, and all that nervous energy is flowing. Regular chores are actually fun because you're doing it so you can go on a trip. Okay, maybe that's just me

Your airport looks pretty nifty. Our airport in St Louis is so dreary.

[DisMomAmy]

Cute kitties! Thanks for sharing!

[Millie12591]

Awwww. Love the fur babies Melvin and Hank.
We have Ashley who's a siamese/tabby mix (named before we got her) Romeo whom we just call Kitty Boy mostly also siamese/tabby. And then the stray's that have adopted us and live outside are... one of whom looks a lot like Hank who's name is Fluffy a.k.a Fluffernutter, and the other who's an orange tabby and we call him George Lopez or a.k.a Fat Head.

[MEK]

Originally Posted by eandesmom

OMG, I seriously had a couple of moments on the trip where I thought I was reliving yours last year. And REALLY understood why you've left the big boys at home since.
We swear he turned blonde at times on top of it. He had some doozy's!

Is it wrong to be glad that someone else shares your misery!

Turning blonde, heh? Have you ever seen Reese on Malcolm in the Middle? Same thing!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by Sleepingbooty

Aww, Hank and Melvin are adorable.

So, not TOO crazy of a departure day. Oh, who am I kidding? That sounded pretty packed full! But I love how insane things get before you leave, and all that nervous energy is flowing. Regular chores are actually fun because you're doing it so you can go on a trip. Okay, maybe that's just me

Your airport looks pretty nifty. Our airport in St Louis is so dreary.

I agree, it IS better and for me it's because I know it's 1) the last time I have to do the chore before vacation and 2) doing it then means coming home to clean!

Originally Posted by DisMomAmy

Cute kitties! Thanks for sharing!

I like them! Most of the time.

Originally Posted by Millie12591

Awwww. Love the fur babies Melvin and Hank.
We have Ashley who's a siamese/tabby mix (named before we got her) Romeo whom we just call Kitty Boy mostly also siamese/tabby. And then the stray's that have adopted us and live outside are... one of whom looks a lot like Hank who's name is Fluffy a.k.a Fluffernutter, and the other who's an orange tabby and we call him George Lopez or a.k.a Fat Head.

Great names!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by MEK

Is it wrong to be glad that someone else shares your misery!

Turning blonde, heh? Have you ever seen Reese on Malcolm in the Middle? Same thing!

Oh you will have PLENTY of chuckles during this TR. And no, it isn't wrong at all.

[mickeysmyboy]

Originally Posted by eandesmom

OMG, I seriously had a couple of moments on the trip where I thought I was reliving yours last year. And REALLY understood why you've left the big boys at home since.
We swear he turned blonde at times on top of it. He had some doozy's!

Originally Posted by MEK

Is it wrong to be glad that someone else shares your misery!

Turning blonde, heh? Have you ever seen Reese on Malcolm in the Middle? Same thing!

Can I tell you, you guys are scaring me a little!? I may have move out for the teen years!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by mickeysmyboy

Can I tell you, you guys are scaring me a little!? I may have move out for the teen years!

Actually all things considered (and knowing how JEFF was as a teen) we have it pretty good. Whether Jeff survives his senior year is another story, I'm quite confident Jeff will be taking physics and pre-calc with T!

[MEK]

Cynthia -

You left a post on Melissa's TR that you might be interested in a May trip. Well, I am here to tell you that there has been some serious pm'ing going on about a May girls trip - long weekend! I will pm you!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by MEK

Cynthia -

You left a post on Melissa's TR that you might be interested in a May trip. Well, I am here to tell you that there has been some serious pm'ing going on about a May girls trip - long weekend! I will pm you!

Pm'd back

[eandesmom]

As some of you know, we deliberately chose the red eye for our trip. We did it for a couple of reasons. First to try and get the kids, teens especially, on east coast time and secondly to avoid losing vacation days to the full day of travel it takes with the time change from the west coast getting out and back. In 2008 we didn’t land until almost 11, in the room by 12:30 and then still needed to eat and go ot bed! We never got off west coast time the entire trip and didn’t make it to a park, or anywhere before 10. In fact the only thing we made by 10 was a pedi appt for K and I and that was a major rush..and we were late! Most of the time it was 11 by the time we hit a park. Time enough to grab a FP and then eat lunch and THEN do ride.
As a result we stayed up late on EMH nights, way TOO late in some instances. It was a good trip but with the crummy flight times we really lost 2 full days to travel. My hopes going into the trip was that with better flight times, we’d gain those lost days and would still allow for lots of down time without feeling like we were missing the park time.

We had done the red eye before, back in 2004. It actually wasn’t pretty. At all. You can read about it here (red eyes, steak and cake). However, once we recovered it really was the best thing we did and set us up well for the rest of the trip. I had high hopes.

As we approached the gate we decided it was Melatonin time for all. Eric was the primary target for the Melatonin, the kid doesn’t sleep on planes, cars, buses or really anything but a bed. I figured it wouldn’t hurt the rest of us though so we all took some. It hadn’t occurred to me, in all my planning around this, that Eric really hadn’t taken pills before. He’s always had liquid or chewable, everything. Not that he’s taken that much medication but still, the concept of swallowing a pill was entirely new to him.

I escorted him to the drinking fountain, did a demonstration and watched the following unfold.

“Mwom…eh cawn’t slallow it….”

“eets schtuck on by tone”

“MWOM!!!!”

Cue the chalky white tongue that he thrust out for my viewing.

“drink some water honey and wash it down”

“Mwom…..EYE CAWNT!!!!!!”

Cue the freaked out bulging eyes and tears beginning to form.

