Coffee on the Verandah -The Last Slide, Recap & Souvies 5/29 - Link to Aulani TR 5/31

[emma212010]

Yumm, Margaritaville!!! Your shopping dilemma was too funny! Sounds so familiar!

I'm glad K was able to get all bandaged up easily! That has happened to me so many times! Out of nowhere!

[Chilly]

I think Evan has excellent taste in pins

[natebenma]

I'm not sure I am allowed to comment on your last update. I believe you revoked my Parrotthead card after my Universal trip report.

But, good luck stopping me!

I really love your plans for your girls trip! You are going to have such a great time! I'm also looking forward to the costume reveal!

Never a dull morning for your group. I guess in a way it was good that you were behind schedule while Jeff was delayed with the car pickup- you weren't waiting on each other. Just housekeeping waiting on you.

Sounds like the perfect pre-beach lunch. Glad you had a successful shopping trip. Sad to hear about Kendall's ankle. Nothing to add to everyone else's comments, just agreement that it is weird she doesn't know why her ankle was bleeding. But I'm guessing (hoping) no additional damage from the mysterious injury.

I wonder if your late lunch impacts your dinner plans. Was it going to be a casual meal in the villa?

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by Angies1274

Despite all the stress beforehand it sounds like you had a nice relaxing lunch. Margaritaville sounds fun and the food looks very yummy!

it's a very fun place, we love it!

Originally Posted by Angies1274

Definitely weird that there was no fitting room in the store though....

Hmm....strange about Kendall's ankle.

Both were strange. I'm guessing the nicer items are a new line and maybe that is why?

Originally Posted by dizneeat

on the new update!

Can't believe what happened with Kendall's ankle! Glad it was all taken care off, even if you were late for Vero!

Well late is relative, it was only a timeline in my mind...

Our tummies were telling us that lunch was a little late that's for sure!

Originally Posted by emma212010

Yumm, Margaritaville!!! Your shopping dilemma was too funny! Sounds so familiar!

Yum is right!

Originally Posted by emma212010

I'm glad K was able to get all bandaged up easily! That has happened to me so many times! Out of nowhere!

I get bruises out of nowhere but not usually bleeding. Though it has happened and seems to happen to Evan lately, on his hands twice in the last month. So bizarre. We must all be missing some pain receptors.

Originally Posted by Chilly

I think Evan has excellent taste in pins

That he does! I was just wondering what the link was as he's a theme kind of guy...maybe he wore it to City Walk since we'd be "near" Harry Potter?

Originally Posted by natebenma

I'm not sure I am allowed to comment on your last update. I believe you revoked my Parrotthead card after my Universal trip report.

Well it is a bit pathetic you didn't make it there when you were STAYING on property.

Originally Posted by natebenma

But, good luck stopping me!

I really love your plans for your girls trip! You are going to have such a great time! I'm also looking forward to the costume reveal!

I am so excited for it!!!

Originally Posted by natebenma

Never a dull morning for your group. I guess in a way it was good that you were behind schedule while Jeff was delayed with the car pickup- you weren't waiting on each other. Just housekeeping waiting on you.

It was, we wouldn't have had anywhere to load the luggage anyway! Realistically we should have hit the gym 30-60 minutes earlier and we'd have been ok but...oh well.

Originally Posted by natebenma

Sounds like the perfect pre-beach lunch. Glad you had a successful shopping trip. Sad to hear about Kendall's ankle. Nothing to add to everyone else's comments, just agreement that it is weird she doesn't know why her ankle was bleeding. But I'm guessing (hoping) no additional damage from the mysterious injury.

I wonder if your late lunch impacts your dinner plans. Was it going to be a casual meal in the villa?

Yep, dinner in the villa was the plan

[eandesmom]

I had really really planned to do an update today but...life got in the way. Tomorrow I promise

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

[Charleston Princess]

Was finally able to read your last update. What a crazy morning between the car and trying to get packed and out. Glad you were able to finally reach Margaritaville. Sounds like lunch was delicious and shopping for souvenirs is always fun -- yeay for you and Jeff finding shirts. So strange about Kendal's ankle -- thank goodness it was just a scrape.

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by Charleston Princess

Was finally able to read your last update. What a crazy morning between the car and trying to get packed and out. Glad you were able to finally reach Margaritaville. Sounds like lunch was delicious and shopping for souvenirs is always fun -- yeay for you and Jeff finding shirts. So strange about Kendal's ankle -- thank goodness it was just a scrape.

Yeah, moving day is...still moving day. Whether it's home or somewhere else I guess. The car thing was really a wrinkle and ate some time and packing the groceries was...entertaining if nothing else. But we got it done, even if it was later than I'd wanted.

