"That’s one really expensive bottle of cologne" Trip report - "Heading to Epcot long enough for me to find a new love and Peter Pan gets stuck babysitting"-**Updated 7/15** About This Page:

[mcc0313]

Welcome back Nala...so glad to hear you had another magical trip. Can't wait to hear the details...

[travismom]

Welcome Back!! Can't wait to read all about the magic!

[chezp]

Welcome back - I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

[Dawn in Scotland]

Yay - this will cheer me up!

[BelmontBelle]

Welcome home! Can't wait to hear how the magic touched you this time!

[Wendyismyname]

Yay! I need a good dose of Nala magic before my trip!!

[JaimeandChad]

Welcome back!! Can't wait

[DawnDenise]

Welcome back Nala! Glad you had a great trip and cannot wait to hear all about it!!

[lexiemom]

Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

[PrincessSharon]

Welcome back, Nala! Can't wait to hear about all the magic!

[dsteiny23]

Welcome back! Looking forward to the Trip Report!

[POOH]

Welcome back! Can't wait to read all about it.

[greentie]

Welcome back! I'm glad you were touched by magic again, can't wait to hear all about it.

[Nala]

The reveal and a not so magical flight:

The morning of the trip I headed to work and I have no idea how I was able to concentrate. Oh yeah, I didn’t! With this trip coming up so fast, I could focus on little else than doing a mental check over and over again to see if I forgot to pack anything. Our secret was still safe and Kiara had no idea the trip was just hours away. Right at 2:45, I headed out the door and went to pick Kiara up from school.

Kiara had been on an outdoor field trip that day and her teacher told me she was very worn out from it. I was happy about that as I hoped she would sleep on the plane and it was looking good for that. What wasn’t looking good were her feet. It seems that regardless of Grumpy’s attempts to get her to put on tennis shoes for her field trip, Kiara refused and wanted to wear a pair of sandles. After giving me a hug and a kiss, the barefoot Kiara pointed out the red marks on her feet where the skin had been rubbed off. Great! While I had no intention of renting a stroller for her, as like Grumpy and I, Kiara needed the exercise, it looked as if we were not going to have an option. After a bit of time going over each and every one of her foot boo boos, Kiara and I bid her teacher goodbye and headed out to the car.

Grumpy had gotten off work early and told me he would have a quick meal ready for us when we got home. True to his word, he had hot dogs ready for Kiara and I headed upstairs to freshen up and throw a few last minute things in a bag. Grumpy came up to collect our bags and was able to sneak them into the car while Kiara was busy eating. By the time I came down the steps with a change of clothes for her in hand, Kiara was in a frenzy. She was still chewing her last bite of food and at the same time pulling her clothes off wildly. She grabbed the clothes I had for her out of my hands and began to throw them on. I swear, I have never seen my child, the one we struggle with to get out of the house, so motivated to leave. For a moment, I thought that Grumpy had told her where we were going and I had missed the reveal. But I soon learned that was not the case. Somewhere between putting on her shirt and putting on her shorts Kiara grabbed the Walmart ad from the Sunday paper, flipped to a specific page, thrusted it towards me and screamed:

“WE’RE GOING TO BUY ME A SWIMMING POOL!!!!!!”

I looked at Grumpy in total amazement and he was grinning from ear to ear. This was brilliant! Kiara was dressed and ready and began to pull me to the door. We loaded our excited little girl into the car and we were off.

All the way to the airport, Kiara squealed with glee and chattered about her swimming pool and Grumpy and I couldn’t help but laugh. We both hoped that once she figured out what was really happening, she wouldn’t be miffed. As we pulled into the airport, Kiara noticed the planes, but being that she has a one track mind, it wasn’t clicking with her what was going on. She was still thinking about getting a pool. Even as we parked the car and pulled the suitcases out, it still wasn’t sinking in. She wheeled her little Ariel suitcase all the way into the airport and still wasn’t comprehending what was happening. She did asks us why we were at the airport, but Grumpy told her it was to buy a pool and she bought it. We entered the airport and Grumpy noticed my Dsis and Peter Pan hidding in the gift shop. As we walked in the gift shop, Kiara saw them and had a dumbfounded look on her face. A moment later, she looked at them and said “I’m getting a swimming pool!”

