Dozeman/Griswold Vacation Day 2

Dozeman/Griswold Vacation Day 2

This morning we were up bright and early to drive over to Mammoth Cave National Park. We had breakfast at the hotel and loaded up the cars and were off. It was a bit of a drive to get to the caves. But a lot of it was scenic. Lots of trees and wildlife. We finally arrived at the caves about 45 minutes before our tour. We checked in and got out tickets then we had some time to explore and take some photos.

It’s a bit challenging to entertain six children for 45 minutes, but we managed. We even managed for them not to destroy anything in the gift shops or the little museum they had inside the waiting area. The kids were all good, just hyper from a day of driving and not getting a lot of energy out. Finally, it was time for our tour.

We all met under a pavilion and were picked up by a bus. This really excited Anna. She was very happy we were going to ride a BUS. We took a short ride to the 1924 entrance of the cave for their Frozen Niagara tour. It was a manmade entrance to the caves. Mike and I had been to the caves 10 years ago but we must have gone to the main entrance part because we didn’t remember anything about this tour. It was interesting because the entrance and walkways were very narrow and not very tall. Poor Mike and definitely poor Mr. Rich (he’s 6’7”). They had to duck a lot throughout the whole tour. In fact, Mr. Rich had the misfortune to encounter a cave cricket because it crawled onto his HEAD. Ugh. Ah! Run away!

The entire tour lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. We saw a lot of really neat cave formations and stalactites (the drippy things) and stalagmites (the big columns).  We learned the cave got its name because of one particular section that looked like Niagra Falls frozen. Overall, I thought the cave was impressive and I don’t regret going, but I think I remember liking the main part of the Mammoth Caves better. However, we were limited on time and this was something we hadn’t seen before. It definitely wasn’t a time waster.

What I was most grateful for is all the kids behaved so well. They had moments but for the most part, they listened and didn’t act up while in the caves. They have no idea how much they could have had us at their mercy if they chose to act up while in the caves. We would have been trapped with a disobedient child(ren) but thankfully, that wasn’t the case!

After the tour and back at the cars, we decided it was best to have lunch and get gas before we took off. We had to leave the park first, there was no where to eat or drink in the park, but at our first available stop, we would eat and fill up. It was unfortunately much later than we anticipated. The Mammoth Caves, we found out the hard way, are in Central Time. Therefore, everything was now an hour later than we originally planned. It was still worth the trip, but it was kind of frustrating to really hit the road at 2:00 p.m. instead of 1:00 p.m.

It was another day of boring driving. The kids were a bit more restless this time. The movies entertained them for a while, even the iPads and electronics. However, now we’re starting to touch each other. It starts out with pokes, then turns into hands, then turns into wrestling with just upper bodies. Sometimes warring with stuffed animals. I’m not sure how they manage but there was a lot of yelling to stop bothering each other in the back. Anna and Andrew can’t reach each other but even they have more conversations that are “cross.” Anna will tell Andrew that he cannot play on her game and that it is HER game and he must not play it. He comes back with this is my transformer and my rock and you cannot have it. I suppose it’s normal and whatever keeps them entertained without killing each  other is good.

It seemed like a longer drive today because we had such a late start. We didn’t get in to the hotel until 9:15. We thought about going straight to bed but then the kids were restless and we were all restless so we decided a late night swim was in order. I’m very glad we did, even though I think the kids were tired too, because it was fun and it wore them out. They were all in bed by 11. We were in bed shortly after.

Tomorrow we hope to leave somewhat early to hit our last leg of the road trip. We have another 6 hours of driving but then we will be in FLORIDA. And we’ll be at the house. No more hotels and no more driving! It will be heavenly. 

Dozeman/Griswold Vacation – Day 1

Dozeman/Griswold Vacation – Pre Trip

Twas the night before vacation, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Oh wait, we were up and we were working until the wee hours of the morning. Mike didn’t get back from his business trip until almost 11 p.m. and we had to install the luggage racks. This should not have taken long. Instead, it was one project after another.