Lunch was lovely and just what we needed before hitting the road again. Except for the ankle part!

[eandesmom]

Sorry for the gap between updates! It's been a nutty week, in a good way. Monday night I hosted my dinner club. Which meant last weekend was spent cleaning, shopping and doing menu prep. Friday night I went to see Memphis with my sisters (amazing!) and last night, to see Boney James with Jeff. Amazing as well. A truly great weekend but between that and the work week, I'm behind about everywhere! In F&W trip updates, all my new goodies for the trip have arrived, including various costume pieces and I couldn't be happier about everything. 16 days!!!!!!!!!!!! Not that I'm counting or anything.

Time to get back to this trip report though.

It was 3:30. We were finally on the road to Vero! While I'd love to have something terribly interesting to say about it...in reality it was a mind numbingly boring drive. Nothing much of interest to see and a lot of tolls. For this leg, our rental was equipped with a transponder, so we didn't have to fish for change, or dollars and supposedly the total (whatever it was) would be added on to our rental bill. We weren't sure we liked that but as we weren't given a choice, we basically had to roll with it! According to my map, it was 1 hour and 52 minutes. Or 53 depending on the route. So...round up to 2. Even though we knew how long it was going into it, once we were in the car and headed out...and it was already that late, it was a little bit of a damper. Oh well.

We began the drive. And almost immediately wished we had a coffee. As we drove....and 2 kids bickered in the back...Jeff and I decided that we'd be stopping for coffee and a bio break somewhere around the halfway point. We had another item on our agenda that we wanted to try and pick up along the way. A boogie board! I knew that people often leave extra chairs and boards at Vero as they leave for folks to use, however I wasn't really comfortable just taking something "left" not knowing for sure that it was ok and not in use. We figured that purchasing one on the way would ultimately save us time and money and maybe we could bring it with us onto the cruise. We thought we'd look for a surf shop, figuring there had to be several on the way and seeing a few giant billboards here and there seemed to back up our thinking. I don't know what it was. I don't know if it was the fact that it was after 4 and the E's had done nothing more than sleep, eat, sit in a car. Or if it was the late night the previous evening. Or what. But for whatever reason the E's were….crazed. Maniacs. Picking, poking and prodding at each other and making us all crazy. Brothers can be a wonderful thing. Loving, got each others backs, all that rot. Or they can be mean, sniping, whining pushing each others buttons nightmares. And in a car...no matter how large...no fun for everyone else involved. By the time we reached our stopping point we were ready to strangle them both. With our bare hands. Threats of no pool time, no ocean, seemed to have little effect. The lure of torturing ones sibling is an overwhelming primal instinct that apparently no level of parental threat can effect.

An hour into the trip, really wanting coffee to help us survive another hour in the car, I pulled up my Starbucks app and found a place to get off. As we pulled in, we noticed a Walmart and made a quick decision to check there for our beach goodies, forgoing ideas of a surf shop in the quest to get 2 boys OUT of the car and give us all a breather. We quickly pulled back out of Starbucks and headed to the Walmart lot. I have major Walmart issues. As does Jeff. Just not a store we support, like or shop at. Ever. We actually avoid it at all costs. For multiple reasons which I won’t go into. Easy to do where we live, it’s not nearby and I've never found a compelling reason to make me want to try to go there over my many other options. But it was there and would fit the bill. Of course as we left we saw a Target across the way, which I'd much rather go to but...oh well. We split up and decided to meet back at the register. As non Walmart shoppers…we don't have a clue where anything is. Jeff and the boys went to look for beach goodies and Kendall and I went off to get, girl things. Yep, along with the book she'd lost, she’d also neglected to pack certain necessities that she now needed. There would be more things along this line as the trip went on but all we knew is we needed some supplies stat. I also wanted bug spray and figured I might as well get it now instead of finding it didn't exist at the grocery store later and then having to make a second drug store stop, plus in theory there would be a better selection here. Due to our unfamiliarity with the layout, things were harder to find than probably for most and the whole thing took longer than it seemed it should. Though, that said, I can often have a hard time finding bug spray at my local stores, it seems to move around. I picked up a citronella candle as well, thinking it would be lovely on our verandah in the evening or even early morning if the bugs were out. We'd heard that the no see ums were legendary at Vero, and not in a good way. Approaching the register the boys had more than a boogie board, they also had a full set of snorkel gear. Like the board, we knew we could rent it at Vero, and then again on the cruise but Jeff thought buying one set would be good and save some $$. Conceptually yes, on both but after the last hour all I could see was 2 single items, both different and two boys. Who would probably fight over who got what at any given time. It never fails that whatever one has, the other one wants. Especially if the last hour was any indicator. I kept my mouth shut and purchases were made. Heading to Starbucks, despite the last hour, we bought everyone a treat. If nothing else in hopes that it would soothe the savage beast(s). Back in the car, on the road with an hour still to go it quickly became clear that...no soothing had taken place. Between trying to grab and look at the boogie board, unwrap it "test" it, unwrap and open snorkel gear which of course was "closed" up tight with zip ties (and both items we'd deliberately stuck in the back so they wouldn't do exactly this) it was one thing after another. The 2 hour drive felt like...5, even with the break. Finally we were able to get off 95 and begin the trek over hit the A1A. As we at a GPS scheduled right turn we saw...a Publix. At this point Jeff had one thing on his mind. Beer. The minute we checked in and got to the room, the man wanted a beer. And to toss 2 kids in the pool who clearly needed an outlet (sadly our suggestions of running around the Walmart and Starbucks parking lots hadn't worked). Despite the fact that we still needed our dinner groceries, there was no way we were going to deal with all 3 kids, 2 in particular, and doing our full grocery run now. But we would get Jeff some beer. Mission accomplished we hit the homestretch. Drives like this are a funny thing. It can be monotonous, boring, hair pulling and even ear splitting but as you get closer, especially if closer means driving over a bridge that takes you to an inter coastal waterway…all can be forgotten. Excitement and anticipation regained. Rejuvenation. Cue the hallelujah chorus.

