It's A WONDERful 2015 - Feb Cruise, May WDW grand tour, and France/DLP! NEW 10/25 Nice & End!

[Dugette]

Will be back later when I don't have to type on a phone on a bouncy bus, but just wanted to say that I hope your appointment goes well and the doctor can help with your migraines. That sounds miserable!

 

[purplelover88]

flights come out on Southwest next week!

Yay! I'm also waiting for those prices to come out; but I'm looking for Disneyland and that is the deciding factor for me so fingers crossed they will be the price I'm looking for.

I already decided if flights are cheaper coming home on Tuesday vs. Monday then we will stay an extra night - haha

Well of course; pay more to leave earlier?? What kind of decision would that be!

Currently it states the Maelstrom transformation should be open 5/1

That is the first of the opening I have heard about but it seems about time; I hope its open for you.

For some reason this trip it is was tough to narrow down the ressies. Maybe because we are going to SO many places during our 12 nights in Jan/Feb and also because so many plans are up in the air due to new things opening (hopefully).

That's understandable. Between having so many favorites you want to visit and all of the new ones opening up it can be hard especially when it's only for a few days.

I hope you are able to get your migraines sorted out. I know that can't be fun to deal with.

 

[Dugette]

The timing is crazy when writing about our kids from last November and February (your Aulani trip) I was just commenting on how little Izzy looked in Hawaii.

It's pretty wild seeing how much they've grown. I actually was looking at my NYC mini-TR today (when Izzy was 19 months old) and WOW - she was such a little baby!

They didn't go to a mixology class. In fact they told us about 10,000 times how Riley had slept from about 6PM the night before until 4PM that day and how amazing and fantastic that was.

Yikes! I can't imagine how worried I'd be if Izzy slept for 22 hours straight!

I already decided if flights are cheaper coming home on Tuesday vs. Monday then we will stay an extra night - haha.

Sound logic. I hope they're cheaper Tuesday.

but we'll prob do Sleepy Hollow or Pinocchios for dinner.

I remember Sleepy Hollow having an early cut-off time for the waffle sandwiches, if you were thinking about that.

Currently it states the Maelstrom transformation should be open 5/1 but hoping that A&E meet is here now

head to AK for the evening, assuming that the park hours have been extended and the new Rivers of Light show is going on.

I'm interested to hear about all the new stuff. I know what's coming, but honestly haven't kept up on details or timing, since we don't really have a trip on the horizon right now. Hope you get to experience some new things!

One thing I was thinking of is that babysitter we used at Universal last August? If she is still doing what she is doing, I could see hiring her to come along for a day or two. At $15 per hour (and she has AP's) it would be worth it, if baby comes on the trip. Still undecided on that point, but I will be making the ADR's to cover her just in case.

Sounds like a good contingency plan if you think you might want to bring the baby too.

 

[Imagineer5]

Will be back later when I don't have to type on a phone on a bouncy bus, but just wanted to say that I hope your appointment goes well and the doctor can help with your migraines. That sounds miserable!

Thank you! Still waiting on some help for them, actually. She put me on 2 days of prednisone (yuck) and off all pain meds, that ended yesterday. Was feeling OK last night and woke up this morning with another headache. MRI scheduled for Monday morning.

Yay! I'm also waiting for those prices to come out; but I'm looking for Disneyland and that is the deciding factor for me so fingers crossed they will be the price I'm looking for.


Well of course; pay more to leave earlier?? What kind of decision would that be!


That is the first of the opening I have heard about but it seems about time; I hope its open for you.


That's understandable. Between having so many favorites you want to visit and all of the new ones opening up it can be hard especially when it's only for a few days.

I hope you are able to get your migraines sorted out. I know that can't be fun to deal with.

Oooh I hope you get some good flights!! SO far I keep seeing the redo ending 4/30 so we shall see. If it isn't open it won't be the end of the world to me, I'd be much more excited about another coaster or something.

It's pretty wild seeing how much they've grown. I actually was looking at my NYC mini-TR today (when Izzy was 19 months old) and WOW - she was such a little baby!


