We knew we wanted to take one last trip before baby number three makes his/her appearance this summer and we ended up decided on taking a road trip to Orlando, FL. Jason ended up having a little extra time off and so we decided we would leave on a Friday and take a slow drive down there - stopping to see Jason's grandmother who leaves near Tallahassee, FL. We had been needing to buy a van for a while and so the Tuesday before we left we took the plunge and bought a new Honda Odyssey to help make the drive easier. We put almost 3,000 miles on it during its first week of life and I can say that we loved every minute in that car. I'm convinced that car does everything for me except fold my laundry... it was roomy, comfortable, and the perfect road trip car! :)
The children did great through the entire drive down. In fact, we didn't even have to start a show until 8.5 hours into the ride. The kids didn't know we had a DVD player in the car and so when a show started they were quite happy. Jason and I both noticed that Havana was really trying hard to sing along with the songs on the radio (her children's cds) and she said "Baby Sad" when Jonah began crying. We both were very pleased because we felt she was really making a breakthrough in her speech. We ended up stopping again around 8pm for dinner in Alabama... I think the kids were so loopy at that point that anything would have been funny for them, but Havana started making Jonah laugh and I've never seen such a sight. The two were feeding off each other and sending each other into deep belly laughters. It was so much fun. We packed up the car and headed a few more hours south until we could not push the children any longer. We found a hotel close to midnight. As we were unloading the car, Jason dropped something, and Havana shouted, "Oh Nuts, Daddy." Jason and I looked at each other -- where did she learn that expression?!
The hotel that night was nice - we got a suit so that the children could have their own room away from us. This was really Jonah's first time in his pack-n-play since last time we traveled he was not yet rolling and so we just slept on a regular bed. Anyway, he did not like the pack-n-play... not one bit... and so he had to cry it out for a little while. It was a good thing it was midnight and he was so tired because he didn't fight it for long. Jason and I slept great on our temperpedic mattress that the hotel provided. I'm a believer in those now. :)
Saturday morning the children awoke a little earlier than normal, but we all got up, had some breakfast at the hotel, and hit the road again. We were about two hours away from Jason's grandmother. We got to her place a little before lunch and had an enjoyable visit with her. This was her first time meeting our children and so it was very special. We ended up going to a little music festival where Jonah was able to crawl around and Havana was able to show off her dance moves. The weather was sunny and warm and we finally felt like we were on vacation. :)
That afternoon we took the children back to the little hotel room we had rented. His grandmother lives in a small town and the only hotel they have does not offer any suit rooms. Jason and I were a little apprehensive about how it would go because we've never, ever shared a room with havana and didn't know if her being able to see us would be a distraction. We set up the children's pack-n-plays and then stacked our suitcases high on the bed. We put them down and then we both crawled into bed behind the suitcases hoping they would hide us from the children. That part worked... Jason and I laid perfectly still, texting each other in order to avoid talking, and neither of the children really noticed us. Jonah was very mad about his pack-n-play and kept standing up and crying extremely loud. All of a sudden havana stands up in her pack-n-play and looks over at Jonah and says, "It's okay baby. Mama, dada, vana, and baby night-night." -- Our hearts melted as we realized that she was trying to comfort baby and she was telling him what was going on... that all of us were taking a nap time. So sweet. Jonah did end up falling asleep after about 20 minutes of crying and both children ended up taking a decent little nap. That evening we spent some more time with Jason's grandmother and the hotel worked out for us to sleep in, but again, Jonah had to spend a while crying himself to sleep. Poor guy.Sunday morning we woke up and went with Jason's grandmother to church. I think there were about six people there other than us. It was an interesting experience... their minister said in his sermon that the fall of man happened because Adam desired fellowship with Eve. Not really how it happened... oh well, Jason and I spent most of the time trying to keep our children quiet. We ate lunch with his grandmother and then took off for Orlando!
It took a few hours to get to Orlando and Havana was growing hungry. We stopped an exit or two up from where our rental house was to get a snack and buy some groceries. Well, I guess Havana was more hungry than we realized because as we were walking through the grocery store, I look down at her in the cart and realize that she had poked her finger through a yogurt package and was eating it with her fingers. Poor girl! We finally made it to our home and enjoyed a quiet evening at home. I made a pasta dinner and we gave the kids their baths. Havana stayed in a princess themed room and she was immediately captivated by it all. We have never watched a movie with her - the only shows she watches are 30 minutes in length - so she had no idea who the "princesses" were, but we told her about them and she loved playing with the figurines and sleeping with them. It was actually beautiful to see as I believe girls are made my God with natural princess desire. We want to be a princess and get naturally caught up in fairy tales... I believe this helps us find our true romance in Jesus Christ and helps us not settle for less than Christ's best in a husband. Anyway, it was fun to watch Havana get wrapped up in the magic of it all. :) Jonah's room was a pirate theme... so very boyish. He continued to struggle with his pack-n-play, but after about 20 minutes of crying he put himself to sleep and Jason and I were able to enjoy some quiet in the house.
