On the Road Again...

We were all too excited to sleep!  At 5 am I heard Gregg stirring from another bedroom (where he slept with Evie) and I decided to get up, too. 

"Are you ready to get up?"  I asked.

"YUP!"

Yay!!!

We were pulling out of the driveway at 6 am.  Granny sent us off with a load of Kleenex and Paper Towels.  She assured me that I would need them.  I just imagined them becoming a source of entertainment for Belle.  I could see myself cleaning white tissue paper out of the van for days! (Keep this in mind... they did present themselves to be very handy.)

As soon as we pulled out of the driveway we notice the light letting us know that the back right tire was low.  The temperature had gotten really low that night, so we just assumed that was the reason.

We pulled through McDonalds for some breakfast, filled up on gas and put air in the tire.

All was well from Louisiana until the middle of Mississippi.

In NoWheresVille, Mississippi tire light came back on.  Gregg looked in the rear view mirror and it was pretty flat.  There was obviously a problem.

As soon as we could we pulled over(in Mendelhall, Mississippi) and prayed that there would be a tire repair shop close by.

The first stop was a feed shop (haha), but thankfully he pointed us to the nearest auto shop, which was less than a mile away.

They were very excited to see us and plugged up the tire in less than 10 minutes.  

We were back on the road.

We stopped at a ChickFilA in Hattiesburg, Ms and another in Pensacola, Fl.

The drive from Pensacola to Tallahassee seemed to take forever.  By the time we reached our destination we were exhausted and starving.  

We picked up Boston Market for dinner and checked in to The Country Inn and Suites.

I could go on and on about the terrible time we had at CI&S in Tallahassee, but I think I'll save it for Trip Advisor.  It was AWFUL!  We will never stay there again.

The insulation was very poor, so we had a hard time getting to sleep because of the outside noise.  Then at 4 am, I was awakened by our neighbors who were obviously making an adult film next door.

Needless to say, I let my girls be as loud as they wanted when the woke up at 6:30 am.

I could have been really grouchy that morning, but we were 4 hours from Disney World...

"Belle, where are we going today?"

(She threw her hands up in the air and danced.)

When we reached the Florida Turnpike I started texting my friend Emma, who we were meeting for lunch.  Then we put on a CD of Disney songs and sang out hearts out.  Even Gregg joined in the fun. 

After driving for quite a while we knew we were getting close, but hadn't seen a Disney sign for miles.  Things were getting a little tense as Gregg and I both thought we were lost. 

Suddenly we reached out exit and within seconds we saw...

Oh, the excitement!

And then Belle says (in all seriousness) "Mama, I know you are excited, but you are going to have to calm down."

99.9% of the time she is all me.  That was the one percent of Gregg talking.

And how did Evie handle all of this excitement?

Because she is 99.9% her dad's child.  (PS- Can you tell how well loved that mirror was during the car ride.  It's filthy!)

UP NEXT- Lunch at Downtown Disney & 'WHAT?!?!?!'

Departure Day Drama

Backing up a few weeks, we were absolutely shocked to find out that we are expecting our 3rd child.

The first trimester is always very rough for me, so we were a little worried about me traveling and
being able actually stay awake during the trip.

The day before we left I had my first OB appointment.  (He wanted me to wait until 8 weeks to see him
since this is my 3rd pregnancy.)  Thankfully, all was well.  The baby looks great and I heard the heartbeat.  He prescribed me anti-nausea medication and gave me the thumbs up to head out of town.

I spent the rest of the morning packing and cleaning.  Belle was at school and Evie was down for a nap.
When I picked Evie up after her nap I noticed that she was burning up with fever.  Oh Dear!

With less than 24 hours until departure, a fever is not what we wanted to see.  I immediately called the pediatrician, but they could not get us in until first thing the next morning.

That night was very rough on Gregg and myself.  Evie slept in our room and was fussy with fever the whole night.

On departure day we were very exhausted.  Gregg had to head in to work for a while and we headed to the doctor.  He said that Evie had a virus and that he expected it to be gone within the next 24-48 hours.  We could treat her with Motrin and Tylenol and she would be fine to travel.

