The first weekend in May we went to Vero Beach, FL for my cousin Cissy's wedding. This was a big trip for a multitude of reasons, and lots of planning and preparation went into this trip. We initially thought that we would just rent a minivan and drive down there with Gran and Doda. The more I thought about this the more I was not liking the idea of a minimum of about 9 hours in the car with a 2 year old and a 1 year old. First, a 9 hour trip would become something more like 12 with all the stops we would have to make; second, I don't like to be in the car that long, and I HATE stopping; last, I HATE being in the car that long (if momma ain't happy, nobody is happy!).
We began looking for plane tickets, but flying out of Columbia is ridiculous. Anyway, long story short we ended up getting 6 tickets round trip from Greenville to Orlando on Allegiant Air. The tickets were crazy cheap, and the flight was direct! 1.5 hours to Greenville, 1.5 hours in the air, and 1.5 hours to Vero Beach...perfect! Well, lets remember, travel never goes exactly as planned!!
Jon and I took Thursday off and spent most of the morning trying to fit all of our stuff into two suitcases (we did it)! Gran and Doda then came up and met us to make the drive to Greenville. The boys did great, we borrowed a DVD player and Mary Poppins came in very handy. When we got to Greenville we ate an early dinner and then headed to the airport (Greenville airport is very nice by the way). We were of course VERY early so we had about an extra hour to spare before the flight took off. This made for lots of running time for the boys, thank goodness the airport was not that big. Anyway, our flight left Greenville around 8 and was scheduled to land in Orlando at 9:30 (we made it at 9:15, woo hoo). We got to Orlando, had to wait FOREVER to get our lovely rental minivan. Luckily there was a 15 foot stuffed alligator on display in the baggage claim, Jack was thrilled. Anyway, we were all set to make the remainder of the drive and we left the airport about 10:00 pm. Please keep in mind that Jack has not slept a wink this whole time, Ben did sleep the entire flight. We get in the car and are all being very quiet in hopes that the boys will go to sleep, Jon and Doda in the front, Ben and Jack in the middle seats, me and Gran in the way back. We are on 95, for about 45 minutes and we are trucking making great time. Then we see nothing but red lights in front of us...road construction! We went about 5 mph for I don't know how many miles. The boys had been asleep, but as soon as the car stopped, they both woke up. Jack wanted to watch a movie and we put on another movie and then Benjamin started screaming! Ughhh, we weren't moving so we took him out of the carseat and he immediately went back to sleep. Anyway, we finally get back on track and make it to Vero at about 12:45 am (Jack is still awake). We pulled into the very nice Vero Beach Hotel and Spa (Jon and I would like to go back sans children). The very nice valet/bell boy helps us unload all of our stuff while we get checked in and get children out of the car. We walk into the hotel and get on the elevator, about that time Jack cough's (Jon is carrying him), I look up and the motherly instinct kicks in, the next cough he is throwing up! All over himself, Jon, I grabbed his blanket and boy was it awful. We get off the elevator and the bell boy gets out of the other elevator and we are like...ummm we are very sorry to tell you this, but we have had a little accident, poor guy! He was very nice and helped us get all of our stuff in the room, he brought us extra towels and laundry bags for Jon to send his clothes to be cleaned!
As we are walking into our room I am having to take Jack straight to the bathtub to get cleaned up, Jon is having to change his clothes, thank goodness for Gran and Doda!! Anyway, we all get cleaned up, get settled and get in bed at about 1:30-2:00 am. Jon, Jack and I are all sleeping in a king sized bed, and Ben is in the porta-crib beside us (we had a 2 bedroom suite). At 3:30 in the morning Ben starts crying, I reach over and he is burning up with fever. Jon and I get up and give him a bath to cool him down, and Jon ends up going back out to go and get Tylenol for him! Finally back in bed we go around 4:30, and then we are all up and ready to conquer the day 7:00 am!! What a night!!
Needless to say that was the worst part of the trip. We had a baby sitter for the whole weekend that was awesome. Jon and I really enjoyed hanging with the family and having some adult time. Cissy and Tony's wedding was beautiful (as were they!) and the trip was awesome. The trip home went much better. Somehow I did not get any pictures of the wedding, well not somehow, I didn't take my camera! This was a good first trip for the boys. They did awesome on the plane rides, which gives us hope for future trips and despite the little setback the first night they really had a great time. The baby sitter took them swimming in the pool, they got room service, got to feed the birds, and basically have a great vacation!
January and February 2015
10 years ago