"Ok honey, it’s ok, just spit it out. We will try again"

He drank a bunch of water and stood aside. Meanwhile everyone else popped their nightcap with no problem.

"Ready to try again?"

"Ok"

“Mwom…eh cawn’t slallow it agin!!!!!!!!….”

“eets SCHTUCK!”

Cue gagging noise.

"Ok honey, it’s ok, just spit it out"

I’m sure anyone around us thought I was drugging an unwilling child and can only only imagine what they thought. It was rather traumatic for both of us. And I could only hope that enough had actually gone down to help him.
We boarded the plane and given how freakishly early I’d booked, we had the bulkhead so lots of legroom. I settled in the kids but was a bit dismayed to find that even though it was a red eye there was nary a pillow or blanket to be found. Jeff and I had each brought neck pillows for ourselves but nothing for the kids. I sat on one side with the E’s, Jeff on the other with K&T.

Soon we were airborne and could recline. I did the best I could to settle the E’s with the adjustable headrest, giving them something to lean on.

I can’t speak for the kids but let me tell you, that stuff kicked in NICELY for me! I was happily drowsy within 20 minutes of taking it. The E’s however….couldn’t get comfy.

Wiggle wiggle, turn toss turn.
Big Sigh.

"Mom….I can’t sleep" (Evan)

"I know honey, just close your eyes and try to rest. You have to quit trying so hard"

Wiggle wiggle, turn toss turn.
Big Sigh.

"Mom, can I use your eye mask?"

"No"

"Mom, didn’t you say you had an extra eye mask and ear plugs?"

Evan is getting increasingly louder while this is going on and I’m trying to hush him so Eric can fall asleep.

Eric is leaning on me while this is going on, Evan having “won” the coveted window spot for leaning (Eric to get it on the return flight). With Eric on me, getting Evan’s request fulfilled is easier said than done. finally Eric has to go to the bathroom (so do I) and I get the requested items.

Wiggle wiggle, turn toss turn.
Big Sigh.

Wiggle wiggle, turn toss turn.
Big Sigh.

Wiggle wiggle, turn toss turn.
Big Sigh.

Evan falls asleep.

I however have lost my nice sleepy mojo with far too many interruptions and pull out the ipod. I lost one of the rubber things on my headphones a while back and so had to use a different one as a replacement. As a result, one side is not nearly as comfy as the other but the soothing Spanish guitar music helps quite a bit. Eric’s pretty wiggly and isn’t sleeping much either, and for a while decides to sleep with his head on the tray table which looks excruciating to me, but somehow we manage to doze despite it all. When I look over at the rest of the gang, they seem out cold. I see some tossing and turning here and there but everyone did at least doze some.

Pretty soon I hear

"Mom, what time is it?" (Evan) I have no idea and even if I did, I’m not telling him

"Mom, how much longer?" I have no idea and even if I did, I’m not telling him

"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom"

Sigh.

With that, I actually look at the ipod and am pleased to see we only have about an hour left in the flight. So somehow we dozed off and on for about 3.5 hours. Not bad. Not great but a HECK of a lot better than the 2004 flight. Not one screaming baby!

I keep everyone quiet and there is maybe 20 more minutes of dozing but by then Jeff , K&T start to stir. As we start our descent I take off to freshen up and before you know it we have landed, 15 minutes early! 7:10 in the morning Orlando time.

Jeff and I need coffee and so the first order of business before heading to DME is of course, Starbucks. This was, in hindsight a brilliant move! We didn’t rush, got our drinks, everyone had another bio break and we strolled down to a COMPLETELY EMPTY DME. I go up and check us in, they direct us straight out the door. Where the greeter CM says “Which resort?” At which point I have to say “Wilderness Lodge”. The boys look at me, confused. The greeter gets excited and starts waxing on and on about the buffalo steak at Artist Point. Boys look more and more confused.

“I thought we were going to POP?”

"We changed our mind"

“WHAT?”

“HUH?”

And no, I don't have pictures. With all the stuff we carried on, not knowing when rooms would be ready plus neck pillows etc it was somewhat buried. Not to mention they might have shot me if I tried to take pics at that moment. No one was awake enough for that.

We get on the bus and are the only ones on it.

Ugh, I think, this means we could be sitting here a good half hour while they wait to fill it.

Not so!

Our driver closes the door and takes off. Apparently we just missed the rush and there weren’t any flights coming in for a bit. So we have a solo bus with one stop, ours! This one little thing just MADE my morning!

As we take off we joke about the movie. Last year it didn’t work on our ride and so we watched the same little DME logo rotate on the screen for the entire ride. Menaing, we’d never seen it and the boys were really excited to watch it. Everyone was tyring to process the change in plans and a lot of heated conversation went on.

We’re staying where? Really? For how long?

I think though people were even more excited about the fact that we had breakfast reservations for right when we got there. We were early though but I figured that wouldn’t be a problem. What they didn’t know was the “antics” that might happen and I wasn’t sure how anyone would react.

Before we knew it, we were pulling up at Wilderness Lodge!

Would our rooms be ready??????

Could we eat earlier than our reservation?

[cdotla]

Wow! You had a swell of good luck in being able to get some zzzz's on the flight, but more importantly, a ME bus that leaves once you hop on! And the only guests to boot!!!

Can't wait to hear about your rooms....and breakfast at WC!

[MaryAz]

Not to bad of a departure day overall. Glad everyone slept for most of it.

[nodnol]

Poor Eric, I found out about not being able to swallow pills the hard way, too. When I was nine and at the hospital, the nuse threatened me with a syringe if I wouldn't be able to swallow the meds. I was traumatized, but later I got some tips and I found a way how to swallow them. I have to put them under my tongue and "release" them once I have liquid in my mouth.