First, the light over the license plate on our trunk luggage rack had broken from being shoved around in storage. It was dangling there like a limp noodle. Mike had to take out the wires from the back and the process took forever. Then, we couldn’t remember how we put the dang thing on before. We searched for the doo-hickey that holds the bar thingy in and couldn’t find it. After some time went by, Mike remembered there may be some important information in a baggy underneath the lining of the luggage rack. Right. By now, it’s been an hour and we’re freezing. Just to give you an idea of how things are going.

So, we find this “baggy” under the lining as he said and sure enough, there are instructions and a little but sturdy screw that we are supposed to use to secure the luggage rack inside. Thank God. We go back out and maneuver the luggage rack to the right location to fit the screw in, jimmy the screw in correctly and voila! One luggage rack is finally installed, right? Oh, wrong, we have to install the license plate. That should be easy.

It wasn’t easy. The dang thing was broken too. One screw was “shot” and a backup one we found wasn’t quite long enough to screw in the plate. After a good half hour of fiddling with it, Mike was about to give up (I think, but I may be wrong). Then, his smart and oh-so-intelligent wife suggested we remove the cover from the license plate since it’s not necessary and then the screw may fit. Holy cow, I had a good idea. It fit! We were finally done with one luggage rack. Just one more to go.

After our horrible luck with the first, we thought we wouldn’t have as much worry with the second. After all, it’s a lot simpler to put the top luggage rack on because it’s all just screw-on-the-top. It’s a solid 1:30 in the morning by now. We’re tired and grumpy. I can’t feel my fingers anymore. I just want this over with. Why did I say I wanted to drive again? Anyways. Luggage rack. We lug the bulky thing up onto the car and what do you know! It. Does. NOT. Fit.

Impossible, right? We’ve travelled with this thing on top before. Something must be wrong. We work with it. We try to stretch the handle things. Nothing. It won’t fit. I’m really on my game late at night, or early in the morning as it were, and I ask Mike, could it be that the Pacifica racks are moveable? Sure enough… we didn’t have the Pacifica racks close enough together for the luggage rack to cling to. We had to remove them and reinstall them closer together before we could get the luggage rack installed properly.

It is now 2 a.m. But we have the dang luggage racks installed!

Dozeman/Griswold Vacation – Day 1

A mere four hours later, I’m up and getting ready for our day to start driving. I take a shower, get dressed, and run to the store to buy donuts as promised for our kids. I tried to buy coffee but even the coffee shops weren’t open that early yet!

Everyone was up by 7ish and oh-so-ready to go. I loaded up the car as much as I could while Mike took a shower and got ready. Our plan was to leave by 9. Overall, we were pretty close. The Griswold’s arrived by 9 sharp and brought coffee (bless them!) and we were packed and ready by 9:30! 

The drive itself was pretty uneventful. The kids were very well behaved. They did good with DVDs and looking out the window before lunch. I didn’t bring out any electronics until after lunch. We stopped in Anderson, Indiana at Panera around 1 p.m. and ate. The kids were surprisingly good for being cooped up in a car for so long and then having freedom at a restaurant. I think they like having their friends with them. Especially Andrew. He loves having Reece with him on this trip!

After lunch, we hit the road again and I brought out all the electronics. We had another four hours of driving so I prayed the electronics would have just enough batteries to last that long. Surprisingly, they did! We made a few more bathroom and gas stops, but overall we made great timing. The iPad lasted all the way up until we reached our hotel at which point it had 3% battery! Not bad at all.

Our hotel is very nice. We have a suite that we all fit in pretty comfortably. The kids were so hyper after the last stint of driving. We ordered pizza and ate in the lobby. Afterwards we took everyone swimming to burn off some steam. They all had a great time in the pool! I think it was a highlight of the day.

After swimming it was time for baths and bedtime. We have an early day tomorrow because we’re planning to see the mammoth caves! I’m a little nervous about how the kids are going to do with the hour long tour but I have to stay positive. They’ve done so well so far. I think they’ll enjoy it! 

Family Vacation Days 1-3

Saturday

Saturday was a pretty hectic day trying to get out the door with all our luggage and kids in tow. As with everything, our DVD player decided to die in the car just as we were leaving. Cinderella is stuck on "eject" in the player. Luckily I had downloaded movies on my iPad so we were able to prop up a movie and play the sound through the car speakers. We were even lucky enough to have Gabe fall asleep in the car for a small cat nap before the airport! Pretty rare he'll sleep in the car these days...

