It started out as a simple road trip...

[Princess Angi]

And we REALLY hope it doesn't turn out to be closer to Thelma and Louise meets the Griswald's family vacation!!


Thought I would start a little report on our trip!!! We are leaving FRIDAY right after work! This seems like more fun than packing! lol

Who we are: A group of crazy people who have decided to not only drive from MN to Florida but then we decided instead of driving back to MN we are going to Texas to see my friend's family and OHHHHH LOOOOK...A SQUIRREL!!!! Oh, that's actually New Orleans not a squirrel. Maybe we should stop there for a night....and so we will! Oh I should mention we decided to take this trip just at the start of July. YIKES! We have also changed our hotel twice. We have just a little ADD. But only a little...
Specifically we are:
Thelma AKA Angi, Princess Angi (just ask my co-workers) or Mom (just ask my kids) I am a 29 year old (you can't prove that isn't the truth!!!) single mom of 4. I am a RN case manager for a major health care company and work full time from home (yeah me!). I am a big runner, trying to run every day if possible. One day I will be doing the princess half. I am an avid Disney lover but have only been once in 2011. I cried when I met Mickey. I am certain that next time I get over to the world I will finally be able to kick Cindy out of my castle and reclaim my rightful place, she has been squatting too long. The closest I have been to Universal was Citywalk for dinner at Margaritaville. My youngest couldn't ride on much of the rides last time so we are all super excited to be going this year. I have lots of favorites at Disney including my fav princess is Snow White because she owns 7 midgets... I would say my fav at Universal are the Minions and I am super excited for the coasters!!!! Also, I have not seen nor read Harry. No interest but I am interested in the way the area looks.

Louise AKA: Nicole or my partner in crime and one of my besties, and as it turns out her middle name is Louise. Nicole is exactly one day older than me. So, 29 of course. We have been good friends for a long time and lets hope these hours in the car and almost two weeks together do not test that friendship. She is like family to me. I don't have a lot of family so we have spent numerous holidays with her and her family. They welcome us in their home very graciously! She has two kids, one adult son and one who will be coming with us. She is a daycare provider in her home and also makes her own earrings and nailpolish to sell! So pretty! Since she has never been to FL she got to pick the parks we went to. She choose Universal because of Harry. She is super excited about that and loves coasters also!

Ashlyn: My 15 year old daughter (this really proves NOTHING about my age!). Like all my kids she is a coaster lover. She just finished up her first year in high school and they had a very hard year as a class with 3 kids dying, one of which Ashlyn was close to. So I am excited to get her out of the day to day and spend some real time with her. She danced this year but hated it. Is thinking she wants to play lacrosse next year but is trying to devise a plan to play boys because it is more rough (that's my girl!)

Isaiah AKA Ike (my brother gave him this name and it stuck). My one and only son. He is 13. He is a comedian and makes anyone who comes into contact with him crack up. He is an avid xboxer and it takes all my might or a lacrosse stick to get him out of his room. He loves lacrosse and played his first year this year. He is excited to be able to ride all the Universal rides. I think Universal was where he would have preferred on our last FL trip.

Ainsley Or baby girl. My youngest daughter, she is 10 (11 at the end of Aug) and she really doesn't like me calling her baby girl and Stinkerbelle anymore but old habits die hard. She also played lacrosse this year and loved it. She is a VERY positive and has is always able to make a person smile. She loves Disney but not as much as her momma. She is excited to not be too short for all the rides.

Isabella or Bella: Nicole's daughter who is almost 9. She is super excited to be going to FL with her bestie Ainsley! Although she is a little sad because she is a shorty and won't be able to ride a lot but we will still have tons of fun. She and Ainsley have big plans to play Littlest Pet Shop all the way to FL.

More to come!

 

[schumigirl]

Lovely start Princess.........

I as the youngest of four are still called the baby by my mum........I love it really.......so when your baby gets older, she will be ok with it

We love Margaritaville too.......and I'm sure you will love all things Potter regardless of whether you have read the books or not!

Looking forward to reading more about your visit

 

[Princess Angi]

Lovely start Princess.........

I as the youngest of four are still called the baby by my mum........I love it really.......so when your baby gets older, she will be ok with it

We love Margaritaville too.......and I'm sure you will love all things Potter regardless of whether you have read the books or not!

Looking forward to reading more about your visit

Thanks Carole! I sure am hoping when she gets past this preteen/teen stage she will let me call her baby again.
I try to get to Margaritaville at least for a drink if I am in a town with one. It just feels like vacation. I have heard I will love Harry regardless and who knows maybe I will read them when I get back home.

 

[Princess Angi]

I am almost done packing!!! Let's get this last two work days done!

A little background on the trip. Earlier this year I decided that I wanted to go to Disney this summer with the kids. I was dating a guy who had two of his own and things were getting pretty serious so we were going to go together. We broke up in May and I miss the kids more than I miss him so it is for the best right? Anyway, Disney was off because I am NOT driving 26 hours alone. Then I got to thinking, maybe someone could come with me. I searched high and low and no one wanted to come. Apparently it is not a sane idea to drive that far with kids. LOL!

