danceintherain
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
The way back was much easier to figure out than the way there. Kami called while we were in the car to let us know that she was in the airport in Orlando! I figured shed probably be arriving within the hour, so we hurried back, unpacked the groceries, and got Gideons bed set up.
His sleeping arrangements were a bit of a concern for me while I was planning the trip.
He grew out of a pack n play shortly after his second birthday, and weve been taking a small folding foam couch with us when we take him to see his grandparents. Its too big to fit in a checked bag though, and hes pretty much outgrown it as well. We thought about getting one of those Cars sleeping bag air mattresses at that point, but DH suggested that hed be able to continue to use the fold out couch even after he was too big to sleep on it.
I considered getting the Cars airbed for this trip, but it would not have solved all the potential problems.
G is a great sleeper at home, but he sleeps in his own room, in his own bed. Whenever we allow him to sleep in the bed with us (or anyone else for that matter) he usually stays up all night talking. Its super cute .for the first hour .then answering the What doin Mommy? gets old fast.
I knew that the best way to increase the likelihood of him sleeping well was to match his home sleeping situation, or at least the one he experiences when at Grandmas, as much as possible.
However, I also knew that we needed a back-up plan in case he didnt take to sleeping alone in a strange environment and another in case he would only sleep with his mother.
This was the only potential trouble (in my planning) with having my sister along for the trip. If he would sleep in the bed with her, great! If he would sleep in the bed with Logan, I could sleep with her, so great! If he would only sleep with me, then that would leave Logan and Kami sharing a bed, which would be a bit awkward. For this reason, I wanted to make sure that we had another sleeping option for an adult, which took the small Cars bed out of the running.
I settled on a twin air mattress, and opted to splurge a bit and went for the Aerobed with a built-in pump, so we wouldnt have to take a separate pump. I ordered it at the beginning of March, because I wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity to do a test run with him before our trip. We went to my Moms house during her Spring Break, so I got a full weeks worth of testing out of it. I also purchased a set of Cars sheets to put on it to make it more appealing. It worked like a charm. The trip to my Mom wasnt perfect, but he slept fine, and whined for his Wightneen Queen bed when we got home. Now he sleeps with the pillowcase every night.
The trip to Disney was even better! We put the mattress in the vanity area in the bathroom, so we could close the curtain after he went down, and the rest of us wouldnt have to be in complete darkness. He thought it was great that he could just peek out to check on us (because you know we were going to abandon him as soon as he fell asleep). We tried to get most of our bathroom stuff out of the way before we put him down at night, but none of what we did after he was asleep seemed to bother him. He did wake up some, but thats not all that different than at home, so I rate it as a success! During the day, I just tipped it up in the closet area, so it wasnt in the way while we were dressing or for housekeeping.
We promptly put Gideon to bed, and I went off to wait for my sister at the front of the resort. I got to hear a performance at the Scat Cat Club while I waited. I made a mental note to bring Logan back some time, but we never did make it.
It seemed to take forever for her bus to arrive, but soon enough she was there, so I escorted her to our room and explained a few things to her.
When we got back to the room, she indicated that she was hungry, so she and Logan went off to find sustenance, while I stayed with G.
She got a kids meal of Mac & Cheese, bottled water, apples, and grapes ($5.99). Logan got 2 milkshakes (one for me - $8.98) and an order of 6 Beignets ($4.29). They brought it back to the room. The total was $20.52
My milkshake was ok but not as good as some Ive had in the past. I think I got chocolate, and it was a little too chocolaty for me. The beignets werent all that impressive either. They probably would have been better warm, but it was 9:30pm at this point, so Im sure the last batch had been made a long time before that. Kami is a big fan of Mac & Cheese, so she thought it was good.
At this point, I was starting to worry about our refrigerator. I know that it takes a while for things to cool down once you fill one up, but ours seemed to be not working at all. Also, I didnt want to wait until the next morning to figure it out just to find that it hadnt been working and have spoiled milk for the week. We called maintenance, and they sent someone down. He looked around a little bit then informed us that in order for the fridge to have proper circulation, you cant really fill it up all the way. You have to leave the vent in the back unobstructed, which means it can only be about half full. I adjusted our stuff accordingly, and it seemed to work a little better for the rest of the trip. At least none of the food spoiled
After we ate, we all got ready for bed and crashed. We had an early day in the morning!