Like a moron, I didn't take any pictures. I think we were all a bit speechless for once. This picture doesn't do it justice but was the best I could find for approximate lighting, though it was clear and sunny with the sun starting to drift down.



After driving over this lovely, one right turn and...we were there! Like a bat outta you know where I sprinted out of the car to check us in while Jeff waited in the car. The 2 hour drive had taken us...3. I guess we’d spent a good 45 minutes at Walmart/Starbucks and then the beer stop. The stops didn't seem that long but somehow it added up, a fact we should have remembered that fact later in the trip. Check in was quick, easy and painless. We certainly weren't early and so our room was ready. I'd made one room request. Upper floor. I'd left it at that. What I was really hoping for was upper floor, one of the 2 outside buildings as supposedly the inside one had less of a chance of a view. And views were actually a bit short in supply at Vero due to the foliage so I knew it was only a possibility at best. Looking at the map I was given we were...in the inside building. Ah well, we'd be close to the pool. I wasn't completely out of hope though, our villa number was 1436 so at least we had been assigned to the 3rd floor and my request for that had been fulfilled.



Map in hand I headed back to the car and we proceeded to drive over to our building. Vero has underground parking which, conceptually is great. In reality it is a very small garage with very low ceiling entry and super narrow, hard to navigate around especially in a bigger car. Narrowly avoiding garbage dumpsters and other big cars we squeezed into a spot and proceeded to unload. There were luggage carts available and we loaded up, all squeezed into the elevator and proceeded up to the 3rd floor. It is a courtyard set up and it took us a minute to get our bearings and figure out where our room was…hope leapt in my chest as I saw we were on the end of the building away from the pool, hoping that meant more of a chance for a view.

Opening our door and walking in, this is what we saw.

View from the living room











And the verandah



You can tell I was fighting the beginning of the sunset at that moment







Before things were totally destroyed I got a couple of bedroom and bathroom pictures.







There was also something special waiting for Kendall in the living room











The card was cute and came with a Tramp pin!

As it was, gasp, 7:15 by now we needed to get a move on. Plan of attack? Get the kids to the pool and go grocery shopping. Jeff wanted to have a beer, figured he’d drink half before we left, went to open it and…

No opener.

Screw that for now, we gotta go!

Walking the kids to the pool I took a couple of shots





Think they wanted to hit the slide first?



Nope, first, the pool! You can see we were starting to lose our sun





Kids settled under Kendall’s watch, she’d be “reading” her homework book and keeping the mysterious injury chlorine free, we headed out.

Continued in next post

[eandesmom]

I had gotten a map from the front. In my early research I'd planned to hit Fresh Market as supposedly they had a good fish selection and had wanted to know where it was. Here it is to give you some reference points (not nearly as cool as Glenn's road to pizza but hey, it’s how the evening played out).

1. Is the Publix we’d hit on the way in, to get Jeff his still untouched beer.
2. The Publix that was closest to Disney’s Vero Beach, the resort, not Vero Beach the town
3. The Fresh Market and “other” Publix and were actually in the town of Vero Beach.

Given the hour we went to the closest option. Which made me nervous. I’d wanted some good local fish for dinner and really wasn't sure what we’d find at Publix. This time, I tried to take pictures of the views during the bridge crossing.