Yikes! I can't imagine how worried I'd be if Izzy slept for 22 hours straight!


Sound logic. I hope they're cheaper Tuesday.


I remember Sleepy Hollow having an early cut-off time for the waffle sandwiches, if you were thinking about that.



I'm interested to hear about all the new stuff. I know what's coming, but honestly haven't kept up on details or timing, since we don't really have a trip on the horizon right now. Hope you get to experience some new things!


Sounds like a good contingency plan if you think you might want to bring the baby too.

Yes I couldn't believe them bragging/seeming excited about the idea of their kid sleeping so long. And what a waste of CC day lol! It was VERY strange. But overall they were fine tablemates in the end, just added a bit of fun to the cruise

Oh you're right, I think that was 5 or 5:30? I wonder why they do that. But thanks for the reminder. It's more just up in the air this evening, I can see popping there for a bit, then getting in some pool time - we'll see.

I know, everything is really far off from opening still, so I am trying to see what really will open in the next year. Seems like SO much will be after 2017.

 

[schmass]

Hi! I just got caught up after not being on the DIS for a while. I'm glad France was great and that you're getting close to meeting your baby girl. Sorry about the migraines - I hope the doctor can get that figured out quickly for you!

 

[Imagineer5]

I last left off after our final cruise night. We made it to bed at a decent time and were awake bright and early for our final morning! We hadn't set our luggage outside the night before in hopes of getting off as soon as they announced we could. Once again I started off the day at the café ordering two final coffee drinks - one for me and one FREE for Andrew! Woohoo



That was apparently my last pic on board LOL because shortly after 7am we were on Deck 4 awaiting the announcement that the doors were open. Soon afterwards we headed off the ship! I can't remember what we did for breakfast - I want to say we had some left over pastries in the room? Either way we didn't stay around for our final breakfast which would have been at Parrot Cay again.

We walked quickly through customs, declaring what we'd purchased and did not have to pay any fees (I believe we were slightly over the alcohol limit for bringing back bottles, but not by very much). Then we trekked over to where Andrew parked the car which wasn't too far of a walk and quickly were on our way!

My goal for the day was to get to the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon around 10AM to enjoy that before Aria's nap time and we were right on target for that, yay! Our final destination was Key West but we wanted to do something along the fairly long drive (3.5 hours from Miami). BTW I think I mentioned this before, but I had read about unmanned tolls between Miami and reaching the Keys highway, so I had preordered the Sunpass sticker thing which was $5 plus some $$ for tolls (I think $10 min to start). Well worth it considering the other option is to rent one from the rental agency - and HUGE BONUS, I can reuse it since it also works on the roads around WDW! I used it in May and def plan to bring it back in Jan.

Anyway I have a number of driving around pics, not the best but the day was beautiful and we had quite the scenery on our way down!



Andrew loved all the boats everywhere lol. The 4 motors on this one made him laugh.





Aria basically watched ipad movies during the 2 hour drive leg. Soon we made it right after opening at the Dolphin Research Center.







When we first got there I admit I was a bit underwhelmed, plus it was COLD and windy! Andrew ran back for some jackets and we headed to see the dolphins. I think since it was so early, there just wasn't much activity yet. After about 15 minutes we had walked the whole research center. I did see a board with upcoming "show" times though so we slowed down our pace and kind of sat back and let it sink in a bit more and started having fun.





They had a little game set up to learn about dolphins, so we played that for a bit



And we checked out the various areas where they were holding the dolphins based on age or gender or whatever. All of these are here because they needed treatment for something, this was not a Sea World type of place that is for sure!

Then we saw a little feeding and trick show. The dolphins all seemed very happy and healthy and we really enjoyed watching this.







I did take a few videos too: (can't hear them at work so I apologize if something is said on them that shouldn't be posted hahaha)





After the show we grabbed some quick (and expensive and bad lol) food from the cart at the center



I think we headed out right after 12. I wanted to get to a nice park with a beach, but Aria fell asleep almost immediately! After about an hour though we made it to Bahia Honda state park - our neighbors told us it was one of their favorite places so we decided to stop. Aria was NOT NOT NOT happy about being woken up lol.