Well, one of my friend's bought a condo in Celebration. Talking it over with Nicole she thought it would be a great idea to go down and visit Amy. So the trip was on.

Nicole and I were going to originally going to drive with the kids and come back and then she was going to leave right away to see her Dad in Texas. Then I decided I would drive her there. We could see TX and drive home. I have vacation time to burn, what the hell. As I said before I saw that "squirrel" also known as NOLA really close to our route. I suggested to Nicole a night or two there and she agreed. So now this week trip to Orlando has turned into 5 nights in Orlando, a night in NOLA and 4 in Houston before I embark on the trip home alone with my bratz while Nicole and Bella visit longer with her dad.


For our stay in Orlando we originally booked a townhouse at regal palms but then decided to switch to Cabana Bay when we saw the Annual Passholder rate is the same as our townhome, plus being closer we can take breaks during the day and not drive around. So, we are annual passholders now!!!!

 

[Princess Angi]

When I read trip reports I like to see the people who are doing the reports. Let's see if I can figure this out...



This is Louise and I at a wedding in May. I am the ginger.



This is Ainsley and Bella at the same wedding. Bella is the ginger in this case. I know it seems they should switch mommas. LOL



Ashlyn and Ainsley on a walk the other day.




Ike at a different wedding. He is such a card.

 

[Princess Angi]

They are big but it worked! Yeah!!!!

 

[Princess Angi]

Leaving in less than 7 hours to pick up Loiuse!!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Lovely pictures.......you look a fun bunch

Have a great trip.....we`ll be here when you get back

 

[Princess Angi]

Thanks Carole...I am especially fun...the rest of them are ok.

 

[Krista in MA]

Sounds like an awesome vacation! Have fun!!! I'm looking forward to reading all about it!

My sister, a friend and I are going for a long weekend in October. We're all "29" as well

 

[reelmom]

Sounds like a fun trip.

 

[Cielei]

Have fun and good luck with that drive. I am from SC, and I won't even drive home to there from here! I am sure it will be a fun road trip though - or at least very memorable. The good news is that technology has come a long way, and you don't only have the pick your car color game to keep you busy on road trips.

 

[Princess Angi]

First of all I will say that Universal has "knocked it out of the park" with ride technology and effects! I LOVE it!!!! Even knowing nothing about HP I was able to enjoy that part of the parks. The other rides were awesome too! I still love Disney with all my heart but they have nothing on the technology that is loaded into almost every ride at Universal.

Secondly we are home safe and sound several days early and my friendship with Louise is pretty much done for. Apparently my warning her that being at a theme park means up to 10 miles a day of walking and the heat and humidity of July in Florida walking and sweating came as a surprise to her and it was my fault. Even though she knew that Bella was too short for many of the rides before leaving and I did tell her about child swap and offered to do it with her (which she declined because she didn't want her daughter "to feel bad") and she picked the parks despite knowing this (I would have been FINE with Disney but was also fine with Universal) she apparently expected my kids to skip anything Bella couldn't go on. She did not want to split up but then when we did (at her suggestion this time) and we got a ton done she was mad we covered so much ground. She also felt I should FORCE my son to get a handicap card to make it easier on her. Because I am the parent. (My son has sever's disease and has pain in his feet from walking or running too much but it is a temporary condition and walking on them will not cause perm damage and he didn't want to be "different"...he IS 13...) when he did have pain we got and used one (at his request) and I was evil because she had left the park. So yeah it was a miserable trip because of this.

Will post more later. Just got home after driving straight through alone from NOLA. Tired.

 

[schumigirl]

Aww that sucks about your friend!!!!!!

I am sorry you've lost a friend but she was being extremely unreasonable in her demands of you...........she was behaving very selfishly and immature and really you don't want that in your life. I don't know what Sever's Disease is but your son sounds like a real little trooper

You did the right thing for you and your family. I'm always surprised when people don't expect Florida theme parks to be hot, busy and involve a lot of walking!!

We made the decision years ago never to go to Orlando with anyone. Sure, we have met friends and relatives from the UK who were there same time as us......but it's for a meal or even a drink.......but never tour the parks with them. We like to do things our way........and that might not suit others, but it suits us. So please don't beat yourself up over this.........you did the right thing.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Universal so much. It is an amazing place.

May next time it'll be better when you are not trying to accommodate other people's demands

 

[Princess Angi]

Aww that sucks about your friend!!!!!!

I am sorry you've lost a friend but she was being extremely unreasonable in her demands of you...........she was behaving very selfishly and immature and really you don't want that in your life. I don't know what Sever's Disease is but your son sounds like a real little trooper

You did the right thing for you and your family. I'm always surprised when people don't expect Florida theme parks to be hot, busy and involve a lot of walking!!