Monday we woke up and decided to Gatorland. We had a good time walking around, feeding the gators, and playing in the splash park. It was Jonah's first Splash Park experience and he enjoyed it and Havana, who loved splash parks last summer, continued with her love and ran around like a crazy woman. That evening we spent some time at a local park and swimming in our back yard. Jason suggested we call in some Indian food since he knew it was my favorite and there was a menu on our fridge. We called in an order of 30 dollars worth of food and when we went to pick it up we had trouble finding it. We called them back to ask for directions and found out they were located in Jacksonville, FL... about 2 hours away. So, sadly, we ended up getting pizza for dinner since we were going to drive all that way for food. Jason was so sweet and kept saying he was sorry because he knew I was looking forward to the food. He's so sweet. :)
Tuesday morning we packed up and drove to a beach about an hour away. The beach has to be one of my favorite places of all times... even though going with two small kids is anything but relaxing... it was still so nice simply to "be" on the beach. Jason had packed some beach chairs for us to lay out in and neither one of us were able to sit down even for a minute. He laughed and said, "what was I thinking packing these?" Yes, going to beach is so much work, but it makes the work more fun being in sunny Florida. ;)
This was Havana's fourth trip to the beach and she has loved it each and every time... this time was no different. She enjoyed going out in the water and playing in the sand. This was Jonah's 2nd trip to the beach and he really enjoyed it. His favorite thing to do was to crawl into the waves without any awareness that he could drown. It was stressful and funny all at the same time.
We stayed at the beach for a few hours and then walked back to our car. That is when Jason and I came to the realization that we had no way to clean the sand off of ourselves, our children, or our things and neither one of us wanted to get sand in our new car. We ended up walking a few blocks and tried to use a hose at an apartment complex... however, it was not working. Then we walked a little while the other way and Jason found one, but he needed to use a pocket knife to get it to work. Ha. It was an adventure and i was nervous we would get in trouble, but it all worked out and we were able to get everyone cleaned up and a minimal amount of sand was brought into my new car. We stopped at a Cuban restaurant for lunch and enjoyed some great food and music. At lunch we asked Havana where she learned the phrase, "aw, nuts" (because she had said it a few times during the trip) and she answered with, "mommy." That made us both laugh because I have never used that phrase before. As we were driving home, Jason slammed on the breaks and the stroller bounced against the back of Havana's seat. In an annoyed voice Havana said, "Oh, Man, Daddy." Again, we both started laughing. I have no idea where she is coming up with this stuff.We made it home in time to put the children down for a late nap. While they were sleeping Jason and I enjoyed some time at the pool. We decided that we would try and do dinner with the children at Downtown Disney. Well, that ended up being a horrible plan. It took us 30 minutes to find a parking spot and perhaps we should have taken that as a warning. To say it was crowded is an understatement. It was packed. It took us almost two hours to walk from one end to another because it was a wall of people. We were not able to find anything to eat because the shortest waiting time we found was an hour and 45 minutes. I was hoping to stop by a certain store and buy something, but we couldn't even approach the front of the store and the children were getting impatient and so we walked back to our car and left a little disgruntled. We ended up just calling in some take out at a restaurant by our house and skipping all the original Disney plans. My cousin arrived on Tuesday night and after we put the kids to bed I went to pick her up from the airport. She flew down to help me out (Jason had a conference Wednesday-Friday) and because she can get us into Disney World for free.
Wednesday AM I woke up early and took Jason to his conference. I made it back to the rental house before anyone else was awake. Allison, my cousin, and I got the kids up and took them to the Animal Kingdom resort to try and view some animals. We didn't see too many, but it was still neat. We then went to Downtown Disney again because I wanted to buy Havana another Pluto. She picked out a Pluto the year before when we went down there and she has "loved" it so much it is very ratty. We thought we would buy her a back up one and Downtown Disney was a lot less crowded! :) After running that errand we picked Jason up, went out to lunch, and spent the afternoon at home. We, again, did the pool while the kiddos were napping. When the children woke up, we got them ready and went to have a character dinner at the Swan Hotel. We kept telling Havana about having dinner with Pluto and she was so excited. She even gave him a kiss on his nose. Jonah really enjoyed Goofy! It was a fun dinner and I loved watching Havana light up. I'm writing this re-cap almost two months later and she still talks about having dinner with Pluto! Clearly, it was a highlight.
