 |
| Our van made it to the castle overnight! |
I think that I stopped typing last night around four. By 4:30 we had to stop again-seriously, Robby and I had to stop and go potty more times when the kids were asleep than when they were awake. This time there was something smelly outside and Graham woke up enough to tell me to change Campbell because she was stinky. It wasn’t her that time. By now we were awaiting Nonna’s phone call telling us that she had woken up and was getting ready for her flight. Pops was the one that called us-he sounded just as excited as we were and was ready to get on that plane.
Soon Grannymom was headed to the airport early to hopefully catch the 6 am flight but she ended up on a new 6:20 flight. This was great because then she didn’t miss her connecting flight. Around 4:45, everyone was awake and Graham and Robby stopped for a potty break. By 5:10 most everyone was back asleep. We would usually have one hold out who didn’t sleep-it was never Reagan but the other three shared the job. They were all content in the middle of the night-they just stared off into space. Robby and I started our second movie now “The Russell Girl”-it was pretty good but a little bit slow. We needed something a little more exciting that early in the morning to keep us going but it worked.
At 5:45, I thought I could sneak a cookie and soon I heard Graham from the back seat of the van “I smell a cookie.” He should have been sleeping and not sniffing out my secrets. Before long he was saying “that sun is up, it is wake up time.” If you haven’t guessed by now, Graham is our talker. He has talked to everyone that has spoken to him today and has told most of them much more information than they needed to know.
At 8:00, we had 100 miles left and stopped for another potty stop. When we were back on the road, we heard Graham crying and Anderson comforting him with “it’s ok, I am right here with you” Apparently there was a bug (moth) in the back of the van and poor Graham was having a panic attack. He stopped crying and started shouting “a butterfly, a butterfly!” It was a pretty traumatic few minutes for both boys.
It took us 15 hours total from Little Rock to our hotel-Port Orleans French Quarter. We had high, high hopes that our room would be ready even though it was many, many hours before check in but it wasn’t. So we went to McDonalds and had a leisurely breakfast and then we came back to the hotel to scope it out. We played on the playground, found the food court, saw the pool and even rode the boat to the Riverside part of the hotel. The kids so enjoyed riding the boat but it was still really hot outside even on the water.
Soon it was time to head to the airport. We saw that Grannymom’s flight was a little bit delayed so we parked in the cell phone lot and took a little snooze. The boys were watching a movie and the girls were napping so Robby and I both rested as well. Finally, Robby and the big kids went into the airport to find everyone. This left me and Campbell circling the airport time after time after time. I promise that we made at least 25 loops. One good thing about our adventure is that Campbell now knows the letter A very well-they were in the A terminal.
Once everyone was found and baggage was claimed, Pops picked up the big van and we headed back to the hotel. We did make a stop for milk and to drop off a movie on the way-of course, our stops weren’t too easy-lots of left turns across 4 lanes of traffic and a few u turns but we made it back eventually.
Pops checked in while everyone unloaded. Our rooms are in building 3 which is a perfect location-right by the pool, food and parking lot-what more could you ask for. We unpacked and I then Robby had a shower. It was pretty refreshing after being mostly awake for such a long, long time. We then headed to the food court to eat. Campbell is definitely my spicy food eater and loved the spicy red beans and jambalaya.
After eating, it was sprinkling when we came outside and we walked to the boat. The boats were stopped probably because of the weather but soon it stopped sprinkling and we walked along the river trail to the Riverside. It was a pretty walk and by then the weather was just perfect. Though it was a pretty long walk for the kids but they made it with few complaints.
Soon after we were back in our rooms and the Dennie 4 had baths and put on their new pajamas with Lightening McQueen and the Princesses on them. Campbell was pretty wired and spent her time digging into everything she could find and taking it from one room to another. Needless to say, she was the first one that was sent to bed this evening.
The rest of us went to Nonna’s room to brush teeth and say our prayers. By the time we were finished, Campbell was out and soon after Anderson was asleep. Graham was having a little more trouble going to sleep but finally gave it up. This was Reagan’s lucky night because she got to sleep in Nonna and Pops’ room tonight.
It has been a very great day and the plan for tomorrow is Epcot and dinner at Crystal Palace. It is raining/thundering pretty hard her now so hopefully the rain will go away and leave us with a beautiful breeze tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment