3 kids , free dining , and the un-free alcohol.... UPDATED 11/26

[MiaBella05]

subscribing

 

[rachel3]

subscribing

thanks and welcome....

 

[becky_AK]

Hi Rachel,
It's nice to "meet" you too. I swear it is much easier to meet people on the Disboards then it is in real life

Can't wait to read your TR.

 

[Maria_O]

Hi Rachel,

looking forward to your trip report! Your kids are adorable! DH's sister's younger kid has fragile X syndrome, and although he isn't officially diagnosed as autistic, he has many autistic behavioral features, so I do understand you.

 

[rachel3]

Hi Rachel,
It's nice to "meet" you too. I swear it is much easier to meet people on the Disboards then it is in real life

yes, i agree!!

Hi Rachel,

looking forward to your trip report! Your kids are adorable! DH's sister's younger kid has fragile X syndrome, and although he isn't officially diagnosed as autistic, he has many autistic behavioral features, so I do understand you.

yes, it is quite similar. my ds (2) actually just had genetic testing done and fragile x was one of the tests. it takes about 30 days to receive results, so i have to wait another week.

oh, and thanks for joining my tr!!

 

[rottiemom]

Hi Rachel! When I saw the word "alcohol" in the title I knew that I had to take a look .

We just got back as well & spent the majority of our cash on booze. It's a necessary travel expense! OK, maybe it was a 50/50 split between booze & souvies for our little guy but still...

Looking forward to reading more as well.

 

[KatGarcia]

Just saving my place, I have to go back and read....

 

[rachel3]

Hi Rachel! When I saw the word "alcohol" in the title I knew that I had to take a look .

We just got back as well & spent the majority of our cash on booze. It's a necessary travel expense! OK, maybe it was a 50/50 split between booze & souvies for our little guy but still...

Looking forward to reading more as well.

thanks for reading!! i agree , we spent most of our cash on adult bev

Just saving my place, I have to go back and read....

hi kat, glad you came over!!

 

[KatGarcia]

Ok I'm in and read up ... love the kiddo pics...what cuties!!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Must say the "alcohol" word snagged me too!

Your children look adorable and I can't wait to hear how your trip went.

 

[SunnieRN]

Hi Rachel. I'm an RN also and we just went to WDW for the first time and joined DVC.
We (myself, my 24 y.o old daughter, 3 y.o. grandson with sensory disorders and 7 mo. old grandson) drove from central texas. Makes me look forward to reading more!

 

[rachel3]

Ok I'm in and read up ... love the kiddo pics...what cuties!!!

thanks kat!!

Must say the "alcohol" word snagged me too!

Your children look adorable and I can't wait to hear how your trip went.

he,he...... on the alcohol.. what can i say?? three kids and bussing everywhere.........the alcohol was inevitable. too bad it wasn't free as well! oh and welcome!!

Hi Rachel. I'm an RN also and we just went to WDW for the first time and joined DVC.
We (myself, my 24 y.o old daughter, 3 y.o. grandson with sensory disorders and 7 mo. old grandson) drove from central texas. Makes me look forward to reading more!

hi, welcome! first visit and dvc.................you rock!!

how did your 3 yr old grandson do with the crowds??? it's always an issue with my kids. that's why we go in the off season!

 

[Evemiaprincesses1012]

I am from Ohio too. I am looking forward to reading this. We are driving in 5 days with a almost 4 year old and a nine month old. We are staying in All Star Movie too.

 

[rachel3]

I am from Ohio too. I am looking forward to reading this. We are driving in 5 days with a almost 4 year old and a nine month old. We are staying in All Star Movie too.

hi and welcome. that sounds like us a few years back. we drove , stayed asmo with 3yr and and 5 month old. it was our first trip!!!

 

[Isaac's_mom]

Cant wait to read more! Your kiddos are so cute! I heart myself a big cheesy grin.

