We made it!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I know you all are just dying to hear the rest of the story! LOL!

When I left off, the kids weren't happy that they weren't going to spend the night at Aunt Kris's and the parents weren't happy that the kids were ungrateful and unexcited. (Is that even a word?)

After a time out in their rooms and after the tears had stopped we showed the kids a map of where they were going. We pointed out all of the fun things they would get to do. They started getting more and more excited. I made a quick call to Aunt Kris and she was thrilled beyond belief that the kids wanted to spend time with her more than going to DISNEY WORLD. We made plans to spend the rest of the day with their family. The kids were happy that they would get to play with their cousins.

On the way to OKC we let the kids watch a video of Disney World. They could hardly contain themselves. They were squealing and talking ninety to nothing of all the things they dreamed of doing. This just thrilled our hearts and certainly turned our moods around.

The next morning we left the hotel at 4:30 am for our flights. It was soooooo cold. Madelyn and I were on one flight and Jarrett and Nathan were on a different flight that left 30 minutes later. We had to do this because of our free frequent flier tickets. My flight left just fine but Jarrett and Nathan sat on the runway for over an hour because the de-icer broke. They ended up missing their next flight because of the delay and didn't make it to Orlando until 6pm. It was a long day for them. Thank you mom and dad for the Nintendo DS. It saved Jarrett, Nathan hardly looked up from it all day.

Madelyn and I made it to Orlando around the same time as Grammy, Grampy and Ally. So we all rode the Magical Express to our Disney Resort, Saratoga Springs. The kids were so excited to get there. Ok, I was too! I got a little giddy when I saw the sign!








We still hadn't told Madelyn that our friends, The Foreros were going to be there. I couldn't wait to surprise her. I was hoping that this surprise would go over better. After we checked in and got a bite to eat we went to Downtown Disney which was just a short boat ride away. Oh, by the way it was in the 70's and 80's in Florida. Not to rub it in or anything. We went shopping and looked around then when I took Madelyn outside she saw Kennedy and Max walking toward us. It was priceless! They were so happy to see each other.






Jarrett and Nathan finally made it and met us for dinner at Wolfgang Puck. After a yummy dinner and exploring the LEGO store we went back to our resort for an early bedtime.





We will be hitting Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning for rope drop. Our resort was beautiful and peaceful. I hardly saw other people. Jarrett and I think it would be fun to go back there and just hang out at the resort. We had a two bedroom home with a kitchen and family room. It was perfect for us! There was even a washer and dryer that came in very handy several times. Traci and Jorge stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and they said they loved it! We wished we could have all stayed at the same place but it just didn't work out.






Ok, I have a confession, I Kathleen Short, am an obsessive compulsive planner. I love researching and planning itineraries. In my defense I am also flexible. (within the plan of course) For this trip I made a 4X6 card for each day of our trip. I made a chart for park times, our dining ressies, parade times etc on one side and on the other side was a list of rides and the most efficient order to ride them in. I laminated them and put them on a ring. I gave each family that was with us a set. I got so much flack from my traveling buddies over these cards. But I know, that deep down, they loved them. Some guy at Disney Hollywood Studios saw my cards and said if I was that "Type A" about Disney World he would hire me in a minute to work at his company. I took it as a compliment, my family and friends just took it as one more thing to make fun of me about. I will admit that some trips lend themselves to being planned and others don't. If Jarrett and I go away some where alone, I do not plan. But if I am taking the kids I generally plan. Our summer beach trips are a lot less planned. Lisa and I just make menus and grocery list for those trips. It really helped Nathan to see a schedule. He read it all the time.

Up next:

Will we follow the "plan" ??

PS If you have any ideas of how I can use this obsession for planning and turn it into a paying job let me know. Now that the kids are in school I need to do something.