We made the decision years ago never to go to Orlando with anyone. Sure, we have met friends and relatives from the UK who were there same time as us......but it's for a meal or even a drink.......but never tour the parks with them. We like to do things our way........and that might not suit others, but it suits us. So please don't beat yourself up over this.........you did the right thing.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Universal so much. It is an amazing place.

May next time it'll be better when you are not trying to accommodate other people's demands

Yeah it was a mess. The above is only half of it. I was called a freak because I didn't sleep in till noon. She told me to "stop shoving exercise down everyone's throat" because I said something about the number of steps I took one day. Exercise is something I am interested in and enjoy a lot. She is into makeup and nail polish. She talks about it constantly. As a friend I listen and try to learn. I don't care if others don't want to do it but my friend's could at least pretend to care. I never shame someone for not doing what I do. Told me I don't take care of my kids and started screaming at Ashlyn when she was defending me. Obviously she wasn't a good friend as I thought.

Lesson learned about vacation and friends. I do think it would be different with other friends though. I went to Hawaii with my friend Brenda and her fam in January and her kids are much younger than mine. We did a lot of stuff apart and met up for things we all could do. It worked great. I have went to Disney with my friend Melissa before she had a kid and she was very go with the flow and I think now that she has her baby we could be ok too. Just a slower pace. Next year we will do it alone or with someone who is more in line with our plans and we can do our own things.

Sever's is a very common disorder, especially for boys his age. The growth plates are trying to fuse but there is inflammation and causes pain. We noticed at the beggining of lacrosse season because he was in pain after every practice and game and limped like crazy. He is a trooper.

 

[schumigirl]

My goodness what a nightmare! That sounds dreadful.

We have gone to places like Paris or anywhere in Europe really with friends a couple of times and it works because we do some things separately then meet back up for dinner at night. Depends on the friend I suppose, shame yours let you down this time.

I would hardly call touring the parks pushing exercise down their throats I actively avoid anything vaguely resembling exercise but love marching around the parks no matter what the heat!

 

[pixeegrl]

I am sorry you're trip turned out the way it did. I do hope that you and your kids were able to make some happy memories of your own while there and will get to come back and do the parks the way you want

 

[Princess Angi]

My goodness what a nightmare! That sounds dreadful.

We have gone to places like Paris or anywhere in Europe really with friends a couple of times and it works because we do some things separately then meet back up for dinner at night. Depends on the friend I suppose, shame yours let you down this time.

I would hardly call touring the parks pushing exercise down their throats I actively avoid anything vaguely resembling exercise but love marching around the parks no matter what the heat!

I *think* she may have meant in general my talk of exercise....my running app posts directly to FB so I post that several times a week that way and if I have a particularly hard workout or new achievement I may post about it. I have many friends who are encouraging and also workout. Sometimes I get great ideas from them. I never once say "everyone should exercise" (even though part of my job is to help people set goals to improve their health...no one wants a friend to preach to them. I have one friend who has told me more than once the bun on my burger will kill me eventually because of gluten...it's annoying)

 

[Princess Angi]

I am sorry you're trip turned out the way it did. I do hope that you and your kids were able to make some happy memories of your own while there and will get to come back and do the parks the way you want

We DID! Generally we can make the best of most situations.
I actually am going to look up and when my kids have spring break this year and if they have more than a couple days (last year they had 2 days around a weekend...WTH!?!?!) then we may go two more times over the next year.
And I am wondering if I can find a sugar daddy to take me to HHN and Food and wine in October for a grown ups strip. LMAO! (oops...that was grown ups TRIP...but I will leave the typo because it is funny!)

 

[Princess Angi]

So our little adventure started with working all day on Friday July 25th. My regular workday is from 8-4:30 on Fridays and that is what I was scheduled. I didn't sleep much the night before, which is typical of me the night before a trip. I am not sure if it is because I am worried I will forget something (VERY ODD because I have never traveled to some strange place that I can't pick up anything I forgot...I mean Mexico has been my most exotic travels...) or what but I just sleep really poorly. I spent my lunch break getting showered and last minute items in the truck. And I was on the road by 4:15 (shhhhhhh don't tell my boss!!!). I think the stars may have aligned just perfectly for me (or it could be because I live north and that is where people in MN go for the weekend so I was traveling the opposite...but I like to think it is ALL ABOUT ME! ) but I was to Nicole's, fully gassed and pizza in hand for dinner by 5:20. Nicole's last daycare kid was being picked up when I arrived. She was almost ready to go. So I fed the kids. Her man came home and showed me how to strap the suitcases to the roof rack and soon we were on our way.


Ashlyn on the ride.


The boy engrossed in his phone. Surprise!

We drove straight through. Stopping for gas and potty breaks only. Yeah, we are nuts. I think on the stop at midnight I let Ashlyn have a Monster. At 1 am wanna guess which was the only person in the car asleep?!?!
Honestly, even though they got very little sleep the kids were very good considering the cramped space for that length of time.