donaldbuzz&minnie
Happy to be here!
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2004
- Messages
- 1,728
After watching most of the fireworks at the MK, the adults (and baby) made their way to the buses. Since they got to the bus stop ahead of the curve, our kids told us the next morning they'd gotten a bus to themselves! They put the baby to bed, and since we had the baby monitor, we went to bed ourselves while they got into bathing suits and headed down to the pool for one last soak in the hot tub. Unfortunately, the baby woke up a few minutes later, and nothing Bopa or I could do would console her.
My husband is usually the baby-whisperer. When I would go down for the count, he could almost always soothe our daughters into quieting down as babies. Aside from the fact that it would have fried him emotionally to have made a career out of dealing day in and day out with hurt children or animals, he would have been a great pediatrician or vet. He just gives off some very calming energy that kids and animals can sense. But even he was out of his league this evening. He brought some soothing Irish music with him, which he had playing in the living room, he walked his legs off, but the baby would fall asleep, and then just as he began to believe she was really out, she'd wake with a start and begin screaming again. After the 4th iteration, we had to call her parents home.
The next morning all was quiet at about 6 am when the two of us woke up. Not wanting to waste our last morning, we dressed and were quietly headed out for a final walk around the boardwalk when DGS decided it was time for him to get up too. So we bundled him up in his pajamas, sweater, and blankets, and took him with us.
Nice morning! We wheeled him toward Epcot and on past the Beach and Yacht Clubs, over the bridge and back to the Boardwalk. Then the best part, better than any boat or bus. A garbage truck was backing up from the loading dock and he was in heaven. Since I had only mothered girls, it was fun to see how excited both my husband and grandson were to be gazing happily (for the next few minutes) at something my daughters and I would have barely noticed. When the truck-men waved to him, that capped it!
The rest of the morning was spent, predictably, cramming what now felt like a real houseful of stuff back into the suitcases and duffels we brought, cleaning out the refrigerator and making a quick swipe with a sponge, vacuum, and broom. We just made the eleven o'clock check-out time. The bellman brought two luggage carts, just in case, but he managed to jigsaw all of our stuff, with not an inch to spare, onto just one. Our cars were waiting our front, and we loaded our stuff into them, sure that we were going to have to throw out at least the cooler we'd brought from home to get us all to the airport in one trip. 8 people = a lot of luggage! But we got it all in, and then parked the cars again, ready to walk over to Beaches and Cream for lunch.
Even though we had to leave for the airport at 2:30, the time we had left wasn't half as depressing as it might have been, since we had DVC property to see, and plans to make for our next visit. Our home resort is the Beach Club and we were anxious for everyone to see it. So we picked up a pager at Beaches and Cream and walked all the way around "our" pool, then through the lobby and over to the DVC units. I was so excited for everyone to see the Beach Club, and to say the least, no one was disappointed. We're all looking really forward to staying there! We ate lunch; couldn't manage any ice cream, though, since we hadn't split entrees. We'll know better next time.
Then we walked back to pick up the cars and drove over to the other resort we wanted the kids to see before they left - Wilderness Lodge. If anything, I think they were even more blown away by this property than by the Beach Club. Now we have two places we want to stay! (And we'd all go back to the Boardwalk in a minute.)
Finally, we had to leave for the airport. Rats. A quick stop at Walgreens for just-in-case supplies to ease baby ear pain on the airplane's descent, and we were on 417. We got gas, then quickly returned the cars. The ticket counter and security were remarkably uncrowded, and we were at the gate that our family would leave from almost 2 hours ahead of their flight, much earlier than I thought we'd be. Then we waited, and waited, and waited. Long story short, a major weather system blew across the Southeast, closed Orlando's airport for the duration of a huge thunderstorm, and stranded aircraft and pilots all over the place. Our plane finally took off 4 hours late, but our kids were still on the ground when we left. Even though they were booked on a through flight, the airline ran out of pilots who were not over their FAA prescribed flying limit on this busy Easter weekend, and everyone was taken off the plane in transit and sent to a hotel for what became only a 2 hour rest. Our family finally got home 24 hours after first arriving at the Orlando airport!
They told us, though, that despite the colds, the crowds and the flight home, they are all can't wait for the next trip. Personally, I could go back tomorrow!
My husband is usually the baby-whisperer. When I would go down for the count, he could almost always soothe our daughters into quieting down as babies. Aside from the fact that it would have fried him emotionally to have made a career out of dealing day in and day out with hurt children or animals, he would have been a great pediatrician or vet. He just gives off some very calming energy that kids and animals can sense. But even he was out of his league this evening. He brought some soothing Irish music with him, which he had playing in the living room, he walked his legs off, but the baby would fall asleep, and then just as he began to believe she was really out, she'd wake with a start and begin screaming again. After the 4th iteration, we had to call her parents home.
The next morning all was quiet at about 6 am when the two of us woke up. Not wanting to waste our last morning, we dressed and were quietly headed out for a final walk around the boardwalk when DGS decided it was time for him to get up too. So we bundled him up in his pajamas, sweater, and blankets, and took him with us.
Nice morning! We wheeled him toward Epcot and on past the Beach and Yacht Clubs, over the bridge and back to the Boardwalk. Then the best part, better than any boat or bus. A garbage truck was backing up from the loading dock and he was in heaven. Since I had only mothered girls, it was fun to see how excited both my husband and grandson were to be gazing happily (for the next few minutes) at something my daughters and I would have barely noticed. When the truck-men waved to him, that capped it!
The rest of the morning was spent, predictably, cramming what now felt like a real houseful of stuff back into the suitcases and duffels we brought, cleaning out the refrigerator and making a quick swipe with a sponge, vacuum, and broom. We just made the eleven o'clock check-out time. The bellman brought two luggage carts, just in case, but he managed to jigsaw all of our stuff, with not an inch to spare, onto just one. Our cars were waiting our front, and we loaded our stuff into them, sure that we were going to have to throw out at least the cooler we'd brought from home to get us all to the airport in one trip. 8 people = a lot of luggage! But we got it all in, and then parked the cars again, ready to walk over to Beaches and Cream for lunch.
Even though we had to leave for the airport at 2:30, the time we had left wasn't half as depressing as it might have been, since we had DVC property to see, and plans to make for our next visit. Our home resort is the Beach Club and we were anxious for everyone to see it. So we picked up a pager at Beaches and Cream and walked all the way around "our" pool, then through the lobby and over to the DVC units. I was so excited for everyone to see the Beach Club, and to say the least, no one was disappointed. We're all looking really forward to staying there! We ate lunch; couldn't manage any ice cream, though, since we hadn't split entrees. We'll know better next time.
Then we walked back to pick up the cars and drove over to the other resort we wanted the kids to see before they left - Wilderness Lodge. If anything, I think they were even more blown away by this property than by the Beach Club. Now we have two places we want to stay! (And we'd all go back to the Boardwalk in a minute.)
Finally, we had to leave for the airport. Rats. A quick stop at Walgreens for just-in-case supplies to ease baby ear pain on the airplane's descent, and we were on 417. We got gas, then quickly returned the cars. The ticket counter and security were remarkably uncrowded, and we were at the gate that our family would leave from almost 2 hours ahead of their flight, much earlier than I thought we'd be. Then we waited, and waited, and waited. Long story short, a major weather system blew across the Southeast, closed Orlando's airport for the duration of a huge thunderstorm, and stranded aircraft and pilots all over the place. Our plane finally took off 4 hours late, but our kids were still on the ground when we left. Even though they were booked on a through flight, the airline ran out of pilots who were not over their FAA prescribed flying limit on this busy Easter weekend, and everyone was taken off the plane in transit and sent to a hotel for what became only a 2 hour rest. Our family finally got home 24 hours after first arriving at the Orlando airport!
They told us, though, that despite the colds, the crowds and the flight home, they are all can't wait for the next trip. Personally, I could go back tomorrow!
