We're Going to Disney World!

Actually, we WENT to Disney World this past week. We were there visiting family; when you live in Florida that happens a lot. Everyone (with kids, anyway, and sometimes without) eventually makes the trip to Disney so when that happens we get to visit relatives we might not see otherwise, at least not as often. I can vouch for Disney as a great place for family reunions, that's for sure. This is the third time we've been in the past year, every time with relatives. We met DH's cousin and his family last summer, we took my nephew a few months later, then this trip. So basically, if you have any Disney questions, feel free to ask since I could write a guide book.

No, not really on the guide book; there are people out there who go to Disney a lot more than we do! We weren't even able to go for the longest time; it would have been insane since The Youngest, aka The Wild Child, was too wild. We would have been stressed to the max trying to keep him safe there when he was younger. Plus there were too many rides he wouldn't be able to go on, which would have been frustrating to him. (All the height requirements, you know.) I think the best time to start taking kids to Disney is when they can stay with you and not wander off every 5 seconds, they are articulate enough to be able to communicate with a staff member if they get lost, and they meet the height requirements to ride all of the rides. (Unless your family isn't into roller coasters, but then, why else would you go to Disney World?)

We stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Best Western, which was OK. We had to change rooms when we first got there since they put us on a floor with a large tour group of very loud teens, but the room they moved us to was quiet. I also had an issue with the sheets but I went out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought my own so I dealt with it. Their sheets were old and scratchy and didn't feel clean; ick. (But that was just me being high maintenance; everyone else said their sheets were fine.) Other than that the hotel was adequate for the price.

We had one room with two double beds so we were cramped; The Middle Child slept on an air mattress on the floor while The Eldest and The Youngest, aka The Wild Child, shared a double with a body pillow dividing up the bed. I got more gray hair when The Youngest, aka The Wild Child, fell out of bed the first morning! I was already up and looked over as he started to fall and it scared the bejeezus out of me. I thought he had smacked his face on the sharp corner of the bedside table but he either cleared it or the pillow, which went with him when he went over, cushioned it enough. Or both. I shoved a pillow in between the bed and the bedside table the next night; good thing since he fell out of bed again. I didn't have the heart stopping palpitations since I didn't see that one happen, but it did wake me up. He doesn't fall out of bed at home, at least I don't think he does, but since big sister hogged up more than her share of the bed he was perched on the edge all night. (The body pillow also took up a bit of space and double beds aren't large to begin with, so I can't blame it on her entirely.) Poor kid; next time we'll try to get a room with better sleeping arrangements for all of us.

The other big issue for me was the food. DH and I managed to stick to our vegetarian diet; the kids gave up and ate meat at almost every meal. The girls are pretty good about eating veg most of the time; they are really on board with it, but it was just too hard when we were eating out at unfamiliar restaurants with very few vegetarian options for every lunch and dinner. (I rented a refrigerator from the hotel and we ate breakfast in the room.) Thank goodness we haven't committed to going vegan; we would have starved! I did wind up gaining weight again; sigh. That part is hard to deal with, but it was impossible to find meals that were both vegetarian and low fat/low calorie/healthy. I ate a lot of fatty foods with a lot of oil/butter, eggs and cheese, way more than usual. Plus getting motion sickness on one of the virtual rides yesterday didn't help, but that's another story. (When I feel sick I tend to want to eat away the discomfort; I over-loaded on coke, which I never drink otherwise due to the calories, and crackers. And no, I don't do diet sodas; the chemical sweeteners give me a headache.)

There's a lot more to write about the trip but this is going to post now since I have to get ready for a dental appointment. TTFN!