We had an amazing trip to Florida for twelve days, and I can't wait to share all about it in this space! I'll just go ahead and warn you now . . . this series of posts is going to be long. Let's start at the beginning . . .
Our Florida vacation was from Tuesday, November 24th through Saturday, December 5th, with the first and last days being travel days. The travel days were probably the most nerve wracking for me, as we have never flown as a family of six before. I wanted to leave plenty of time to get all our luggage checked, get through security, and get to our gate because I definitely didn't want to be rushed! Our flight was scheduled to leave Tulsa at 7:15am, and I woke up at 2:45am unable to go back to sleep. Ugh! Not the way I wanted to start our vacation, but I certainly had plenty of time to get everyone up and going. I woke the kids about 4:45am with loud Disney music, and they all were so excited that they popped right out of bed. We (and allllll our luggage) were loaded in the van and pulling out of our driveway at 5:05am. Whooo-hoooo . . . first win of the day!
Once we reached the airport, Chris dropped Brenson, Brooke, Brecklyn, me and all our luggage at the Southwest terminal while he went with Brianna to park the van in long-term parking. While we were unloading everything at the terminal, Bren said, "Hey mom, that lady looks like Tia! Wait! It is Tia! I mean, is it Tia?!?" As soon as all the little girls saw each other, they started screaming and jumping up and down. They had no idea that we were all going together, and they were off the chain excited!
While Chris was parking the van, I was planning to literally just sit and wait for him. Tia had other ideas, lol. She grabbed two of our big bags and started us through the check in process, so I really didn't have a choice but to go along with her :-). We had five large bags and our double stroller in a stroller bag that we checked, plus each of us had a backpack carry-on. I'm pretty sure the lady at the Southwest counter didn't want to deal with me and all my kids and all my luggage because she just pushed everything through. She didn't even ask to see my ID! By the time Chris and Brianna walked in the terminal from parking the van, we were ready to head up to security!
Getting through security is always a bit of a hassle, but it wasn't terrible at all this time. Chris has TSA pre-check and that made it all easier for us, for sure! There was a moment when one of the TSA officials was telling us to unload all our snacks and such from our carry-ons, and Chris was telling us that we didn't need to (since he is pre-check) and Bren got pretty stressed. He started to cry a little, but pulled it together quickly. I think it's easy to feel like situations like that are much more high pressure than they really are.
The S family was just behind us in security, and we were all through and sitting at our gate by 6:30am. It was so funny because although the little girls were enjoying one another and playing, they still didn't realize that we were all going on vacation together. I think they just thought we all happened to run into one another at the airport, haha. There was more excitement and cheering when we told them that YES, we're all going to Florida together! As a side note - Ross and Tia didn't tell their girls anything about the trip until that morning. They literally woke them up and said, "Get dressed! We're flying to Florida today!" Haha!
The airlines all currently have many "Covid-19 Safety Measures" in place. This includes mask wearing at all times, social distancing, and minimal contact. Boarding the plane went super smooth because airlines were not boarding to capacity, and they asked that every middle seat be left vacant for social distancing purposes. Since we are one family unit, we could have sat in two rows, but we went ahead and took three.
Bri and Bren on the first flight they can remember
Brooke and Momma
Brecklyn and Daddy
Although we were all (including the S family) sitting in close proximity, we had loaded all the kids up with their own snacks, drinks, and electronic devices. They did great on the flights! I couldn't have asked for better behavior from them!
Our short flight from Tulsa to Dallas was pretty turbulent because the weather was stormy - especially during our decent - and not too long before we landed, Brenson shouted out, "This is not going to end well!" Lol! The landing was hard, but we made it safely to Love Field in Dallas for our 3 hour layover.
Six kids, three hours, and a small airport makes for a hard combination. We got breakfast at Chick-Fil-A not long after we landed, then found a spot at one of the gates to camp out. The kids did great for the most part. We did a lot of walking, a lot of device watching, and a lot of asking "How much longer?" Social distancing was easy, and we were able to take mask breaks while we were sitting as long as we were eating or drinking (which was no problem . . . my kids think they have to eat every hour while traveling!) Once we boarded our 2 1/2 hour flight to Orlando, it didn't take long at all for both Brooke and Brecklyn to fall asleep. It was great that we had an extra seat for them to stretch out on!
Brecklyn
Brooke
We landed in Orlando around 1:40pm (Eastern time), then went to baggage claim to get our checked luggage and rental car. It was a lot of waiting that the kids weren't expecting (although I had tried to explain to them that it would be a day of waiting), and they were struggling a bit with behavior. Chris decided to go get our rental van and come pick us up so we didn't have to haul all our luggage to the rental area with us. I waited and waited with the kids and all the luggage.
Chris finally figured out that the place I was waiting was not a place he was able to access with the van, so I had to drag all the kids and luggage to a different level to meet up with him. Whew! However, we finally got everything loaded (and it fit!) and headed toward our resort.
We stayed at The Vacation Village at Parkway for the first six nights, thanks to the generosity of our friends who gave us a bundle of their timeshare points. Our suite was nice and roomy . . . we basically had two suites that were connected with one entrance. Each suite had a bedroom, bathroom with a soaker tub, living room, balcony, and kitchen complete with an apartment sized washer and dryer. The resort had about 20 buildings, seven pools, BBQ grills, two nature trails, and a game center with an arcade. We were in building 16 at the very end of the hallway on the third floor. By the time we got to our resort, checked in, and hauled allllll our luggage up to our suite, we were tuckered out! It was about 4:30pm, and I was ready for bed!
BUT - we hadn't really eaten a good meal all day, so there was that! We had eaten breakfast in Dallas that morning, but were in the air during lunchtime. We had consumed plenty of snacks, but we were all ready for a real meal. I also wanted to stop by a grocery store to get breakfast foods and bottled water for our suite. So pretty much as soon as we got all our luggage moved in, we left in search of food.
That evening, we ate at a delicious Italian restaurant nearby called Buca di Beppo, and it really hit the spot! We were able to sit outside on the patio because the weather was gorgeous, and all the food was served family style (perfect for us!). It certainly helped that we were all hungry, but I felt like it truly hit the spot! After dinner, we went to the grocery store and finally back to our suite for the night. I had been up and going since 2:45am (central time), and I was feeling it for sure!
Our beds were comfy, and we all got a good night's sleep. We definitely needed it and were thankful, as we had big plans for our time in Florida!
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