I apologize in advance that this is a picture-less chapter. The internet is agonizingly SLOW this evening and I wanted to get this chapter OUT!!
Pictures next chapter I promise!!!
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With everyone dressed and ready...we headed down the hall and towards the bus stop. On our way a very WET looking family was squelching down the hall towards us. They weren't just a little wet...they were SOAKED...they were completely SATURATED and dripping.
I said a quick prayer to St. Jude and hoped that those people weren't coming from Downtown Disney!
I gave Jay a look. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand.
*sigh*
no escape.
Teddy commented that those people looked like they went swimming with their CLOTHES on...
indeed.
We made it outside and we stopped for a second so everyone could poncho up!
It wasn't really raining overly hard. Just regular hard. Which is only marginally better in my opinion...
Sally's eyes got big and she asked if there was any lightning yet.
didn't appear to be...Sally's Aunt had once told her a lovely story about a kid getting hit by lighting while walking outside in a rainstorm...
We only had to wait a few seconds for the bus...which was good I guess, b/c one second more and I'd have vetoed the whole idea! Sally so would have been with me! But the boys were amped! They were ready to splish splash with gusto!
It was about 5:30ish when the bus pulled up...a bunch of very wet people got off the bus. A bunch of...Campbellscot's got ON the bus.
this was NOT looking good.
seriously. we were the only people on the bus.
The driver gave us a "look".
A look that said..."insane commando tourists going out in the middle of what should be called but isn't quite yet a hurricane..."
seriously. that's what the look said. all that. with just his eyes.
he was right.
we are insane commando types.
At least we got our pick of the heiny warming seats that we so adore!
the ride was nice. warm and cuddly...like Lions.
It really wasn't raining all that hard as the bus made it's way to Downtown Disney. Well not hard compared to the day that Jay and I had romped around MK during "Hurricane Ernesto". It was the BEST day of our honeymoon! It was a splashy sort of day, but we had the park TO OURSELVES! So a little normal type rain wasn't going to stop us...well it wouldn't stop Jay and Teddy. Sally and I were more reluctant adventurers! But during the bus ride we weren't worried about it...b/c it was warm and quiet and calm.
We were feeling the love.
when we should have been panicking!
kidding.
sort of.
We finally pulled up to Downtown Disney. The bus driver asked us if we were SURE we wanted to get out.
We did.
Well Jay and Teddy did. Sally was clinging to my hand and looking for lightning!
oh well...we were here. It was time to step forth!
we jumped out into the rain and ran quickly to the covered area with all the benches.
In the 2.5 seconds it took to get from the bus to the benches the rain had gone from "not too hard"...to "HARD"...yep all capital letters! Seriously y'all, i have NEVER in my life seen rain this insane. It was fast and furious and unrelenting. It was a little hypnotic...which is the reason I believe we stayed instead of going back to the Lodge!!! We were too mesmerized to move!!!
thankfully it wasn't windy. cuz there always has to be a bright side!!
after a minute or two the rain slowed a bit.
Teddy decided he had to powder his nose.
We all made sure our ponchos were firmly ON and buttoned up, grabbed hands and RAN.
Teddy absolutely SQUEALED with excitement! Sally just hung on to my hand as tightly as she could. We were pretty much ankle deep in water. I closed my mind to the "ick I'm WET" factor and tried not to fall down. THAT would NOT have been good. I already don't like to be wet. Falling down into ankle deep puddles would have pretty much extinguished any flicker of good natured-ness I had in me...and I didn't have much at the moment!
Thankfully nobody fell. We made it to the bathrooms and discovered that we hadn't melted.
we either weren't sweet enough or wicked enough...depending upon which fairy tale or old saying you might subscribe to.
Sally looked up at me and said in a rather persnickity little voice...
"MissCammie...my FEET are wet!"
I gave her my best smile and said,
"Oh, just your feet? Lucky you!"
I'm fairly certain she was cussing me a blue streak in her head.
How I do love to tease my step daughter.
one of the perks of wickedness!
Once Teddy and Jay rejoined us, we decided to head to the nearest store. The rain was still coming down HARD. The nearest store to us was Wonderful World of Memories...so that's where we went!
Sally was actually rather thrilled. She LOVES scrapbooking. When she was younger her grandmother would buy her all sorts of Disney flotsam and jetsam and Sally would just stick it to pages willy nilly and call it "scrapbooking".
(I shudder to think how much grandma spent on that stuff that was essentially used as really expensive stickers placed with no rhyme or reason!)
Now that she's older, her artistic abilities are quite good and scrapbooking is one of her favorite outlets!
We made it into the store just ahead of the first CLAP of thunder. Sally squealed and literally got up UNDER my poncho and pressed her face into my side.
Teddy's ran to the nearest window and looked for lightning! He pert near bounced out of his
crocs when he saw the light flash across the sky!
Sally was clinging rather tightly. It was sort of funny in a way...but a little over dramatic...considering we were inside, not outside under a metal spire...know what I mean?
so I extracted her from under my poncho and told her to relax and look around for a bit. I reminded her that we were safe inside and that loud noises can't hurt us. I also took out my swimmers towel and dried her off good so she didn't have to drip and squelch around the store. Sally didn't look too convinced, but wandered over to a very large sticker display.
I got a hold of Teddy and dried him off and reminded him to look with his EYES not his hands.
"MissCammie...how can I LOOK with my hands?!"
little wisenheimer.
I smacked him with an eyebrow arch and said
"You know what I mean Fred. Look, don't touch."
That impulsive streak of his required a watchful eye at all times.
He and Jay wandered around the store trying to find something "not girlie" to look at!
I love to browse. Love to just look at stuff. It's one of my favorite pastimes!
Just as I was really getting my browse groove on there was another massive boom of thunder.
Then. the. lights. went. out.
for about ten seconds we were plunged into darkness. At Disney.
As is the habit of most people when something totally unexpected happens, everyone in the store froze. (Maybe that isn't the habit, of others, but it sure is my response to unexpected darkness...at Disney...)
A CM started reassuring everyone that "nothing is wrong...just a little power outage...just everybody stay put for a second...the lights will be back on in no time..."
There was a rapid fire "patpatpatpatpatpatpat" coming towards me. It was Sally, who crouched down to the floor, put her arms around my leg and covered her eyes.
Then the emergency lights came on. The store wasn't as brightly lit as before, but it wasn't dark either.
I had to laugh a little bit at Sally.
I wiggled my leg a little bit.
"SallySue, what are you doing down there?!"
she answered from behind her hands,
"Waiting for the lights to come back on..."
"Sally...it's not dark. There are lights on...if you take your hands away from your face you would see that!"
She peeked between her fingers and said,
"Oh."
Little Miss Dramatic our Sally.
all things considered she handled it very well!
It wasn't too much longer and all the lights came right back on. The CM's went around handing out stickers and Mickey pencils to the kids. I thought that was a very nice touch!
Sally was much cheered by her stickers and pencil getting. Free stuff always does the soul good!
We wandered a bit more, looking at the Art of Disney for a while. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to decorate the kids playroom in Disney art. Oh who am I kidding, I'd love to decorate my whole HOUSE in Disney art...but I am able to restrain myself for fear of going a LITTLE bit overboard.
It was fun to look though...someday someday...
after we got our wander on for a bit more...we figured it was time to venture out and find some grub!
we were hungry!!!
It actually wasn't pouring nearly as hard as it had been. So we headed out and over to the Earl of Sandwich.
it was PACKED to the gills.
which bummed me out, b/c I had been hankering for The All American sandwich. I got WET in the hopes that I would have the comfort of carbs and ranch dressing and melty cheese.
no. such. luck.
QUACK!
Jay has zero patience for packed restaurants. Every table was filled and there were stalker diners waiting for people to leave.
at least we weren't the only ones who came out in this mess!
So Jay made the decision to veto The Earl and all his sandwich-y goodness.
I was getting pert near to starved at this point.
We stepped out the door and Teddy let out a delighted squeal.
"They have MCDONALDS at Disney?!"
They've got it all little man! Even the Golden Arches!
Jay looked at me, looked at the kids and announced,
"We're going to McDonald's".
WHAT?! McDonald's?! I came out into the rain for McD's?! Are you kidding me?!
*sigh*
I think Jay was super hungry to the core and didn't have it in him to wait another second for food.
which meant he was fixin to get GRUMPY.
So McD's it was.
The kids were happy enough to go to McDonald's. Sally didn't have to worry about food she wasn't familiar with and that was always a bonus for her!
Plus it wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg! THAT was always a bonus for us!
We trooped in and were BLASTED by the stark brightness of the place. Bright whites, bold reds...lots of plastic. I pert near needed my sunglasses! I kept my eyes down while Sally did a clown check for me. I don't like clowns. They freak me out.
"It's okay MissCammie...there isn't a standing one."
WHEW! Those large looming life sized Ronald McDonald's truly freak me out. I have issues with clowns. (I know...what DON'T I have issues with?!) It's just that I find them to be menacing and creepy looking...ick.
They freak me out.
*ahem*
I KNOW...
but they ARE scary.
anyhow...clown scouting done, we found a seat and plopped down.
Jay went and ordered while I went about sanitizing the eating area...and the kids and me.
Once Jay arrived we were all clean and ready to eat!
I didn't take pictures. It was McD's food.
We grubbed happily and hungrily.
Sally and Teddy talked about the individual merits of chicken nuggets from different eating establishments. Sally prefers Burger King. Teddy prefers Wendy's. I think they are all heart attacks in a box, but my vote didn't count!
we don't take the kids to fast food places very often...though I know they go A LOT with grandparents and...other people.
anyhow...we ate and chatted and it was good. It was good because we were so hungry and had adventured through rain and blackouts and dark of night to get here!
*ahem*
The rain was still falling but not nearly as hard as before.
AFter eating everyone got their second wind.
Teddy grabbed my hand and said,
"Come on MissCammie, lets go BUY STUFF!"
sounds like a plan Teddy Bear!
Up Next: Buying Stuff!
!!
I love Disney as much as you do.I love to read your writing.
I'll keep an eye out for yours!
I see way too many instances of step parents or real parents who don't give a flip about their kids, and it is so nice to see someone like you out there. Please keep up the good work with the report so I can keep working 
11 days left and I'm pulling my hair out with some of our kiddos, they have all just gone bonkers!