Someone took a nice family pic though



Miss munchkin upset





We took a nice walk around but again just too chilly to do any swimming or snorkeling which was a shame. We did see one or two people in the water and a few sunbathing, though.

Around 2:30 we got back into the car and Aria promptly fell back asleep (phew!) and we continued on to Key West.

I took some more pics upon our arrival!



Love the architecture in town



For the low, low price of 280 per night, we were staying in a best western. LMAO! The prices in town esp this time of year were RIDICULOUS. I looked at every possible option. I knew we wanted to be able to walk to everything in town which certainly drove the price up, but still surprised that our only somewhat reasonable option was a BW. Overall though it was actually really great - location, room size (esp after getting off the cruise - the room was about 4x the size!!), heated pool, breakfast - so really was fine.



(BTW Aria woke up when we pulled in and started unpacking the car, and she was in a much better mood)





continued in next post!

 

[Imagineer5]

After a little unpacking we had a bit of an argument. Andrew was happy to sit around the room whereas I wanted to go out and see the town. Guess who won!



There was a very long line everytime we walked by this silly thing, so this is the best pic I got!

Our time was very limited and I had a few touristy things I really wanted to do while in KW, so we (I) decided we should do one our first evening. The butterfly house! With my military ID I was able to save quite a bit of $$ on entrance fees our whole time we were in Key West - I think every place gave us 50% off.






Andrew and I agreed this was the most beautiful butterfly house we've ever been to. It was SO well maintained and just stunning inside.



One landed on me and Aria thought it was hilarious but was dead set against one landing on her!

When we ended up in the requisite gift shop, they gave us butterfly stickers though which was cute.


Andrew was hankering to see the water, so that was our next stop. One side was a public beach and the other side was private for a hotel and I think you could pay to enter. It was a little weird. And again, water was cold.

On our way back to the room, we stopped to find an ornament from Key West here

We walked past the butterfly place again so I took a pic of the outside lol

Once back at the room we hopped in the pool for a bit! So nice and WARM! Ahh!


Then some quick showers and we headed back out for dinner. After a long drive I was very glad to be able to walk everywhere tonight!
Tonight we had reservations at a highly rated (trip advisor) restaurant in downtown Key West. Basically, they had bananas foster and that is why I wanted to go LOL.

We are early diners lol - this place got packed though as dinner went on.


They didn't have a children's menu but said they could make a burger. It came out like this! Aria was fine with it and enjoyed her meal.

To start with, Andrew ordered a gumbo type of soup and it was delicious!

I had their lobster ravioli with fried leeks. YUM

For my main dish I had a crepe which had goat cheese and veggies. It was SO SO SO good. (Yes totally made up for that awful cruise crepe lol)

Andrew had some and was wishing he had ordered it, though I know he enjoyed his meal as well.

Then despite being very full, I still had to order the bananas foster of course!

It was delicious (although I have to give Andrew credit - his bananas foster is just as good!) and overall an AMAZING meal. Really set apart from cruise food
From there we headed back to the room, it was pretty late and we were all exhausted!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

First off, hope things work(ed) out with getting your ADRs and, that you got the right medication for your headaches

Sounds like a long day but fun too (other than the coolness of the weather). The Butterfly house looks really neat - and like you said, well maintained.

Dinner looks really good! And that is quite the flame on your banana fosters!

 

[Dugette]

MRI scheduled for Monday morning.

Sheesh, good luck with everything.

We made it to bed at a decent time and were awake bright and early for our final morning! We hadn't set our luggage outside the night before in hopes of getting off as soon as they announced we could.

It's things like this that make me laugh to think of us possibly doing a cruise together. I know we weren't the last people off the ship, but we definitely weren't the first. (We did the buffet for breakfast and our Palo waiter was there to help us!)

Once again I started off the day at the café ordering two final coffee drinks - one for me and one FREE for Andrew!

Okay, you and Dug would be on the same page here. I know he enjoyed some coffee drinks from there.

BTW I think I mentioned this before, but I had read about unmanned tolls between Miami and reaching the Keys highway, so I had preordered the Sunpass sticker thing which was $5 plus some $$ for tolls (I think $10 min to start). Well worth it considering the other option is to rent one from the rental agency - and HUGE BONUS, I can reuse it since it also works on the roads around WDW! I used it in May and def plan to bring it back in Jan.

Glad that worked out well! I always had heard that was the best thing to do, because otherwise it was expensive to rent a transponder with the car. However, on our trip, we had a slick deal that allowed us to drive right through and have it billed to us through Enterprise at the Sunpass rate, plus a very small surcharge (I think like $3/day). Since we only drove for 2 days and don't usually rent cars, it was a good option. For you, the Surpass definitely makes sense, though.

I did take a few videos too: (can't hear them at work so I apologize if something is said on them that shouldn't be posted hahaha)

They were cute! Aria yelled, "Jump!", but that was about it! Glad you enjoyed the visit there.

We took a nice walk around but again just too chilly to do any swimming or snorkeling which was a shame.

That's too bad. Is that normal for this time of year there or just bad luck?

For the low, low price of 280 per night, we were staying in a best western. LMAO!

Actually, that reminds me of NYC - for our first few nights, we stayed at the Best Western Seaport, as it was one of the best-reviewed hotels on Trip Advisor - probably about that same price, though! It was really nice too.

Overall though it was actually really great - location, room size (esp after getting off the cruise - the room was about 4x the size!!), heated pool, breakfast - so really was fine.

It looks really nice! And that heated pool was a big plus with the cold ocean water.

Andrew and I agreed this was the most beautiful butterfly house we've ever been to. It was SO well maintained and just stunning inside.

Looks really cool. (Yay, a good excuse to use this smilie!)

Basically, they had bananas foster and that is why I wanted to go LOL.

Yep, sounds about right.

For my main dish I had a crepe which had goat cheese and veggies. It was SO SO SO good. (Yes totally made up for that awful cruise crepe lol)

That looks a million times better than your cruise crepe! Sounds delicious!

It was delicious (although I have to give Andrew credit - his bananas foster is just as good!) and overall an AMAZING meal. Really set apart from cruise food

Glad you had such a great meal!

 

[Imagineer5]

Hi! I just got caught up after not being on the DIS for a while. I'm glad France was great and that you're getting close to meeting your baby girl. Sorry about the migraines - I hope the doctor can get that figured out quickly for you!

Thank you!! Hope things are going well for you and your newest addition <3

First off, hope things work(ed) out with getting your ADRs and, that you got the right medication for your headaches

Sounds like a long day but fun too (other than the coolness of the weather). The Butterfly house looks really neat - and like you said, well maintained.

Dinner looks really good! And that is quite the flame on your banana fosters!

ADR's are coming up! But I did get the flights, and added a day

Dinner was So good. We recommended it to Andrew's parents but they didn't go (they visited KW in April I think) and I was actually mad that they didn't take our recommendation bc it was just SO good hahaha.

Sheesh, good luck with everything.


It's things like this that make me laugh to think of us possibly doing a cruise together. I know we weren't the last people off the ship, but we definitely weren't the first. (We did the buffet for breakfast and our Palo waiter was there to help us!)


Okay, you and Dug would be on the same page here. I know he enjoyed some coffee drinks from there.


Glad that worked out well! I always had heard that was the best thing to do, because otherwise it was expensive to rent a transponder with the car. However, on our trip, we had a slick deal that allowed us to drive right through and have it billed to us through Enterprise at the Sunpass rate, plus a very small surcharge (I think like $3/day). Since we only drove for 2 days and don't usually rent cars, it was a good option. For you, the Surpass definitely makes sense, though.


They were cute! Aria yelled, "Jump!", but that was about it! Glad you enjoyed the visit there.


That's too bad. Is that normal for this time of year there or just bad luck?


Actually, that reminds me of NYC - for our first few nights, we stayed at the Best Western Seaport, as it was one of the best-reviewed hotels on Trip Advisor - probably about that same price, though! It was really nice too.


It looks really nice! And that heated pool was a big plus with the cold ocean water.


Looks really cool. (Yay, a good excuse to use this smilie!)


Yep, sounds about right.


That looks a million times better than your cruise crepe! Sounds delicious!


Glad you had such a great meal!

First - I had the MRI. Talk about back pain! I can't lie on my back right now and yet I had to for 30 straight minutes without moving for the MRI. It was torture! At the end my back literally wasn't working and I had to use my arms to prop myself up then hobble to the changing area. BUT doc called me Monday afternoon and told me results were normal. It's actually something I've been worried about for a while, having headaches SO often - so that was a huge relief. So far the new meds are helping and I haven't had a crazy flare up in about 5 days so that is nice!

LOL We do have different touring styles but at least a cruise is much more laid back. If we hadn't wanted to be in the Keys by a certain time, I could have totally stayed on board for breakfast and such.

Since we had the car for the whole trip (11 days I think) we would have had to pay for the transponder that whole time, so it just didn't make sense. I did read about one company only charging you the transponder fee on the days you used it, but that was not our company's policy lol

IDK, I think the water temp is normal, but I am just a wimp. The air temp seemed a bit cooler than averages though...had it been hot the water temp would have been okay I think.

PS I added a day to my may trip, coming home on Tuesday. Flights were $40 cheaper, so I am spending more with the extra night at Shades but....it'll be nice to have a whole extra day. I'm glad I can decide last minute (i.e. a couple months beforehand, bc that is my last minute lol) about bringing the baby, and even Andrew could come if he wants to / finds the time for it. I am a bit concerned about my ability to travel with 2 by myself, especially with the baby being so dependent on me, so we'll see. After she turns 1 (thus eating food/drinking milk/ and mobile) then it'll be a different story. But 5 nights away is a lot, and I don't want to sacrifice nursing her for the full year for a Disney trip (I will pump on the trip of course, but feel like the separation might be a bad thing for supply).

 

[scrpbookr]

LOVED all your cruise fun! Your little girl get the best dressed award! Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to your France pics!

 

[Imagineer5]

LOVED all your cruise fun! Your little girl get the best dressed award! Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to your France pics!

Thank you so much! I am excited to revisit France through the pics but first the may trip ha!

 

[Imagineer5]

Full Key West day! We had 1 full KW day before starting our journey back NE (driving to Key Largo area the next day, then the airport the day after). Overnight though I was SO sick and ended up in the morning with a fever blah! I had the shakes and everything. Whatever Aria had finally hit me too and at least I knew it went quickly through her. Andrew went to get free breakfast from the lobby and bring it back to the room while I decided what I could reasonably do that day. After a shower and some food, we headed out with the intent to walk around and visit the other places on my to-go list as long as I felt up for it.

Along the way we loved spotting local chickens out and about



These are so funny! souped up golf carts!





A sneak peek of our destination in a little while - the lighthouse - our first stop was the Ernest Hemingway house though because I read that can get quite crowded and we were already lagging behind this morning (thanks to me).



Then after maybe an 8 minute walk from the hotel, we made it to the Ernest Hemingway home. What it is known for aside from Hemingway is all the stray cats that have made it their home. That was a highlight of the day for us all, as we certainly were missing our animals! At the entrance -



We toured the house first







It was beautiful, light and airy!

A stray cat on the bed!



Outside on the deck



Then we toured around outside and Aria had a ball finding as many cats as she could. She was upset when they would walk away from her though!







I think this one was licking her hair



One hanging out in the gutters



We had a really nice visit to the Ernest Hemingway house - I would return to this in a heartbeat on our next visit! Next up we headed for the lighthouse.





I was feeling very loopy at this point and knew we needed to find somewhere for lunch soon.



These stairs were freaky. Even worse coming down!





Back on the ground safe after Andrew carried her down haha



Some free ranging chickens about



continued in next post!

