I got back into the van with my newly-purchased phone charger and I was happy to know that I would be able to communicate with DH while we were away from each other. I was also happy to know that I would be able to call my mom when she inevitably gets lost in the parks!
The rest of the ride was uneventful and we soon arrived at Midway Airport. Dave helped us get all of our stuff out of the unfrozen mini-van doors and I gave him some gambling money for Vegas. He would be back at this very airport in 6 hours to fly to Vegas for a family vacation.
It was at this moment that I realized that my overpacking problem was at an all-time high. I had 2 suitcases to check as well as a backpack, diaper bag, and a purse to carry on. My mom had a suitcase, a backpack, and a purse. Getting all of this plus Claire in her stroller over to the bag check counter proved to be a bit of a struggle, but we got it done. Soon, our bags were checked and we were ready to go through security. I love it that Midway has the security lines for family. I felt no pressure to go quickly as I got everything ready to put on the belt. Security completed, we headed to the gate. My mom and I took turns going to get breakfast while the other one stayed with Claire and the bags.
Soon after we finished eating our breakfast, it was time to board the plane. It was a full flight so there was no chance of us getting a row to ourselves. We chose our seats and sat down. As I was standing in the aisle, waiting for my mom to get herself settled in her seat, I realized that Claire was hitting the man in the row in front of us on the top of his head! He turned around with a look of anger on his face, but once he realized that his assailant was an adorable little girl, all was forgiven and he gave her a big smile. I took our seat and hoped that Claire would be good on the plane so as not to disturb the woman who was also in our row.
We took off on time and we were finally on our way to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!
Theres something about flying that causes Claire to become very hyperactive. She wants to constantly move around, switching from my moms lap to mine, then back again to my moms lap. As long as we let her keep moving, she remains content and quiet. Two hours of this was quite exhausting for the adults, but as long as she was quiet, we were happy!
Here's Claire, doing some work on her laptop on the plane.
And here she is, finally looking sleepy.
As the plane began to descend, Claire fell asleep on my shoulder. After we landed, I carefully put my Ergo baby carrier on (kind of like a baby bjorn) and got Claire into it. As we walked off the plane, I had a sleeping baby on my chest, my mom by my side, and I was ready to start a fabulous week at the happiest place on Earth. What a wonderful feeling.
For some reason, we never received the Magical Express bag tags, so we had to go get our bags off the luggage carousel and bring them over to Magical Express. This was a bit of a pain, but I was happy that we would have our bags with us immediately upon arriving at our resort. Claire woke up from her nap around this time and she was happy to see all the activity at the airport.
We put our bags on a luggage cart and headed over to Magical Express, where it was pretty empty. I hoped that this was a good sign of crowds to come. We were directed to the correct line for Port Orleans Riverside. After about a 10 minute wait, we were allowed to head out to our bus.
There it is!
We gave the driver our bags and got on the bus and chose our seats. My baby girls first Disney trip was beginning and I couldnt have been happier!
I got out a squeezer package of baby food for Claire and let her have at it. Before I could react, Claire squeezed the baby food all over herself, myself, and my mom! We were covered in pears and mango. I cleaned up the baby food as well as I could and put the baby food away. And I thanked my lucky stars that we had our luggage on the bus with us so we could all change out of our pear-mango stained clothes. Then, as the bus driver announced there was to be no eating or drinking on the bus, a teenage girl in front of us turned around and gave me a look! I guess I deserved it.
Soon, the bus got moving, the video started playing, and we were on our way!
What is that I see ahead?
Still blurry, but better!
I see a sign for our resort!
Before I knew it, we were at Port Orleans Riverside!
Off the bus we went to check in!
Next up: Would we have good luck with our room assignment?
i have had a few of those to report over the yrs...nof un and in your suitcase...YUCK!
truly hoping that goes away...frozen vans doors what a pain...never heppened to me, but one apartment matt used to live in, he remembers many a morning dealing w/ that 
happy thoughts for the plane ride!
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