We made it to the airport and through security fine. We only had a minor meltdown from Gabe when we dumped his water just before going through security. We also were running a bit behind so we couldn't refill it again until we were on the plane. He lived though, despite what he may tell you later.

The flight was luckily fairly uneventful. Gabe was happy to watch the Angry Bird movies I downloaded prior to the trip. He sat with me and Henry sat with Mike. Henry is old enough he was happy looking out the window and playing with the toys he brought for the trip.  The flight was about 2.5 hours long and we made it all the way to the last 15 minutes before the boys were getting restless. I had quite a few snacks in my bag but they about cleared them all by the time we were out of the plane.

One of the many lessons we learned from our first trip was figure out what to do with the luggage. We hauled all the luggage on the stroller last year and it was hell getting that and the boys organized. This year we decided to stay on the Disney property and they provided a service that took all our checked luggage from the airport to the hotel room free of charge. We also got free transportation from the airport to our hotel. Nice deal.

However, we soon discovered deals aren't always great. It was wonderful having the luggage taken care of but the wait for the bus for the hotel wasn't as nice. We figured it was about two hours from the time we landed until we got to our hotel about a half hour away. The taxi may have been pricey but with two tired, hungry, thirsty, ready-to-see-Mickey kids, it may have been worth an extra fee. We will do better next year! Overall it wasn't horrible though. The airport Disney crew did a good job helping to entertain the boys with stickers and "Mickey glove" high fives.

When we got to the hotel it was very nice to find out we were upgraded for free to a "club" level room. The room itself wasn't spectacular but you had a "concierge" type service that wouldn't normally be included. The boys and I were able to get snacks, diets and special dessert treats while we waited for Mike to check in completely free. It was awesome considering the boys were way hungry and not quite sure why I hadn't packed more food in my bag.

We got settled in the room and took the boys to dinner at the restaurant downstairs. The food was fantastic and the drinks were strong. At that point, we were all happy =) It was an "early" night although it was about 11:30 before we all were in bed.

Sunday

We were all up at about 8 a.m. and didn't have a ton of time to spare before we had to catch a bus for the hour ride to the port. We got dressed and repacked and headed down for breakfast. There was a bit of a snafu with our luggage transfer for the boat and our transportation to the ship. Mike was annoyed because he had talked to four people about the transfer and trip and was assured all four times that it was taken care of already. Luckily the Disney staff was on top of things and fixed the problem quickly for us.

We had breakfast at the hotel again but at a faster place since we were low on time. I had forgotten, but the birds at Disney are very brave and aggressive. Mike had our food on the table (outside) and while he went back to get our drinks, a brave starling bird landed on our table, looked at us quickly and fly off with a big chunk of Mike's hash browns. I was annoyed at myself for forgetting to protect his food but the real humor in the situation was Henry's reaction. He was absolutely appalled that the bird took Mike's food. He was then extremely suspicious of every bird around us and terrified if he took his eyes on his food they would take it. Gabe thought it was funny and I'm sure he would have shared his food if he thought long enough about it.

After breakfast we were back in the lobby catching our bus to the pier. It was pretty uneventful going from Orlando to the pier. We were moved through the line fairly quickly and onto the ship in about an hour. Both boys were so excited. They wanted to meet Mickey and go swimming and all the fun things to do on the boat. By the time we actually got on the boat, Gabe was pretty tired. We got a quick lunch but then I decided to stay back in the room with him while Mike took Henry swimming. Henry only asked about 8,485,483 times since that morning if we were going to go swimming.

Our plans were cut short through because about 45 minutes into Gabe's nap, we had to do the mandatory "emergency" drill for if anything happens on the ship. Every cruise does this but we forgot about it. We had to wake poor Gabe up and go through the drill. Henry was super annoyed and asked another 48,348 times if he could go swimming yet.