On Thursday Jason decided to skip his conference and so we spent the morning around the house and playing in the pool. That evening we went to have dinner with friends of ours from Cuba. That evening was so much fun! Havana and Jonah enjoyed playing with our friend's children and Jason and I enjoyed the fellowship and Cuban food. As we were eating, Jonah was eating everything we put in front of him (which is normal for him) and Josue said that he would make a good missionary for that reason. Sure, it was a funny comment, but still, I really liked Josue "speaking over" Jonah like that. I believe the words we speak over our children are very important and so speaking over Jonah that he'll make a great missionary someday was a moment I won't soon forget.
Friday Jason went to his conference for the last day. Allison and the kids and i spent the morning at a petting farm and then we dropped Allison off at Disney (she had to work) and we picked Jason up. We decided to find a place to eat out for lunch and came across a greek place. It was one of those places where you sit on the floor and use your hands. It was a fairly nice place and while it wasn't super crowded, there were a few other people there. Well, our children aren't always the most quiet kids in the place and Havana was saying, "Dada" pretty loudly. We tell her she needs to whisper and so she stops yelling his name, but the very minute she stops, Jonah screams, "Dada" "Dada" -- it was so funny -- at least for us. ;) Friday night we ended up driving up to the World's Largest McDonald's playland... yes, sounds horrible to us too, but whatever you can do to keep the kiddos happy. :) After our date with the playland - Jason took me to an Indian restaurant so that I was finally able to eat my favorite food. :)
Saturday was our last full day of vacation and was the day we chose to go to Disney World. I do think it is one of the World's Happiest Place! :) There was a show taking place at Cinderella's Castle that had all the Princesses acting in it. Havana was captivated and loved singing and dancing along with them. It was so sweet. After watching the show for a little while we made our way to our first ride. Havana's first ride last year was "Small World" but this year our first ride was "Peter Pan" -- Havana enjoyed it last year, but not this year. She was a little scared during that ride. Jonah, on the other hand, enjoyed it. Next we went to "Small World" and again Havana was scared and Jonah was happy. We ended up riding several more rides, but found out that Havana really doesn't like the indoor rides. Jason even had to take her out of one of them. However, she did great on the outdoor rollercoasters like Dumbo, the tea cups, the merry-go-round, and she even drove a car in the racers. Jonah enjoyed everything and Jason even was able to ride on Space Mountain. We stayed for several hours and it was such a fun time of meeting characters (Havana actually never got scared meeting the new people, which was nice) and enjoying family time. We went home for the children's nap and then went back for the parade. It was such a joyful day! I was thankful for my husband taking us all on vacation and for my cousin who came to help us out.
Sunday morning we woke up early and started the LONG 18 hour drive home. The drive down certainly went a lot smoother than the ride back home. Jason and I were both exhausted from staying up late packing and so we were trading off between driving and sitting in the back with our eyes closed. At one point Jason made the joke that we were the picture of what NOT to do on a road trip... Jason really had to go to the bathroom and so we pulled off and EVERYTHING was closed (even the target) and so he finally found a Krogers and he ran inside while I gathered the kiddos up to change their diapers in there. The changing table in the bathroom was full of some liquid and so i attempted to change the kids in the cart! It was a rough stop for us all. We look on our phone and we saw that there was a park up the street and so we tell the children about the fun park we're about to stop at... however, when we get there... it is a "memorial park" -- a cemetery! So we had to keep driving even though Havana kept asking for the swings. It broke my heart. We finally did find a park, but that was more than 20 minutes up the road. We finally hit a streak of luck when we found a nice deli to eat lunch and then let the children play at a McDonald's playland. They ate well and we changed their diapers and withing 3 minutes of being in the car... they were both asleep. They only slept for about an hour, but it was the best hour of the drive. Around the time we hit Nashville, Jonah was really struggling... poor guy had a stiff neck and couldn't move his head for about 15 minutes. We let the children play at a park for about a half hour and then we grabbed some dinner and headed for the 2 hour drive home. By the time we crossed over the bridge from Kentucky to Indiana Jonah was a mess... poor guy was screaming. I took him out of the car seat and held him for the 10 minute drive from the state line to our house. As soon as I got him out he fell asleep on my shoulder. I felt so badly for him... 18 hours is awfully long for an 11 month old. Other than the stressful and long drive home... our vacation was wonderful!
It seems that every vacation I take is the best one we've ever had and this was no exception. I loved every minute of being with my family and the memories we created. It is sweet to me that Havana still remembers her Princess room and eating dinner with Pluto. I can't wait until our next vacation! :)
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