When we arrived home from our excursion, we put the finishing touches on Ariel and celebrated a bit.

I was feeling pretty rotten, but I did my best to get everything together, pack the van and clean the house a bit.

Gregg finally arrived home and at 4:30 pm, we hit the road....

DISNEY BOUND!!!

Belle watched The Little Mermaid.

Evie enjoyed a snack.

I tried not to throw up.

And Gregg was thrilled to be driving away from town.

We arrived at my Granny's house a few hours later and were greeted with a delicious dinner-
fried chicken, creole Lima beans, macaroni and cheese and cornbread.  I ate my weight in mac&cheese (she makes THE BEST) and then we all got ready for bed.

Coming Soon:  Travel Day (more drama) and We've Arrived

We're Home...

Woes of illness considered, we had a very good trip.  (So yes, in the past week we've had a sick baby, a vomit covered Belle and now Gregg is running fever...)

Belle rode Splash Mountain for crying out loud!!!  A far cry from our last trip.

Speaking of crying...

I cried tears of joy over one of my favorite Disney treats.  Seriously.  (And I can blame it all on pregnancy.)

I can't wait to start sharing our trip! I'll be posting again very soon.

Another Quick Hello...

Well, this trip has been full of good things and not so good things.

Good Thing- Today I had a Mommy&Me morning with Belle at Magic Kingdom.

Bad Thing- Gregg spent the day with Evie at Urgent Care, the pharmacy and in our room napping. (But she is on an antibiotic and her fever has been gone for several hours now.)

Bad Thing- We had to cancel our dinner at California Grill.  (This is becoming a trend.)

Good Thing- We picked up an ADR here at our resort.  We love Boatwright's!

Our schedule has pretty much gone to pot.  We are winging it each day, depending on the weather and how the girls are doing.

Belle is actually riding rides!  We rode Peter Pan today and she loved it.  Surprisingly, her favorite ride is 'that big ball at Epcot'.

We've also met loads of characters.  Belle's favorite has been Jasmine and Evie and Snow White had a special moment, too.  (Bonding over that snow white complexion.)

Hoping for a brighter tomorrow!  Talk to you all soon!

Greeting From Disney World!

It's soooo cold here.  Of course, I packed for 70 degree weather ONLY.  Evie is still running fever on an off, as well.

That being said, we are cooped up in the room for the morning.

Our trip started off with a BANG!  The 'Disney magic' bomb exploded on us.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!  (It's HUGE!!!!)

Belle made it through 'The Beauty & Beast' show.  She had the best time and we were so proud of her.

Evie loves EVERYTHING about Disney World.  I think her hands might be sore from clapping them so much.  (Now if only we could get this low grade fever to go away for good!)

As for G and myself... we are foodies this trip.  We are on the look out for good eats!

Hope you all have a great week!

By the way...

It appears that we will actually be heading to Disney World as a family of FIVE!!!

Please pray for us!!!

(And on a more serious note, please pray for Evie.  She has been running fever all day.)

Ready, Set, Here We Go...

It's down to the wire... and I have exactly one suitcase packed.  

I'm telling you, I have been a HUGE packer slacker this trip.

Needless to say, after church we are having a HUGE packing party.

This week I made our travel binder.  

Mapquest has very much been my friend, because we will be making several stops on the way down.

(G informed me that we will be stopping at every Guitar Center from here to Orlando.  Yay.)

For the trip down, I ordered (as requested) Mulan II and Little Mermaid: Back to the Sea from Netflix.  We also borrowed Sleeping Beauty from a friend.  Belle has never seen it.

My sister bought a few Small World activity books and I am crazy in love with them.

As for Evie- another friend is letting us borrow a portable DVD player and the whole set of Baby Einstein DVD's.  Other than that, my fingers are crossed.  I am hoping she gets a few good naps in on our big travel day.

We will be gone for about two weeks! (We have the option of staying longer, but we are going to see how we are feeling.) I'm bringing my laptop so hopefully I'll be able to update at some point.

Ta Ta For Now...