A 10 minute drive, maybe not even, and we were there. For the record, it seemed like a fine store, no issues there. The fish selection however wasn't jumping with anything local. Instead, for a very fair price, I could get...

Fresh Alaskan Salmon.



Honestly, we didn't have a different or better idea for dinner so…we flew to Florida and bought the same salmon we make at home, all the time. We quickly found the rest of our grocery needs, including some wine for me and made our way "home". First stop, the villa so I could get started cooking. The plan was, Jeff would go get an opener, come back and finally open that beer then head down to the pool and hang with the kids till I texted that it was time to come up.

I got busy cooking

I'd packed one of our staples and paired it with my drink of choice



In the meantime Jeff came back with an opener and got himself one of these



I got busy







I set the salmon in the broiler and gave Jeff the 20 minute heads up...which meant get them out of the pool in 5 or 10. While the salmon was cooking, I tossed a salad with my kitchen purchase from our DTD/WOD visit and made some pasta.



And played around with flash/no flash



Arriving back with the kids, Jeff had fun demonstrating his new opener.

Apparently it was the only one they had and well, take a look.







Yeah...I know. He couldn't help himself.

Soon it was dinner time, I think they we were all happy to have food at this point!





Believe it or not, at this point it was 9:20!

At 10 pm you are required to close all your blinds for the turtles. We learned a lot more about the "why" behind this later in the trip and it also explained why Vero has high, smaller windows and the verandah is a bit more enclosed that I might think is ideal for viewing purposes. It was dark enough out that it was less of an issue than I'd originally thought it would be but at the time I was a little bummed that we had to close up our room like that. As you've probably noticed, even with the time zone change we were still operating a bit on west coast time and decided it would be a good night for a movie. We had packed a couple and decided to settle in and watch MI2. Kids beds made up, Jeff and I settled on the couch (which seemed smaller and tighter than the same set up we’d used at OKW for watching opening ceremonies) we launched into the move. The E’s however launched a bit back.

"You’re taking all the blanket!"

Sigh.

As they sniped and we tried to watch the movie, Jeff and I decided to lay down the law. I had booked a turtle walk for us the following night. It didn't start until 9pm. It could go until midnight, or even later. If things didn't improve...we wouldn't go.

And part of the cost of the walk, which was non refundable, might just have to come out of their souvenir money.

Amazingly...it got quiet.

A working vacation

[Millie12591]

Sorry I've been missing in action, I have some catching up to do!!

Need to go back and read, pedal, paddle is where I've left off. Be back...

[dizneeat]

Yeah, travelling with kids!

But you found the right motivation to get them all quiet in the end.

I just LOVE the view from your room! So beautiful.
And I admire you for actually cooking for your family. We always say, that we want to try that once, but we never get around to it ....

Can't wait to read more of your adventures!

[LegoMom3]

Our family drove from NH to FL this past June. I might add that our family includes three boys.

Yeah....

No road trips for me for a looooong time. SO over it.


Love the pics of Vero! These are the first pictures I've ever seen of this particular aspect of all-things-Disney. It looks lovely. But, seriously, a "lights-out" for turtles??! What is that all about?! (right about here my MIL would start relaying the story about how when she was a little girl, during WWII, at their beach house in Maine, they had "black-outs" so the u-boats couldn't see the coastline.....). But turtles, now that's something new!

I give your DH credit for getting the opener. Mine would likely have used his teeth after a drive like that....

.

[jedijill]

Ah, your drive brought back many memories of my brother and I in the back of the car on long car trips all over the West. I'm sure my memories are different than my parents...

Jill in CO

[Mndisneygirl]

So glad you made it to Vero! I had a good chuckle that you ended up with Wild Alaskan Salmon!

Kendall's birthday surprise was cute! Did you have to arrange for that or was it just something they did knowing it was her birthday?

I absolutely understand about the boys sniping etc in the car. When we used to have a minivan, we'd put one girl in the way back on the passenger side and one in the middle on the driver's side to keep them as far away from each other as possible! Now we have regular sedan type vehicles with only one backseat and they have to sit together. It's not always fun.

Looking forward to hearing about the turtle walk. When we stayed on the beach in Cocoa Beach we had the same restrictions with our windows at night.

[DisMomAmy]

Originally Posted by eandesmom

Brothers can be a wonderful thing. Loving, got each others backs, all that rot. Or they can be mean, sniping, whining pushing each others buttons nightmares. And in a car...no matter how large...no fun for everyone else involved. By the time we reached our stopping point we were ready to strangle them both. With our bare hands. Threats of no pool time, no ocean, seemed to have little effect. The lure of torturing ones sibling is an overwhelming primal instinct that apparently no level of parental threat can effect.

Well said!