Proudly wearing my Mother of the Year Sash pre trip

[mudpuppysmom]

Well, our trip is over and everyone survived. My mother of the Year sash is a bit tarnished though.

I'll start out with....we dropped the dogs off at the kennel and one broke a collar and took off into the woods! This is the first time in my life I have boarded my animlas -- we have always had someone come to the house and keep watch over them and the house. My heart sank when I saw the bushy tail running in the opposite direction of my son and the owner of the kennel holding the now limp leash! DH came jogging past me and asked "Which way'd he go"....as I'm holding the hand of DS2 (age 3) and the other dog (age 15) -- neither of which would have made it 10 steps in the loose dog direction! Thankfully DS1 has long legs and the dog listened to him! Situation averted!

Now, we're all asleep at the Hyatt at PIT airport (thank you priceline at 3 pm that afternoon)....it's 3 am and I sit straight up in bed and yell, "I FORGOT THE STROLLER!". DH mumbles, "what'd you forget?"....I tell him DS2's stroller (remember, he's 3). I am told, "don't worry they have stores there, we'll fix it tomorrow, go to sleep!". Well, I try, but my mind is now fixated how a 3 year old will fare for 9 days without a stroller at WDW with the park commandos!?!?! I try to figure out if I left right then, ran home and back would I still make the plane?!?!?! Then it hits me.....I FORGOT THE BACKPACK! Geeze, who packed for us today!?!?!

The alarm sounds at 4 am followed by the wake up call I requested. Upon checkout I am asked if there was anything else I needed help with....I mumble something about making a stroller appear and the "boy" looks at me and says "have a great day".

We're off to check in for our 6:30 am flight out of PIT and there is a HUGE LINE. Two parties in front of us a woman is disheveled and while balancing her laptop on her arm she calls SWA to find out where the agents are, b/c they aren't checking people in for flights! Ahhhh, I tell her all will be well at 5 am when they will appear and turn on the computers. She looks at me like I'm an ailen.....well it must be that Mother of the Year sash I'm proudly wearing across my chest.....alas at 5 am the agents appear magically! More magically, the very same agents are gate agents when we hit the airside terminal!

We board the plane and when DS1 picks a row he picks the exit row.....sorry buddy, you are not old enough to sit there, so dad takes that row and we sit in front of him on the opposite side. Thankfully the plane is not full and the kids are both well behaved!

We land, grab out luggage and off we go to pick out a car at the National Emerald Aisle. The kids pick a mini van -- SCORE!! For $130 we got a minivan for our 9 day adventure!

WIthout a map or GPS or even written directions I manage to get us to Shades of Green all by 9:40 and our room is ready!! YEAH!! Tickets were given to us at checkin so no waiting in line -- let's drop our stuff and get going!! Oh yeah.....about that stroller......

I call my cousin in Daytona and ask him for help while checking local craigslist listings for something suitable.....nothing relatively inexpensive pops up. All consignment stores are about 40 minutes away.....uh, sorry little guy, you are going to have to walk today! Off we go to MK. Cousin calls me in the afternoon and tels me he has found a stroller for $12 at the local City Thrift.....I OK the purchase and not a minute later he calls back.....It was my lucky day....Sr. Citizen Tuesday and an extra discount makes the stroller $9! We will meet him tomorrow. "Hey little guy, we got you some wheels!" My Mother of the Year Sash while invisible to most was flashing brightly for my family to see.....now if only we can pick out a backpack! Tomorrow is shopping day......

[emerzmom]

Sounds like a rough start to hopefully a good trip. Looking forward to hearing more.

Julie

[KylesMom]

Sounds like you encountered a little bit of chaos trying to get out of town, but now that you've arrived and a stroller's been found, I'm sure we'll be reading about the great time you had. Looking forward to it!

[RedSoxFan]

WOW --- What a start to your trip. You did seem to take it all in stride. Can't wait to read more.

[faline]

Getting to Disney and getting settled in has proven to be a real challenge for you and your family! Hopefully, everything smooths out from this point forward!

[SBETigg]

What an adventure!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Thanks for the report

[T-Belle]

Rough start but sounds like you got everything under control. Can't wait to read more.

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

At least you have arrived!!!!!

[buzznwoodysmom]

Glad to see you found your little guy a stroller. Was there a reason you didn't want to rent the park strollers? We used the park strollers for years. I hated having a stroller on the bus so renting was the only way for us! Hope the rest of your trip was fantastic.