amazingact21
Upendi
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2010
Wow, thank you everyone for subscribing and choosing to read along. You all made my day.
I'll try not to disappoint...
Bear with me on this one update. It's the obligatory in preparation to leave/not actually Disney World related post.
We all have them.
They're sort of like vegetables. Nobody is overly THRILLED to see those greens taking up half the plate, stealing the precious room of carbs, but they complete the meal and allow you to enjoy some cheesecake for dessert.
Jeez, I encouraged sugar cookie consumption in my first post, now I'm bragging about cake- can you tell I'm on the Disney de-tox currently? The lack of desserts with every meal and the missing snack at 4 o'clock in the afternoon is hitting me hard.
Completely off topic, I apologize.
However, if you want to get technical, this whole update will be off topic, since it will have nothing to do with Walt Disney World.
Hmmm.
(Disney does make an appearance here and there, though!)
Okay, okay, here goes, the official beginning!
It was a cold, dreary winter's night-
No, no, no, I'm just kidding.
I live in Florida. I was wearing shorts and a tank top the day before we left.
In all seriousness, now:
Our journey begins on Nov. 24th. It was Alex's first day of leave, and we spent the afternoon at my parent's house, dropping off some extra luggage for my mother to bring down and saying farewell to our dog. My father and younger brother were in charge of keeping him fed, entertained, and non suicidal while Alex and I were away. (Our puppy has separation anxiety and can be a bit high strung, so leaving is always stressful on him.)
And seeing as there was another cranky old dog and 2 cats that were to be his temporary roommates for the next 2 weeks, Buster barely noticed when we hightailed it back to our house.
Approximately 45 minutes separates my house from my family's, so Alex and I snagged a quick dinner at a drive through. (Landon was in the car, too, just so you know.
) Back at home, Alex ate, then went upstairs to go to sleep. (It was around 7 o'clock.)
Landon and I manned downstairs for the evening. He took over the living room floor with his toys (this is nothing new) while I put on my football game.
That would be the Broncos-Patriots game for those wondering.
It was a pretty boring first half, then around 10:30pm, when Landon broke my one time allowance of letting him stay up past his bedtime by passing out on my chest, the game went into the 4th quarter (and eventually overtime) and became interesting.
Like any loyal fan, I cheered and rooted and yelled at the refs.
In my head....
I couldn't raise my voice in fear of Alex waking, and doing so much as shaking my fist at the tv could have caused Landon to stir.
The game ended by 11:30, I dozed until midnight, Alex woke up and grabbed a quick shower.
Awake, we loaded the car, and at 1:00am, we were pulling out of our driveway.
If you'd like to see a very dark and very random video of our departure, it is HERE
We had decided a month prior to make the 7 hour drive in the middle of the night, due to Landon being a HORRIBLE sleeper. We didn't want him sleeping all day in the carseat and staying up all night. Keeping him on a somewhat normal schedule was a our goal for this first week of vacation.
The decision to drive through the night worked out well. Alex listened to the DIS podcasts throughout the drive while I slept off and on. Our car is not very nap-friendly, I have since discovered. There is no comfortable place for your head to lay, so no matter what you do you either have the seatbelt clasp jabbing you in your lower back or your neck is crooked at an awkward 45 degrees.
Our destination was Cape Canaveral, better known for its cruise ship ports more than anything else. Alex's parents had recently relocated there, (they used to live about 20 minutes away from there) and we were going down to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving together.
As it turns out, staying in their townhome for those 6 days was a perfect prelude to Disney.
I fell in love with my surroundings. Every morning, I handed Landon over to the grandparents for a short while and ate breakfast and drank my coffee on the back porch, where I could feel the ocean breeze hitting my face.
Just sitting with the bedroom window open, hearing the ocean in the distance, was relaxing, and I really felt as if I were on vacation.
I say that because I used to live in that general area, and up until then, it never felt like a holiday, going back.
There's a clear difference between visiting family and vacationing. I'm not saying one is bad or one is preferential, I'm just saying I never felt the words were synonymous.
This trip, though, changed my mind.
Since I could probably go on and on about our week at the beach, I'll give a quick day by day breakdown of the fun and interesting events that transpired.
Tuesday, Nov. 26th:
Alex went out in search of some item or another, and while he was driving he discovered we were down the street from:
The DISboards welcome center!
That was pretty cool.
We must have driven by it a dozen times while we were there. It was on the main road right outside of my in-law's neighborhood. We debated going in a few times, but by the time we'd worked up the gumption to do it, they were closed for the holiday.
Oh well, it isn't going anywhere. (Far as I know.)
