Departure Day.
We woke up early enough to get mostly packed before our breakfast ADR at Boma. Even though wed already eaten there twice, I was still excited about the prospect of breakfast! The only thing that disappointed me about it was the lack of Zebra Domes. Oh well. Id had many on the trip, so it wasnt like I was a poor, neglected child or anything.
The restaurant was pretty much empty when we got there, and our server was hilarious to me at the time. Now Im wondering if he was a little strange, but at the time, under the umbrella of Disney Magic, he was wonderful. He sat down at our table and described many of the items on the buffet, told us the secret ingredients in the POG juice, and told the girls the turkey was especially delicious that morning. And proceed to ask them to sneak some for him to eat! DD9 just laughed it off, but my thoughtful DD7 actually got him some. He was very surprised and made a big show about how he wasnt supposed to eat it from the table and he looked all around to make sure the managers werent looking, etc. And he ate some! And then proceeded to feed it to DD9, who didnt even want anything to do with the whole thing in the first place. See, sounds weird, doesnt it???
After breakfast, we finished packing and checked in for our flight home. It is so convenient to do it that way, but
Boo! We had no desire to be going home! We left our carry-ons with bell services and headed for Downtown Disney for the first time. We didnt really have a ton of time to blow but I really wanted to get there. I thought taking a cab would speed up the process, but at $20 one way, we decided to wait for the bus. It was a long bus ride to DTD from AKL, but we did get to see some sights that we hadnt before
it was a sad, beautiful, long ride.
We only had time to do a few stores while we were there
first and of utmost importance was the
Lego Store. DD9 loves Harry Potter and we had to check and see if they had anything HP related for sale there. No such luck. She was incredibly disappointed. We looked at the Pin store, spent a fair amount of money at WoD, and headed off to Goofys to burn our last snack credits. We had pretzels and rice krispy treats made and packaged to go. DH didnt shop at all, the poor thing was so sick he just sat on a bench in the sun. He felt exactly the way I did during our WS day.
On the bus back to the resort, DH said to me, Thanks for planning us such a great trip. That, my friends, was the best part of my trip. But I have come to believe since then that it unfortunately was his fever talking, not DH. But it felt really good while it lasted!
We got back to the resort and sat in the lobby and ate our last gourmet food at WDW
you guessed it! Snacks from Goofys. We made quite a mess (does everyone make such a mess with those things?), but the lead housekeeper spotted us and told one of the underlings to clean up after us when we were done. Loudly enough so we could hear
I thought that was kind of rude, actually. Or maybe I was just grumpy about going home?
DH hadnt spent hardly any of his spending money, so he decided to buy a print of the savanna/lodge for our bedroom. So we quickly did that.
Then we recovered our carry-ons and made sure we were in line for the ME right when we were supposed to be. I had a few minutes to take pics while we waited, but the bus came right on time. Now I want to mention here that neither time did we get a real ME bus
from MCO we were on a cruise bus, and back to the airport we had the ugly yellow Mears bus. Does everyone get the ugly bus on their way back home???
This is a trash can...with my reflection in it. Hi!
And everyone thinks I don't post pics of my family...first DH on the Segway and now me reflected by a trash can!
I had my paperwork all ready in my hand, or so I thought, until the rude, meanie driver told me I didnt. I could swear that the ME letter (how did Jo refer to that letter? The something ***** letter?) stated we could just show the driver our original ME booklet to get on the bus. Mr. Meanie Driver (as opposed to Minnie Driver) wouldnt take that
he wanted the nasty ***** letter, which of course, was somewhere in my carry-on. I fought with him a little (as did a couple of other people) and I walked away to get the letter. As I turned around, he spoke loudly, Now dont you walk away from me! I replied (even louder!), Im just getting the letter you want so desperately! Wow, I was getting cranky about going home, wasnt I???
We got to the airport about 6 ½ hours early for our flight (thats how it felt anyway), ate some junk from the food court for lunch, DD9 and I checked out the Universal Store (gasp!) to see if they had any Harry Potter merchandise in yet (nope~she just couldnt get with HP in any way, shape, or form on this trip) and waited for our flight. After we took the tram to the terminal, we had to use the restroom and change into our winter clothes. That was really, really sad for the girls to do. Here, finally, it was 84 degrees in Florida and we had to go home. And it was stinking hot in the terminal! Good thing we didnt have to wait long at that point. Good bye Florida!
We had another totally uneventful flight home (the best kind). As we were descending, DD7 noticed the snow on the ground and asked me if we could politely ask the pilot to turn around and take us back to Florida. Thats my girl!!!
Im pretty sure this is Windsor and the river, Lake!
Wow was it cold walking off that airplane! Yikes! DH and I just looked at each other as if to say, Why on earth do we live here, anyway??? We called my BIL to come and get us and by the time we had our luggage, he was waiting for us. Ugh!!! My car had snow and ice all over it!!! And the roads around Detroit were terrible! He said they had a bad snowstorm earlier that day (or the day before I cant remember). But we decided to drive home that night (3 hours-ish) instead of sleeping at BIL/SILs and driving home in the morning. By that point, we just wanted to get home.
But it was a mistake. DH started the drive and just about halfway home he said he couldnt do it anymore. Okay, now let me just try to convey the importance of what happened here. DH NEVER wants me to drive.
He knows Im a good driver
Im in control
never been in an accident
I dont take chances
but he does NOT want me to drive
unless he thinks hes on deaths door. I guess thats where he thought he was. The roads were fine by that point, but the girls, of course, were sleeping, DH zonked out shortly after I took the wheel, and there I was
trying to stay awake. Not cool. I stopped at a McDonalds to get some fries and a decaf coffee. They were the nastiest fries Id ever eaten, but they did the trick. We made it home around 1 a.m.
Originally, the girls were going to go to school the next day (Thursday) and DH was going to go to work. But he was soooooo sick
, he stayed in bed the whole next day, and I just wanted the girls to be able to sleep in and chill for a day. We unpacked and watched our videos, and looked into the dining area to see this:
I was appalled! Izzie didnt think anything of being up on the table
shed probably been up there all week! But that doesnt fly when Mommy is home! Actually this photo cracks me up for more than the kitty on the table. It shows our life that day...my laptop, my purse (which was still my park bag), my Michael Phelps book, the lanyards and medallion, the Webkinz that DD7 bought, etc. Happy times.
So thats it. Our trip to Walt Disney World that I had planned for almost a year was over.
That last day feeling is so terrible. All the work, all the planning, all the money, and it's all over. The fastest week of the year. But you have all those wonderful memories forever now! 
Jerk!!
Everyone hold your breath for me. 
One of the Mom's, whose daughter was in the show and does theater- came up and told me that Drew *had* to come try out for the summer performance of The Music Man at one of our theaters.
I don't even know the name of the resort.
i had a ADR for 8:00... I just called today to cancel all my ADRs... i know i should have done that a LONG time ago.