 

[rachel3]

The plan was to leave at 3am on thursday night/friday am. It's Thursday and I have so much to do it's overwhelming!! I was still packing (i know T, crazy!), had to take the dog to the doggie hotel, clean the car, clean the house, yada, yada, yada. As if my to do list isn't long enough, bashful is up all night wed crying and pulling at his ear. He had a fever a couple days prior along with the yucky runny nose, cough. But, all my kids had it, so I assumed it was a virus and figured it would run it's course. However, since we're leaving tonight, I figured we should make a visit to the pediatrician to check for an ear infection. I got in at 3pm and rearranged my to do list accordingly. We saw the Physician's assistant and she knows me cuz i work with her sister in the ER. She knew we were going on vacation and asssured me she would be thorough. So, she checks his ears............ not the problem, they're fine. She proceeds to look at his throat, which is always fun since it causes that lovely gagging reflex. (you know what i'm talkin bout jen!! )

She says, " oh".
me: Um, what oh???
her: Well, his throat is covered in blisters. it looks like hand , foot, mouth disease!
me: WHAT????
her: we'll check for strep since you're leaving to go on vacation, but it really looks like hand, foot , mouth.
me: jaw open, eyes wide, speechless!

she obtains the throat culture and we wait..................................

Nope, not strep. so, hand, foot, mouth it is. It's a virus and she tells me since he's already had fever, he should not be actively contagious. The trip is still on. I'll just have to give him motrin around the clock the help with the blister pain! My poor baby. He's a trooper though , so we continue on our busy day.


Finally, my dh gets home from work and we get all the luggage gathered in the living room. Since my mom is coming with us, we have to use 1 seat in the thrid row of our honda pilot. This means not-so-much room in the back. We bought a traveling luggage bag thingy to put on top of the car. Dh works on it for over an hour. Finally, it's secured on top of the car with a whopping 2 suitcases. It didn't fit nearly as much as we thought.

My mom lives about 3 hours away, so my step-dad is bringing her to our house. We have to wait for her luggage to pack the rest of the car, so we try to put the house in somewhat order. My kids are so excited they can barely contain themselves. It was supposed to be a surprise that we were leaving a day early, but my mom accidentally spilled the beans on the phone with happy. So, they knew we were leaving later in the night. My mom finally arrives and we begin to pack the car. The fridge goes in first, then bigger suitcases and yada, yada, yada. Surprise, surprise, it won't all fit. We were plannin on taking a big sit-n-stand stroller and an umbrella stroller. Aeriel gets tired easily and has trouble walking in the parks for several hours, hence the sit-n-stand stroller. But, it just won't fit. We decide it will be a pain to lug that thing on the busses anyway, so we leave it behind figuring we will rent a stroller if needed. Okay, problem averted!


The car is packed, full of gas (no not that kind) and we're all too excited to sleep. i tried to get Areil to go to bed , but she wasn 't interested. She was so tired, but excited at the same time. She climbs in the 3rd row seat with her nintendo DSL , pillow, blanket, and falls asleep! awwww....

well, I guess we'll just leave now. It's about 11pm at this point, so we decide to just leave. woooooo whooooooo......

everybody sing with me.......... on the roa..................what's that noise???

sounds like something hitting the car??? okay pull over. We're about 1/2 mile down the street and we pull over. The luggage holder thingy has straps that are hitting the car. Dh secures the straps and off we go.............on the road again....

First gas stop to get caffeine. Dh is driving at this point, but i'm not tired. I figure i'll start pumping my body full of caffeine, so I buy a red bull. We put a movie in the handy dandy dvd player and off we go. We drive about 2 hours then stop for more gas. I buy another red bull. My turn to drive. More uneventful driving. Next stop, fill up tank, motrin for bashful, redbull for me, coffee for mom and kick dh's snoring butt to the back seat. He took some nighty, night pill cuz he has trouble sleeping in the car, so he is out!!