Wednesday, Nov. 27th:
Landon got to visit the city where I lived for several years, eat at one of my favorite local restaurants, and he met a few family friends of mine.
On the way back home, we passed a Disney ship in port. I want to say it was the Dream, but I could be mistaken.
HERE is a video of us driving by.
Doesn't it look lovely? I wish pictures and videos would capture the sheer size and scale of those ships. They're huge, and they make quite the sight driving past them.
That evening, we walked down a short path and took Landon to the beach for the first time.
Yet another video: HERE
We do live near a beach of our own (well, a beach in general- we don't have ownership rights. Although wouldn't that be spectacular?! A personal Castaway Cay...I do believe I found a new lottery dream.
) Landon was too young to take him to one over this past summer, and he'd just reached that magical age where he can wear sunscreen, so that would be why his first beach visit was 7 hours south of a more convenient one.
We never do anything the easy way, us guys....
Thursday, Nov. 28th:
Thanksgiving Day was busy, bustling, loud, hectic, and all together cheery. We started off going to a relative's house to visit a string of extended family, and upon returning home, there were more family members visiting at the house.
I want to say there was about 20 adults and 3 infants in that one little townhouse. But the wine was flowing, the laughs were easy to come by, the weather was cool, and the games were playing so it was a festive and fun atmosphere.
There was a launch that we all tried to see from the beach. But it got scrubbed for a second time, so that was a no go.
Everyone was entertained along the walk there, though, by the mass gathering of the resident peacocks:
They inhabit my in-law's neighborhood, and they are extremely vocal at 5 o'clock in the morning. Especially when your bedroom window is open...
Who needs roosters when you can have peacocks?
Thanksgiving Dinner was delicious, although finding space to eat was hard to come by:
(A mere half of the dinner table.)
And Landon enjoyed playing with some cousins of his:
Overall, it was a fabulous week.
My father in-law is a former chef/restaurant owner and my sisters are bakers, so every meal I ate was superb. I believe all my facebook friends believed I'd died and gone to food nirvana, because all I posted were food pictures. I got so spoiled by homemade French Onion Soup, homemade apple pie, homemade stuffing and gravy.
I wish I could include taste bites into my post, just so you all could understand how wonderful my meals were.
And the best part?
I didn't have to cook!
To offset such goodies, Alex kept up with running, and I took a few walks, one of which was a 4 miler. Had to quiet the health conscious part of my brain somehow. Besides, walking along the residential condos and timeshares with the beach in the background isn't the worst way to spend one's afternoon.
Saturday afternoon, as Alex and I were lounging around listening to a podcast, we heard this deep, loud, kind of random noise resonate from far off in the distance. It was followed shortly thereafter by the more distinct "It's a Small World" melody.
The Disney Fantasy was leaving port and was blowing its horns!
Too cool.
Alex and I were giddy with amusement over hearing the ship's horns from our room.
It sealed the deal of that house being one of the nicest places to live.
I mean, getting to hear the Disney ships all the time...how entertaining would that be?
Like I said, that week was a great thing for my family. Aside from the fact that our family got to spend a lot of time with Landon, Alex and I were able to ease the baby into traveling mode. He got a sense of normalcy with a regular schedule (eating at normal times, napping in a room, etc) while also understanding that we weren't at home with his toys and his familiar surroundings.
It also gave Alex and I that sense of relaxation and rest that we wanted.
Because, spoiler alert, we didn't rest too much at Disney.
So to be able to let a family member babysit Landon while we took an afternoon cat nap or simply strolled down to the beach for a quick sunset viewing was invaluable. We really felt like we got that time away from work and obligations and the help with the baby was unbelievable.
A lot of the times we come back from Disney feeling as if we needed a vacation from our vacation, and with this trip, we got that break early on.
Plus, Cape Canaveral prepared us for what was coming in Disney.
Which was, the wrath of Landon.
Landon was never a good sleeper to begin with, and he only napped for 30 minutes at a time, so we were expecting a bit of trouble while we were gone. He was bunking in his Pack & Play in our room, which we knew would lead to some sleep confusion.
But holy moly, goodness gracious!
There's a reason Alex and I took a couple afternoon naps. The little guy woke up every 2 hours the entire week!
Ugh.
Landon told us loud and clear what he thought of the whole traveling bit, usually beginning around 1am and going on and on until about 5am. It made Alex and I VERY nervous about Disney, and we left Cape Canaveral with more than a little apprehension.
Would these nighttime parties continue on in the room at Pop? Would Alex and I be completely haggard throughout our whole trip? Would Landon cooperate and at least nap in the afternoons?