 

[Imagineer5]

Soon afterwards we headed out, off to find lunch. I had done some research and written down a few options for lunch restaurants. #1 was Blue Heaven. At 11:30AM there was a 1.5 hour wait for tables though It certainly was popular. I was so disappointed as I read this was the #1 place for Key Lime Pie and I felt like something refreshing.



After that stop I looked on Trip Advisor but didn't see anything that interested me nearby. So the worst happened-we wandered aimlessly looking for a restaurant. I had to check reviews each time though and it took a while to find a place. I was also being a bit hot headed since I still wasn't feeling well and nothing was sounding good.

Along the way, we did see this shop though! Had to take a pic!



And we made it to a restaurant that got decent reviews



We started with bruschetta which sounded fresh and was very good



And I had some Mexican chicken egg rolls which were delicious.



Overall lunch was great, though nothing too outstanding. Afterwards we laid Aria down for her nap in the stroller and took a long route back to the hotel. I loved the architecture along the way.





Once back, I promptly fell asleep! Afternoon naps are NOT my thing (like, they happen about once a year, not counting my pregnancy)...but this felt amazing. I woke up around 4 and Andrew and Aria were watching something on the ipad on the other bed. I quickly realized we had forgotten to get our pet sitter something she requested (Margaritaville shirt) so Andrew agreed to go out and pick one out for her. Upon his return, he had a shirt and THIS!



A huge slice of Key Lime Pie from Blue heaven! So that was our dinner (along with left overs from lunch lol). Originally I had that reservation at the restaurant across the water that we had to take a water taxi to? That was not happening tonight! Instead Andrew said he really wanted to see about finding a beach. So we went in search of a beach with some sand toys and even swim suits on (I don't think I put mine on lol).

After a short drive we found this park area attached to a beach and stopped to let Aria play -





There was a birthday party going on and some really...interesting...kids playing so we decided to leave (unattended kids pushing each other, snotty faced covered in sand, etc). We finally found a really nice beach after another short drive around-







I relaxed on a towel while Andrew & Aria made a sand castle



Afterwards we headed back to the room - I think Andrew & Aria went into the pool for a short while but I just ended up going to bed. I was very glad I hadn't laid in bed all day long, but was also wiped out from all the walking!

 

[scrpbookr]

That last beach castle pic is perfect!

Those southwest eggrolls look delicious!

You sound like me with your "first the May trip". I'm working on a trip from June, 2014 but have WDW / Cruise trips from April- 2015, June - 2015, and Sept/Oct-2015 to share trip reports for as well. We have a trip in Nov to Disney's Hilton Head coming up, too. The Disney magic is happening faster than I can document it. That's a good problem to have though.

Looking forward to the next entry!

 

[purplelover88]

The Keys look like they could be a fun but laid back vacation spot. I love places where you can walk to everything and not have to worry about parking. Thats terrible that you ended up feeling so sick though. At least you were still able to do a good bit of stuff you planned.

I'm glad to see that your MRI turned out normal. I know that had to be a big relief. Also congrats on getting the flights you wanted. Adding a day to save $40 isn't too shabby. It's better than saving nothing at all.

 

[Imagineer5]

That last beach castle pic is perfect!

Those southwest eggrolls look delicious!

You sound like me with your "first the May trip". I'm working on a trip from June, 2014 but have WDW / Cruise trips from April- 2015, June - 2015, and Sept/Oct-2015 to share trip reports for as well. We have a trip in Nov to Disney's Hilton Head coming up, too. The Disney magic is happening faster than I can document it. That's a good problem to have though.

Looking forward to the next entry!

It certainly is a good problem to have!! You have had quite the 2015!! I'd love to hear about HHI as well (have a great trip BTW lol!) as it is a place I'd like to visit.

The Keys look like they could be a fun but laid back vacation spot. I love places where you can walk to everything and not have to worry about parking. Thats terrible that you ended up feeling so sick though. At least you were still able to do a good bit of stuff you planned.

I'm glad to see that your MRI turned out normal. I know that had to be a big relief. Also congrats on getting the flights you wanted. Adding a day to save $40 isn't too shabby. It's better than saving nothing at all.

I love those sort of places too! I like having the option of a car BUT not having to use it...hahahaha. It was very nice to make the long drive and then just park it.

Thank you! It really was a huge relief. How did you make out on flights??

 

[purplelover88]

Thank you! It really was a huge relief. How did you make out on flights??

Price were a bit higher than I would have liked so I held off. Not necessarily high, just more than I wanted to pay. But that is to be expected I guess seeing how it is across the country. It's really my first time booking flights as we usually drive so I think it's just sticker shock mostly. I'm waiting for a decision on the southwest credit card to see if we can't get them with the bonus miles.

 

[Dugette]

First - I had the MRI. Talk about back pain! I can't lie on my back right now and yet I had to for 30 straight minutes without moving for the MRI. It was torture! At the end my back literally wasn't working and I had to use my arms to prop myself up then hobble to the changing area. BUT doc called me Monday afternoon and told me results were normal. It's actually something I've been worried about for a while, having headaches SO often - so that was a huge relief. So far the new meds are helping and I haven't had a crazy flare up in about 5 days so that is nice!

Yikes on the back pain! I'm glad it turned out normal, though, and that the new meds are helping!

PS I added a day to my may trip, coming home on Tuesday. Flights were $40 cheaper, so I am spending more with the extra night at Shades but....it'll be nice to have a whole extra day. I'm glad I can decide last minute (i.e. a couple months beforehand, bc that is my last minute lol) about bringing the baby, and even Andrew could come if he wants to / finds the time for it. I am a bit concerned about my ability to travel with 2 by myself, especially with the baby being so dependent on me, so we'll see. After she turns 1 (thus eating food/drinking milk/ and mobile) then it'll be a different story. But 5 nights away is a lot, and I don't want to sacrifice nursing her for the full year for a Disney trip (I will pump on the trip of course, but feel like the separation might be a bad thing for supply).

What you describe is a lot of why Izzy's first trip wasn't until she was 14 months - the eating/drinking and mobility were appealing to me.

Random thought I had earlier: your due date is timed well for maternity leave - missing out on winter commuting is great!

Other random thing: one of my co-workers was telling me that she is going to a conference in Orlando in late April/early May. I joked that I could come with and she said if my boss doesn't go, maybe I could. I'm pretty sure that won't happen, though. I'd be very surprised if my boss didn't go/let me go in his place. I don't know the exact dates, but one of my first thoughts was that we'd possibly overlap again if that were to actually happen.

Overnight though I was SO sick and ended up in the morning with a fever blah! I had the shakes and everything.

Ugh, that's such a bummer! Being sick on vacation is the worst!

These are so funny! souped up golf carts!

Those are hilarious! Haven't seen anything quite like that before.

That was a highlight of the day for us all, as we certainly were missing our animals!

Nice to have the chickens and kitties roaming to make you feel at home. I guess people with cat allergies really need to avoid that house!

These stairs were freaky. Even worse coming down!

Especially with you feeling the way you were! And I'd be all paranoid with a 3-year-old climbing them too. Stressful!

After that stop I looked on Trip Advisor but didn't see anything that interested me nearby. So the worst happened-we wandered aimlessly looking for a restaurant. I had to check reviews each time though and it took a while to find a place.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who checks reviews before making decisions. Also glad you found a good place.

Once back, I promptly fell asleep! Afternoon naps are NOT my thing (like, they happen about once a year, not counting my pregnancy)...but this felt amazing.

Haha, yes, you really were sick! It's so ironic that you are not a napper and Aria is a championship napper.

A huge slice of Key Lime Pie from Blue heaven!

Aw, how sweet! Hope you enjoyed it!

Beautiful! Pretty cool sand castle they made too!

 

[khertz]

That is really terrible about the migraines! My second pregnancy was a lot tougher than my first, so while I didn't have migraines, I can totally commiserate on that. I hope you start feeling better soon! Although I think you are due soon right? That delivery usually ends up being a cure all!