Twas the night before leaving and all through the house,
The bags were packed to visit the House of the Mouse.
OUR Cast Members:
DH -- Im the 58 year-old, cranky (or so people think) Dad. Im really just a 10-year-old kid inside.
DW -- Beautiful wife, who is much younger than Dad and is the mother of three who are . . .
DD1 -- 11 going on 16, beautiful (Im her Dad, so I can say that) middle school cheerleader with brains to match her beauty.
DD2 -- a petite darling in a dynamite package at 9 years old, she is the artistic one of the bunch.
DS -- a big, big boy for 7 years old. He is taller than his 9-year-old sister and weighs as much as his 11-year-old sister.
A Magical Beginning
On the sunny Tuesday morning of December 21, 2004, DW and I went to pick up our rental van for the trip to Florida to visit my folks, and the surprise stay at Disney World. We were given the option of a silver 7-passenger Chevrolet Venture with 9,000 miles on it, or a deep blue 7-passenger Dodge Grand Caravan with 3400 miles on it. I let DW make the choice. She picked the Dodge because she liked the color better. Fine with me!
By 11:30am we were loaded and also had the van packed. Alright we just had the van packed. The kids were given the opportunity to select their seats and our eldest, DD1, laid claim to the far back seat. DD2, and our DS, indicated displeasure that DD1 had hogged the whole seat for herself. I told them not to worry because they would have the best seat in the van if they simply waited a few minutes. So they climbed in the middle seat. Frankly, they wanted to sit together anyway because they are inseparable.
At this point I brought out the early Christmas present, a portable DVD player. I strapped it between the two front seats and told the kids to figure out how it worked. I had already loaded the Disney vacation DVD.
Electronic geniuses that they are, they soon had the DVD up and running. DD1 in the back was somewhat miffed at having to sit so far from the DVD screen. That was her seating choice, so she would have to wait until we played musical chairs at the first rest stop. Thus settled in, off we went heading east out of Dallas toward Grandmas house in Florida.
Everyone was excited and there was laughter galore that first hour. None of the kids quite caught on to why the DVD was loaded with the Disney video, but DW and I knew, so we probably laughed the loudest. They watched the video, then explored the parcel I had put in the pouch of the seat behind DW. In it were four more videos, including Spider-Man II, Elf, Shrek II and The Prisoner of Azkahban. Shrek II drew the most votes and the laughter continued.
Who Picked this Place?
After eight hours of pleasant driving with multiple pit stops along the way, we eased into the Howard Johnsons in Hattiesburg, MS. The whole town was packed with military families and friends for some big function. I was too tired to find out, so I cant add much except to say it was a good thing we had reservations.
Sadly, the HoJo was a mere shell of its glorious past, but the staffer who checked us in was excellent. We had two rooms for the price of one at many other motels, so we sucked it up and hit the sack. We were ready for a nice quiet rest before setting out on the 12-hour journey the next day.
Around midnight there was an altercation outside our door. The couple staying adjacent to us had been consuming mass quantities of adult beverages (by their own admission to the police who arrived within minutes), and we spent the next twenty minutes listening to the men in blue question the couple.
I tired of the same He said - she said litany, so I went to bed and didnt wait for the outcome. DW said she heard the couple get up real early, make a lot of noise, and leave in their pickup truck. I was snoring all the while, she told me. Thats how the day ended, or was it the beginning of Day Two? I didnt care, I was asleep.
The bags were packed to visit the House of the Mouse.
OUR Cast Members:DH -- Im the 58 year-old, cranky (or so people think) Dad. Im really just a 10-year-old kid inside.
DW -- Beautiful wife, who is much younger than Dad and is the mother of three who are . . .
DD1 -- 11 going on 16, beautiful (Im her Dad, so I can say that) middle school cheerleader with brains to match her beauty.
DD2 -- a petite darling in a dynamite package at 9 years old, she is the artistic one of the bunch.
DS -- a big, big boy for 7 years old. He is taller than his 9-year-old sister and weighs as much as his 11-year-old sister.
A Magical Beginning
On the sunny Tuesday morning of December 21, 2004, DW and I went to pick up our rental van for the trip to Florida to visit my folks, and the surprise stay at Disney World. We were given the option of a silver 7-passenger Chevrolet Venture with 9,000 miles on it, or a deep blue 7-passenger Dodge Grand Caravan with 3400 miles on it. I let DW make the choice. She picked the Dodge because she liked the color better. Fine with me!
By 11:30am we were loaded and also had the van packed. Alright we just had the van packed. The kids were given the opportunity to select their seats and our eldest, DD1, laid claim to the far back seat. DD2, and our DS, indicated displeasure that DD1 had hogged the whole seat for herself. I told them not to worry because they would have the best seat in the van if they simply waited a few minutes. So they climbed in the middle seat. Frankly, they wanted to sit together anyway because they are inseparable.
At this point I brought out the early Christmas present, a portable DVD player. I strapped it between the two front seats and told the kids to figure out how it worked. I had already loaded the Disney vacation DVD.
Electronic geniuses that they are, they soon had the DVD up and running. DD1 in the back was somewhat miffed at having to sit so far from the DVD screen. That was her seating choice, so she would have to wait until we played musical chairs at the first rest stop. Thus settled in, off we went heading east out of Dallas toward Grandmas house in Florida.
Everyone was excited and there was laughter galore that first hour. None of the kids quite caught on to why the DVD was loaded with the Disney video, but DW and I knew, so we probably laughed the loudest. They watched the video, then explored the parcel I had put in the pouch of the seat behind DW. In it were four more videos, including Spider-Man II, Elf, Shrek II and The Prisoner of Azkahban. Shrek II drew the most votes and the laughter continued.
Who Picked this Place?
After eight hours of pleasant driving with multiple pit stops along the way, we eased into the Howard Johnsons in Hattiesburg, MS. The whole town was packed with military families and friends for some big function. I was too tired to find out, so I cant add much except to say it was a good thing we had reservations.
Sadly, the HoJo was a mere shell of its glorious past, but the staffer who checked us in was excellent. We had two rooms for the price of one at many other motels, so we sucked it up and hit the sack. We were ready for a nice quiet rest before setting out on the 12-hour journey the next day.
Around midnight there was an altercation outside our door. The couple staying adjacent to us had been consuming mass quantities of adult beverages (by their own admission to the police who arrived within minutes), and we spent the next twenty minutes listening to the men in blue question the couple.
I tired of the same He said - she said litany, so I went to bed and didnt wait for the outcome. DW said she heard the couple get up real early, make a lot of noise, and leave in their pickup truck. I was snoring all the while, she told me. Thats how the day ended, or was it the beginning of Day Two? I didnt care, I was asleep.