It was something only time would tell.
Up Next: Arriving at Disney World!
I'll try not to disappoint...
Bear with me on this one update. It's the obligatory in preparation to leave/not actually Disney World related post.
We all have them.
They're sort of like vegetables. Nobody is overly THRILLED to see those greens taking up half the plate, stealing the precious room of carbs, but they complete the meal and allow you to enjoy some cheesecake for dessert.
Jeez, I encouraged sugar cookie consumption in my first post, now I'm bragging about cake- can you tell I'm on the Disney de-tox currently? The lack of desserts with every meal and the missing snack at 4 o'clock in the afternoon is hitting me hard.
Completely off topic, I apologize.
However, if you want to get technical, this whole update will be off topic, since it will have nothing to do with Walt Disney World.
Hmmm.
(Disney does make an appearance here and there, though!)
Okay, okay, here goes, the official beginning!
It was a cold, dreary winter's night-
No, no, no, I'm just kidding.
I live in Florida. I was wearing shorts and a tank top the day before we left.
In all seriousness, now:
Our journey begins on Nov. 24th. It was Alex's first day of leave, and we spent the afternoon at my parent's house, dropping off some extra luggage for my mother to bring down and saying farewell to our dog. My father and younger brother were in charge of keeping him fed, entertained, and non suicidal while Alex and I were away. (Our puppy has separation anxiety and can be a bit high strung, so leaving is always stressful on him.)
And seeing as there was another cranky old dog and 2 cats that were to be his temporary roommates for the next 2 weeks, Buster barely noticed when we hightailed it back to our house.
Approximately 45 minutes separates my house from my family's, so Alex and I snagged a quick dinner at a drive through. (Landon was in the car, too, just so you know.
) Back at home, Alex ate, then went upstairs to go to sleep. (It was around 7 o'clock.)Landon and I manned downstairs for the evening. He took over the living room floor with his toys (this is nothing new) while I put on my football game.
That would be the Broncos-Patriots game for those wondering.
It was a pretty boring first half, then around 10:30pm, when Landon broke my one time allowance of letting him stay up past his bedtime by passing out on my chest, the game went into the 4th quarter (and eventually overtime) and became interesting.
Like any loyal fan, I cheered and rooted and yelled at the refs.
In my head....
I couldn't raise my voice in fear of Alex waking, and doing so much as shaking my fist at the tv could have caused Landon to stir.
The game ended by 11:30, I dozed until midnight, Alex woke up and grabbed a quick shower.
Awake, we loaded the car, and at 1:00am, we were pulling out of our driveway.
If you'd like to see a very dark and very random video of our departure, it is HERE
We had decided a month prior to make the 7 hour drive in the middle of the night, due to Landon being a HORRIBLE sleeper. We didn't want him sleeping all day in the carseat and staying up all night. Keeping him on a somewhat normal schedule was a our goal for this first week of vacation.
The decision to drive through the night worked out well. Alex listened to the DIS podcasts throughout the drive while I slept off and on. Our car is not very nap-friendly, I have since discovered. There is no comfortable place for your head to lay, so no matter what you do you either have the seatbelt clasp jabbing you in your lower back or your neck is crooked at an awkward 45 degrees.
Our destination was Cape Canaveral, better known for its cruise ship ports more than anything else. Alex's parents had recently relocated there, (they used to live about 20 minutes away from there) and we were going down to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving together.
As it turns out, staying in their townhome for those 6 days was a perfect prelude to Disney.
I fell in love with my surroundings. Every morning, I handed Landon over to the grandparents for a short while and ate breakfast and drank my coffee on the back porch, where I could feel the ocean breeze hitting my face.
Just sitting with the bedroom window open, hearing the ocean in the distance, was relaxing, and I really felt as if I were on vacation.
I say that because I used to live in that general area, and up until then, it never felt like a holiday, going back.
There's a clear difference between visiting family and vacationing. I'm not saying one is bad or one is preferential, I'm just saying I never felt the words were synonymous.
This trip, though, changed my mind.
Since I could probably go on and on about our week at the beach, I'll give a quick day by day breakdown of the fun and interesting events that transpired.
Tuesday, Nov. 26th:
Alex went out in search of some item or another, and while he was driving he discovered we were down the street from:
The DISboards welcome center!
That was pretty cool.
We must have driven by it a dozen times while we were there. It was on the main road right outside of my in-law's neighborhood. We debated going in a few times, but by the time we'd worked up the gumption to do it, they were closed for the holiday.
Oh well, it isn't going anywhere. (Far as I know.)