Mom keeps me awake and we listen to the movie and dh snoring. We stop again, more coffee, more redbull. This time the kids are all finally sleeping! YES!!! We get through the crazy mountains of west virginia. (i'm a mountaineer at heart, born and raised in wv! ) Then, the part I hate!!! If anyone drives this road (I-77), they'll know what i'm talkin about! There's this place in Virginia, high in the mountain, where it's dark , foggy , and large semi-trucks drive fast. Once we hit this point, it's raining. I hate driving in the rain. Give me snow anyday, but rain . I have my fists clenched around the 10 and 2, eyes wide open, trying to see the road. Whew, we get through unevenfully, thank god! We stop for gas and beverages again. mom= coffe, me = redbull. we're standing outside the car drinking our drinks and smoking a cigarette (i know, i know it's bad, but i really needed one after the fog , rain and semi-trucks) Well, i keep feeling something tickling my arm. You know , kinda like when your hair falls out and it lands on your arm, the way it tickles. It was exactly like that. I kept thinking I had a piece of hair on my shirt that was tickling my arm. Nope, nothin there. No red mark, no bug bite, nothin. well, i keep looking and scratching. My mom's like what wrong? i tell her. She says maybe you've had one too many red bulls!!!

here's me.​

and here's me on redbull​

..

OMG, that's it. i drank too much red bull and now my skin is crawling!! crap. so, i lay off the red bull, but my arms keep feeling like i have bugs crawling on them!! WTH???? I didn't want to take any benadryl cuz i'm trying to stay awake here. So, i deal with it for about an hour, then it goes away! whew, maybe i should stay away from the redbull!

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Well , there was the one time we stopped for gas....... My dh woke up enough to go to the restroom. Mom and I get back in the car, but he's not there. Um, I thought he got back in the car? So , we're like WTH?? I look down. He's laying on the floor between the front and back seats! I have no idea how he squeezed into that spot, but he was there, sleeping. Okay, night, night pills are good!

We get to Georgia about 11am and stop at shoneys for breakfast...

fast shoney's story here...................... I was 3 yrs old and my parents took me to disney world. We were staying with family in st. petersburg and drove to wdw. It was july, so hot, humid and miserable for my parents, but i was a kid, i didn;t mind. We were planning on going to wdw 1 more day. We went to shoney's for dinner and I wanted one of those cute shoney bears. My mom tells me, okay, i'll buy you the shoney bear ($3), but only if we don't go to disney world tomorrow. I'm 3 yrs old, living in the gratify me now stage, so I say okay! I got the shoney bear, but not another day of disney. I still bust my mom for this one. I tell her she is the reason for my ravaging disney addiction to this day!


okay, back to present time. I just want to apologize to anyone present at the shoney's in GA on friday morning. I know we looked really scary! sorry people! here's some scary pics of us after the long drive

back on the road and one hour later, we arrived at the marriott in savanah!!! sa-weet!! Our room was ready, so we showered , then jumped in the pool. we went back to the room and napped, then went to applebees for dinner. It was good except for the perfect margirita. It must have been opposite day in savanah cuz it was the most unperfect margirita i ever had! However, it contained alcohol, so i drank it up!!
bashful was all hyped up after the long drive !

We went back to our room and crashed hard! Another 4 hours tomorrow and we would be in the motherland!!


up next: we're here, we're here, the mother land!!!

 

[Goofyluver]

So......how......hyper......were......you?



You drank so much red bull that your skin crawled???

And about Bashful and the hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yucko!

I hope he was okay.

Waiting for more...

 

[rachel3]

Cant wait to read more! Your kiddos are so cute! I heart myself a big cheesy grin.

thank you!! welcome and happy b-day to isaac!

So......how......hyper......were......you?



You drank so much red bull that your skin crawled???

And about Bashful and the hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yucko!

I hope he was okay.

Waiting for more...

um, yeah i was pretty hyper. i was talking my mom's ear off!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That is scary about the Red Bull, I'm glad I don't drink that stuff now!

 

[DisneyJo]

her: Well, his throat is covered in blisters. it looks like hand , foot, mouth disease!
me: WHAT????

OMG poor thing, glad you could still go though

well, I guess we'll just leave now. It's about 11pm at this point, so we decide to just leave. woooooo whooooooo......

Woohooo you left early

He took some nighty, night pill cuz he has trouble sleeping in the car, so he is out!!

Wow that pill sure worked huh

OMG, that's it. i drank too much red bull and now my skin is crawling!! crap.

OMG how horrid