His sleeping arrangements were a bit of a concern for me while I was planning the trip.
He grew out of a pack n play shortly after his second birthday, and weve been taking a small folding foam couch with us when we take him to see his grandparents. Its too big to fit in a checked bag though, and hes pretty much outgrown it as well. We thought about getting one of those Cars sleeping bag air mattresses at that point, but DH suggested that hed be able to continue to use the fold out couch even after he was too big to sleep on it.
I considered getting the Cars airbed for this trip, but it would not have solved all the potential problems.
G is a great sleeper at home, but he sleeps in his own room, in his own bed. Whenever we allow him to sleep in the bed with us (or anyone else for that matter) he usually stays up all night talking. Its super cute .for the first hour .then answering the What doin Mommy? gets old fast.
I knew that the best way to increase the likelihood of him sleeping well was to match his home sleeping situation, or at least the one he experiences when at Grandmas, as much as possible.
However, I also knew that we needed a back-up plan in case he didnt take to sleeping alone in a strange environment and another in case he would only sleep with his mother.
This was the only potential trouble (in my planning) with having my sister along for the trip. If he would sleep in the bed with her, great! If he would sleep in the bed with Logan, I could sleep with her, so great! If he would only sleep with me, then that would leave Logan and Kami sharing a bed, which would be a bit awkward. For this reason, I wanted to make sure that we had another sleeping option for an adult, which took the small Cars bed out of the running.
I settled on a twin air mattress, and opted to splurge a bit and went for the Aerobed with a built-in pump, so we wouldnt have to take a separate pump. I ordered it at the beginning of March, because I wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity to do a test run with him before our trip. We went to my Moms house during her Spring Break, so I got a full weeks worth of testing out of it. I also purchased a set of Cars sheets to put on it to make it more appealing. It worked like a charm. The trip to my Mom wasnt perfect, but he slept fine, and whined for his Wightneen Queen bed when we got home. Now he sleeps with the pillowcase every night.
The trip to Disney was even better! We put the mattress in the vanity area in the bathroom, so we could close the curtain after he went down, and the rest of us wouldnt have to be in complete darkness. He thought it was great that he could just peek out to check on us (because you know we were going to abandon him as soon as he fell asleep). We tried to get most of our bathroom stuff out of the way before we put him down at night, but none of what we did after he was asleep seemed to bother him. He did wake up some, but thats not all that different than at home, so I rate it as a success! During the day, I just tipped it up in the closet area, so it wasnt in the way while we were dressing or for housekeeping.
We promptly put Gideon to bed, and I went off to wait for my sister at the front of the resort. I got to hear a performance at the Scat Cat Club while I waited. I made a mental note to bring Logan back some time, but we never did make it.
It seemed to take forever for her bus to arrive, but soon enough she was there, so I escorted her to our room and explained a few things to her.
When we got back to the room, she indicated that she was hungry, so she and Logan went off to find sustenance, while I stayed with G.
She got a kids meal of Mac & Cheese, bottled water, apples, and grapes ($5.99). Logan got 2 milkshakes (one for me - $8.98) and an order of 6 Beignets ($4.29). They brought it back to the room. The total was $20.52
My milkshake was ok but not as good as some Ive had in the past. I think I got chocolate, and it was a little too chocolaty for me. The beignets werent all that impressive either. They probably would have been better warm, but it was 9:30pm at this point, so Im sure the last batch had been made a long time before that. Kami is a big fan of Mac & Cheese, so she thought it was good.
At this point, I was starting to worry about our refrigerator. I know that it takes a while for things to cool down once you fill one up, but ours seemed to be not working at all. Also, I didnt want to wait until the next morning to figure it out just to find that it hadnt been working and have spoiled milk for the week. We called maintenance, and they sent someone down. He looked around a little bit then informed us that in order for the fridge to have proper circulation, you cant really fill it up all the way. You have to leave the vent in the back unobstructed, which means it can only be about half full. I adjusted our stuff accordingly, and it seemed to work a little better for the rest of the trip. At least none of the food spoiled
After we ate, we all got ready for bed and crashed. We had an early day in the morning!