Wednesday, Nov. 27th:
Landon got to visit the city where I lived for several years, eat at one of my favorite local restaurants, and he met a few family friends of mine.
On the way back home, we passed a Disney ship in port. I want to say it was the Dream, but I could be mistaken.
HERE is a video of us driving by.
Doesn't it look lovely? I wish pictures and videos would capture the sheer size and scale of those ships. They're huge, and they make quite the sight driving past them.
That evening, we walked down a short path and took Landon to the beach for the first time.
Yet another video: HERE
We do live near a beach of our own (well, a beach in general- we don't have ownership rights. Although wouldn't that be spectacular?! A personal Castaway Cay...I do believe I found a new lottery dream.
) Landon was too young to take him to one over this past summer, and he'd just reached that magical age where he can wear sunscreen, so that would be why his first beach visit was 7 hours south of a more convenient one.We never do anything the easy way, us guys....
Thursday, Nov. 28th:
Thanksgiving Day was busy, bustling, loud, hectic, and all together cheery. We started off going to a relative's house to visit a string of extended family, and upon returning home, there were more family members visiting at the house.
I want to say there was about 20 adults and 3 infants in that one little townhouse. But the wine was flowing, the laughs were easy to come by, the weather was cool, and the games were playing so it was a festive and fun atmosphere.
There was a launch that we all tried to see from the beach. But it got scrubbed for a second time, so that was a no go.
Everyone was entertained along the walk there, though, by the mass gathering of the resident peacocks:
They inhabit my in-law's neighborhood, and they are extremely vocal at 5 o'clock in the morning. Especially when your bedroom window is open...
Who needs roosters when you can have peacocks?
Thanksgiving Dinner was delicious, although finding space to eat was hard to come by:
And Landon enjoyed playing with some cousins of his:
Overall, it was a fabulous week.
My father in-law is a former chef/restaurant owner and my sisters are bakers, so every meal I ate was superb. I believe all my facebook friends believed I'd died and gone to food nirvana, because all I posted were food pictures. I got so spoiled by homemade French Onion Soup, homemade apple pie, homemade stuffing and gravy.
I wish I could include taste bites into my post, just so you all could understand how wonderful my meals were.
And the best part?
I didn't have to cook!
To offset such goodies, Alex kept up with running, and I took a few walks, one of which was a 4 miler. Had to quiet the health conscious part of my brain somehow. Besides, walking along the residential condos and timeshares with the beach in the background isn't the worst way to spend one's afternoon.
Saturday afternoon, as Alex and I were lounging around listening to a podcast, we heard this deep, loud, kind of random noise resonate from far off in the distance. It was followed shortly thereafter by the more distinct "It's a Small World" melody.
The Disney Fantasy was leaving port and was blowing its horns!
Too cool.
Alex and I were giddy with amusement over hearing the ship's horns from our room.
It sealed the deal of that house being one of the nicest places to live.
I mean, getting to hear the Disney ships all the time...how entertaining would that be?
Like I said, that week was a great thing for my family. Aside from the fact that our family got to spend a lot of time with Landon, Alex and I were able to ease the baby into traveling mode. He got a sense of normalcy with a regular schedule (eating at normal times, napping in a room, etc) while also understanding that we weren't at home with his toys and his familiar surroundings.
It also gave Alex and I that sense of relaxation and rest that we wanted.
Because, spoiler alert, we didn't rest too much at Disney.
So to be able to let a family member babysit Landon while we took an afternoon cat nap or simply strolled down to the beach for a quick sunset viewing was invaluable. We really felt like we got that time away from work and obligations and the help with the baby was unbelievable.
A lot of the times we come back from Disney feeling as if we needed a vacation from our vacation, and with this trip, we got that break early on.
Plus, Cape Canaveral prepared us for what was coming in Disney.
Which was, the wrath of Landon.
Landon was never a good sleeper to begin with, and he only napped for 30 minutes at a time, so we were expecting a bit of trouble while we were gone. He was bunking in his Pack & Play in our room, which we knew would lead to some sleep confusion.
But holy moly, goodness gracious!
There's a reason Alex and I took a couple afternoon naps. The little guy woke up every 2 hours the entire week!
Ugh.
Landon told us loud and clear what he thought of the whole traveling bit, usually beginning around 1am and going on and on until about 5am. It made Alex and I VERY nervous about Disney, and we left Cape Canaveral with more than a little apprehension.
Would these nighttime parties continue on in the room at Pop? Would Alex and I be completely haggard throughout our whole trip? Would Landon cooperate and at least nap in the afternoons?
It was something only time would tell.
Up Next: Arriving at Disney World!
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