V woke up at 3 am that “morning” so it’s a good thing we had the kids separated. I tried to ignore her in the hopes that she’d just go back to sleep, but after what seemed like an eternity of listening to her wail, I went out and got her. She doesn’t snuggle so bringing her into our bed wasn’t an option. Instead I carried her and walked around the separate TV area of the suite hoping she’d fall back asleep or something in my arms. No luck. I was a walking zombie though and I knew I had to do something because the next day was going to be LONGGGGG if she (WE!) didn’t get some rest. We had an overnight flight about 16 hours in our future, something I’ve never attempted with kids because it sounds horrible. P and V both go to bed at 7 pm with naps, so flying through the night was a huge gamble. And since we had to check out of the hotel by 1 pm, naps were big question marks…these are the things going through my head in the wee hours. Thank goodness I was still half asleep or my anxiety would have kicked in big time and then I would have been unable to rest because my brain would have been reeling. After a few minutes I remembered the couch folded out to a bed so I opened it and HOORAY it was already made up and ready for me to climb in. I pulled V under the covers with me thinking it was such a joke, but she and I both fell asleep instantly! Arm in arm. I could have died I was so happy – both because it meant extra sleep for us, but also because she NEVER snuggles!!!! Silver lining to being up at that hour.
She was out for another hour and a half or so, at which point she woke me up and not long after she was so noisy she woke Kyle up too. It was still dark and cold out so running wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do, but I was also very ready to unload V on someone else so I just did it. All I had was a tank top so I was pretty cold, but I warmed up a little bit in. I pooped out after a rather pathetic 20 minutes but whatever, but than nothing.
When I got back Kyle got ready and went and got breakfast so he could get on the road to Tampa. He had work there all day so he was taking the rental car and was just meeting us at the Airport gate that night.
He brought back dairy free scrambled eggs for me and P (I totally trust Disney with how allergy conscious they are). But then he didn’t even want any, so I ended up eating them all myself. I also had some leftover scone and the last of the nut butter.
Once the kids had eaten, we ventured out of the hotel room to scope out the scene. I had done some exploring on my run so I knew where I could take the kids.
P immediately started dancing to the music from the pool so I knew right away he was feeling better. PHEW. I kept thinking he had to have hit the worst of his cold, but then it kept getting worse and worse. Finally I felt good that he wasn’t going to need a more aggressive intervention and he was recovering on his own…even if ever so slowly.
The Disney hotel we stayed at was music themed, but the one next to us was sports themed.
We roamed the football field, pretend dribbled at the huge basketball hoop, and peeked in on the baseball diamond pool.
Their favorite was Donald and his nephews playing baseball/tennis.
After a lot of wandering, I had to go pack up to send our bags to the airport. Disney hotels have this FANTASTIC function of having airport agents AT THE HOTEL. They will give you a free ride to the airport AND check all your bags all the way to the airport for you. Seriously stellar. The only caveat is you have to do it by noon on the day of your flight. So that meant I had to get us all packed up and had no more access to our suitcases after noon. It also meant I didn’t have to lug 2 car seats and 2 suitcases (and all our carry-ons) to the airport by myself. SUCH A LIFESAVER. Disney, you rock.
I tried to get them to nap after checking our bags, but they didn’t go for it. P rested in his bed for 45 minutes but V started crying to get out after 20 minutes of thumb sucking. Oh well! I tried!
Instead we ate the last scraps in the fridge (calling it lunch?) and then went to check out of our hotel room.
Another amazing thing Disney hotels have are (free) shuttles that take you anywhere. I still had 4 hours to kill until leaving for our flight, and we were checked out of the hotel with no car, soooo I had to do something. Obviously I wasn’t going to a park because $$$$. Not worth it for a few hours. But I discovered a place called Disney Springs (which was free) and so off we went.
It was basically a really nice mall but since it’s Disney they threw in some stuff to occupy kids while parents want to shop. Fine by me. At this point I was a total sherpa, carrying 50 pounds of crap, so whatever they had for the kids to do I was going to sell hard core.
When healthy, they need very little to entertain them. For P, a stick is good enough. They weren’t in top form though, so it was on and off. V was demanding I carry her at all times, BUT refusing the ergo. That was a challenge for sure because I already had so much stuff.
But then this fence around a fountain occupied them for an hour. Like, an actual hour. So that was a score.
Eventually we made our way further along…oh how badly I wanted to even window shop there were so many awesome stores. The only stores in Davis are Target and Gap so now you know where 99% of my wardrobe comes from.
The lego store had a super cool set up outside their store for kids to build things and play with all the blocks they wanted. There was even a station to build a car and then race them against cars other people built. P made one and came in second in his race. V “made” one and it didn’t even get past the starting line. Ha.
This kept them occupied for another large chunk of time and before long it was time to wander back to the shuttle pick up spot.
I was a mega balancing act on the walk out. I was carrying V and P was upset that I was making him leave before he finished the house he was building (despite so many countdowns to prepare him to go) and was giving me a lecture to know it. We had to stop for a few hugging sessions and for me to readjust my baggage, etc.
But eventually we got back to the shuttle, which took us to the hotel, where we caught another bus to the airport. TA DA!!
Miracle of miracle the bus ride was faster than I expected although the driver was giving me the side eye with all their coughing (he actually asked me to move when we first got on). We were in the front row, so I understand his concern but what was I supposed to do! At least his row had a baricade in front of it. Let’s be real, they were spreading germs everywhere they went but sometimes you have no choice. I wouldn’t choose to expose flights worth of people to their cold unless I had to, and we obviously needed to get home! But how cute are they leaning on each other (as they watch the TV screen above us show off highlights of Orlando’s Disney scene). TV is a drug, man.
Airport security was standard, but at least it didn’t take forever. And at long last, we were at our gate waiting for Kyle to join us. Like I said, MIRACLE.
The first leg of the trip to LA was so good. We each had personal TVs so I just gave in to the mind numbing screen time. P was in heaven. He watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse over and over and over. V passed out on my lap before we even took off so Kyle ate dinner before I transferred her to his lap and ate my own meal. We both watched movies and just transferred her back and forth for the next 5 hours. P eventually told me he was tired and fell asleep literally under a minute from laying his head on my lap. And then we landed and had to wake them up.
They were total grumps, but who could blame them!? We had to transfer terminals in under 30 minutes, which had me nervous going in to it, but we landed early, and found a vehicle to take us so we wouldn’t have to go through security again. Easy peasy. The whining and whimpering stopped ever so briefly when I busted out the popcorn (such a treat!), and then once we boarded they fell back asleep. Actually we all did. Kyle and I weren’t together on this flight because he was booked separately through his work, but we still got to preboard because we have to go in and wipe everything down (#peanutallergylife). P fell asleep on my lap and V was on my chest, but they were both uncomfortable and kept trying to edge each other out, so once V was asleep enough to not realize she wasn’t with me, I passed her off to Kyle. She’s a total mama’s girl when she’s sick and won’t tolerate anyone. At. All. Then I fell asleep, too. Then we landed.
The wait for luggage was torture for P, and therefore us too, but it was 4 am for his internal clock so I kept telling myself that to excuse his irrational and INSANE behavior. Meltdowns the whole way home. But here we are back in Davis, safe and sound, and we missed the storm of the season! So all in all, a wonderfully impulsive adventure!
