Vacation - Day One

Definitely a bit late on this, but I'm going to back up and post about the vacation.

The trip to Florida was entertaining. My mom had not been on a plane in 45 years. Needless to say, things have changed slightly and I'd done my best to prep her for air travel. Easy on/off shoes. Nothing scary in the carry on, etc. Um, she was pulled aside to be searched and her purse had to be searched too. We were insanely early to the DSM airport. After boarding the plane we sat at the jetbridge for an eternity. Eventually the captain told us there was something wrong with the plane and we had to de-board so they could fix it. Looking at the clock, the odds of us making our connection in STL - slim. Once the plane was fixed we were off and running, only half an hour late. Lucky for us, there were 16 people transferring from our flight to the Orlando flight so they held the plane. An added bonus - the connecting flight was closeby in St Louis.

Arriving in Orlando, we were thrilled to find out that our luggage even made the flight. Woo Hoo!!! The travel agency transferred us to the hotel, where we checked in with the Polynesian hotel and then had to check in with travel agency and cruise line. Which would have been awesome, if I had the paperwork that was in the baggage below the bus. So once that was delivered I completed our check in and took a nap. After my mom told me she had decided to leave her cigarrettes at home (in an attempt to drive me crazy) she announced she was going for a walk. The idea of my mom not bringing cigarrettes along in theory is great. I would love for her to quit, but I knew we'd get on each other's nerves easily and her not smoking would not help.

photo of the Grand Floridain

After my nap, it was time to get ready for dinner which was being held on the beach at the Grand Floridian. Dinner was a pirate themed event. Some of the stuff included: pirate band, temporary tatoos for everyone, pirate moustaches. face painting, pirate gear for the kids, appearances by Mickey and Minnie. Due to the fact that I don't talk about work here, I won't be mentioning the people that were there. I liked all of them very much, but I don't want to get into any of that stuff. The food and drinks were great. Afterward, my mom and I headed back to the room to catch the fireworks and call it a night.

fireworks from our room