Finally, the drill was over and Henry went swimming. I tried to get Gabe back to sleep but he wasn't having it. Eventually I gave up and he and I explored the ship together. I can't believe I'm admitting this but I actually bought a leash for Gabe. It's fantastic. He's such a quick runner and doesn't listen well to me mid-run, it worked well keeping him near by. He had fun "dragging" me along as he explored the ship. We didn't go everywhere but I swear we saw a good 60% of everything.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. On our way to dinner we made a quick stop to meet the one and only: Mickey Mouse. There is a huge benefit to being on the ship when it comes to characters. The wait is long but not nearly as long as it would be at the parks. Both boys were quite star struck with Mickey. Gabe couldn't wait to meet Mickey and tried several times to cut in front of people to get there first. Then when it finally was his turn, he was too shy to walk up to him =) Henry had to show him it was okay and then they both hugged him and we took a family photo. I'll have to get a photo of that later because they took it professionally, not with my camera.

After Mickey we headed to dinner. We had some very nice food and drinks and Henry even got to leave a bit early to play with "Mickey's friends" in the play area while we finished our meal. I saw him happily talking to another kid with a "Captain America" shirt on. He will find fellow fans of his superheros/turtles just about everywhere...

The was pretty much it for Sunday. We were exhausted by the end of the day. It was baths and PJs. Gabe was out in about 5 minutes. Henry took less time.

Monday

Another early morning rise for us even though I'm sure we all could have slept until noon. We were scheduled to go to Atlantis for the day and had to catch our bus. On our way to breakfast, we were surprised to see Cinderella and several other princesses greeting guests. Gabe was so excited to see Cinderella. We didn't have time to meet her but he was pretty thrilled to see she's on board. We're hoping to make one of her tea parties later.

After a quick breakfast Gabe's shirt was a nice shade of pink from his morning yogurt. I did not have time to change him. It was also humorous to note that poor Gabe would not eat his "Mickey" shaped waffle until one of the staff members cut it up for him. Mike and I didn't think to do that (especially since he usually has a meltdown whenever we change the shape of his food). We just assumed he wasn't hungry. Henry was annoyed to once again have silly things like eating and drinking and walking and waiting interfere with his swim time.

Atlantis was very fun but tiring. Poor Gabe had a mishap with a life jacket and couldn't get up fast enough and swallowed some water. He was under for may two seconds. However, my cause and effect Gabe was then terrified to get back in. We were able to calm him down eventually but the only way he went back in or near the water was when I held him on the lazy river. I think we'll have to get him some lessons soon. He was so scared it was really sad. He also had great concerns for Henry who was absolutely fearless about anything water related. At one point Gabe was about choking me on the inter tube upset over flopping Henry who was trying to show us he could swim on his own but was failing. Mike was right there but Gabe was sure he was the only one seeing poor Henry dying before his eyes. For the record, Henry did not die.

After we were wore out and ready to go back, we made our way back to the ship. Both boys were so exhausted. Mike and I joked that it only took a couple thousand dollars and days of running around to finally wear out both boys completely. Henry complained a little bit but eventually agreed he was tired and took a nap. Gabe's only complaint was we made him change out of his swimsuit before getting into bed.

Both boys slept about two hours before we had to get ready for dinner. Mike and I had reservations at this fancy restaurant on the ship to eat so the boys were going to daycare on board. Neither was upset at being left at the fun areas. Gabe especially was happy to see kid toys again and didn't notice when I left. 

Our meal was fantastic. Incredibly fancy with all the little plate decorations and words neither MIke or I understood. I knew it was fancy and I knew it would have things on there that I wouldn't normally eat but I was adventurous. The only thing I didn't eat was something Mike thought might be cow brain. Umm, no. No matter what it was called in French, the very thought of brains was enough to make me pass. Otherwise we both waddled away after dinner was done. Now I can say I've eaten at a very fancy restaurant =)

Mike's taking care of some luggage transfer business while I'm finishing up this blog. I originally wrote most of this while the boys were napping on the deck of the ship. I didn't finish in time so I'm wrapping up now. We're really enjoying the trip and excited we have a few more days to explore the ship and see things. We have a little more time to ourselves before we have to pick up the kids so we're checking out the adult bars and clubs. Hope they're exciting. We're on a time limit! =)



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