Barely a week had gone by since my sweet husband had left the dusty deserts of Afghanistan and brought his sleep deprived, jet lagged, cultured shocked self back into the whirlwind of our family's day to day activity. The Army recommends slowly reintegrating soldiers back into their normal lives, avoiding parties, large crowds and significant conflict until the soldier has some time to readjust. So, of course we followed all this wise council by scheduling a trip to Disney World the very same week he returned. Disney World. Home of some of the largest crowds I can think of. Which also happens to be a 12-15 hour drive away from us. In the car. With three children. I can't think of anything more relaxing, can you?? Brent is an extremely good sport and an extremely patient man and husband and he gamely packed that car and slid into the driver's seat and off we went on a grand adventure.
The kids were THRILLED. We waited to tell them about our Disney vacation until Brent returned, at which time their reactions were underwhelming. I'm not sure if they had any frame of reference on which to base the information that we were going to Disney World. Maura wasn't even three the last time we went and has vague memories of the trip, and Tristan wasn't even a year old. We had to explain about the rides, the characters, the shows and the fun. We conveniently left out the parts about the crowds, the walking, the heat and the long days. We just thought we'd let them figure that out for themselves. Anyway, but the time we left, we had whipped them into a frenzy of anticipation so that they asked if we were there yet within the first half hour of the trip. We did shorten their agony just a bit by stopping in Atlanta to catch up with old friends. We were SO excited to see Amy and Liam. It had been WAY too long and the kids couldn't wait to see their friend.
It was as if no time had passed at all since we'd seen our good friends. Amy, Billy and Liam are the true lifelong type friends whom you can pick right up with, no matter how long it's been since we've seen them. We met at Chick-fil-A and the kids had so much fun playing together while the adults chatted. We love these friends so much and miss having them just down the street. Maura and Tristan have asked many times since that day why Liam has to live all the way in Georgia. We're so thankful for our sweet friends.
The only thing that softened to blow of having to leave their friend was the promise of MORE friends just down the road. We planned on spending our first night in Florida with our friends Michael, Hannah, Wesley, Anna Kate and Carigan. Our kids were so excited about the prospect of a sleepover!! We couldn't get to Florida fast enough for their liking...or for my liking either, for that matter. It was a LONG trip. Tristan asked at least every fifteen minutes if we were in Florida yet. Finally we started telling him that we'd get to Florida when it was dark...then he started asking if it was dark yet. Sigh. We did eventually make it and the kids went wild. They were so excited to see friends, run around, not be in a car seat! I loved catching up with Hannah, who has walked alongside me as we've ventured into marriage and motherhood. She is truly one of my besties! Our children are almost the same ages. Each one of her kids is just a little older than each of mine. Not that you'd know it...my kids were like Gulliver with the Lilliputians! Bennett had a wonderful time trying to copy everything that Carigan did. 
The older kids wanted to do nothing but sit and play on the Ipad. I'm actually kind of glad that I don't have one. I'm pretty sure I'd never see my children's faces again if I did! Bennett got a super cool hairstyle at bath time.
Like the good friend that I am, I brought chocolate to sugar up Hannah's kids and bribe them into liking me. After all--we did steal their rooms! I think they would have liked me anyway, but I don't like to pass up an opportunity to make someone else's children as wild as my own! We all attended Michael and Hannah's church the next morning and managed to make it out the door with six well dressed, happy children in enough time to snap a photo and actually make it to church on time. Success!!
The city where our friends live has some of the most amazing parks I've ever see. Ever. It seemed like there was a fabulous playground on every street corner. We picked up some lunch and headed to one to hang out with our friends and also our cousins, Walton, Jason, Jackson and John Henry. Conveniently, they all live in the same town!
Wesley and Jackson did some boy roughhousing things while I pushed the little people on a cool disk swing. SO. Much. FUN! Bennett could have stayed there all day! As a side note--I love the Florida humidity for one thing and one thing only...Bennett's hair looked fabulous the whole time we were in Florida!
AND humid it was. HOT and humid. Even at the beginning of February, it was hot enough to make the children beg to be allowed in the splash park portion of the playground. Although none of the adults thought to bring swimsuits for anyone, the kids didn't seem to mind!
Carigan and Bennett are young enough that we could just strip them down to their diapers and tell them to have fun. We told Carigan to give Bennett a hug so that we could photograph them together and Bennett took off running. Every time. Bet he won't be so anxious to avoid those hugs in about fifteen years!!
My kids were in heaven with so much water and so many playmates. I loved that the kids were able to hang out with not only their friends but their cousins too. Maura and Jackson really had a lot of fun playing together and we hate that they live so far away that we don't see each other very often. 
I love my friend Hannah, and I love the fact that she didn't bat an eyelash when I called to request housing for my rowdy family. No hesitation at all--even offered to house us the following weekend too! That's friendship! On a side note--note Bennett's diaper after all that water play. I'm not sure how he was keeping that on his little bottom!
Brent really enjoyed catching up with Walton and the kids had so much fun with their cousins. Left to right: John Henry, Jackson, Maura, Tristan and Bennett. What an awesome way to start our Florida vacation!
1 comment:
Awww, didn't expect to see me on your blog today! So glad you're back to blogging... you can do it!!!! Love you and love the time we get to spend together. With and without the wild banshees. :o)
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