It was then that I said to her “No Honey, we are getting on a plane and going to Disney World and Peter Pan is going with us!”

It took a moment for this to register with her, but when it did she ran and hugged her cousin and said “You‘re going with us?’. Grumpy explained to her that we were not going to buy a pool this weekend, but she was going to get to play in a big pool with a sandy bottom. This was all good news to her and she seemed to forget about getting a pool for the backyard. At least for now. But more on that later.

We checked in, said goodbye to Dsis, and headed to get Peter Pan some food and kill the hour and a half before our plane took off. As time does when you are looking forward to something happening, the minutes passed at a snail’s pace. We passed the time talking with Peter Pan about all the new things at WDW since his last visit and what the BC was like and what we were going to try to do in our short stay. Peter Pan’s excitement was building, and he was also finding great humor in the fact that his Auntie would occasionally gag and have to fight the urge to throw up when she thought about getting on the plane. Finally, the time came for us to board and we were on our way.

I would like to say that the flight was a pleasant one, but it wasn’t. I must say that it was no fault of “the dreaded airline known as Allegiant”, but rather the fault of the family behind us and my traveling companions. In the row behind us was a mother and a father with two children under the age of three. One was a lap child, who had a passion for kicking the back of the seat. My seat. And both of the children were screamers. As if the action in the row behind us wasn’t bad enough, we had turbulence. Bad turbulence. (but of course, in my book, any turbulence is bad) It was an hour and a half after take off before the flight attendants were cleared to start beverage service and the plane was rocking and rolling so much that even though I tried to refrain from freaking out, I found myself clutching and clawing at Grumpy’s arm. I was almost in tears, but realized I had to keep it together for Kiara’s sake, who was also a bit concerned about the somewhat violent motion of the plane. One thing was for certain, I couldn’t wait for the flight attendants to start serving so I could get a Bloody Mary!

Grumpy, who in my book is a freak of nature in that he loves those crazy, painful toe cramps that contort your foot, also adores a turbulent flight. (WEIRDO!) He was sleeping like a baby though all of this. He was also snorning like a buzz saw, which was providing great entertainment for the people next to us. The good thing about Grumpy’s loud snores and occasional even louder snorts, was that it was drowning out the screams of the kids behind us. It wasn’t until it got really rough that Grumpy woke up, but that was more due to the fact that I was digging my nails into his arm rather than the fact that the plane was bouncing all over the place. He woke up, removed my claws from his arm, told me to relax, and drifted back to sleep.

Besides the kicking, screaming kids behind me and the snoring, relaxed Grumpy next to me, I also found myself dealing with another issue. Or two. Kiara was bored to death, and while she did sleep for the first half hour of the flight, the sticker book that I had packed for her for entertainment was in the overhead compartment above us. Being in the middle seat, and not wanting to wake Grumpy to retieve it, I was forced to try to entertain her without it. But, I was also dealing with another issue. I don’t know how to say this in a polite way, so I will just flat out say it. The kid had a bad case of gas. We are talking clear the room, green cloud type of gas. It was so bad that I heard the people behind us, in front of us and next to us asking each other what that horrible stench was. I acutally saw from the corner of my eye and between the seats, the mother of the two kids behind us do a diaper check.

So there I sat with two kicking, screaming kids behind me, strong turbulence freaking me out, a snoring, snorting husband on one side and a bored, flatulent child on the other. Had I not been mortified and terrified, I probably would have found myself rolling with laughter at how absurd the situation was. While I am always grateful for a flight to end safely, due to my huge fear of flying, I have to say that this flight coming to an end rates in the top twenty moments of my life. Once on the ground, we hooked up with Peter Pan, who had been several rows in front of us, and the first words out of his mouth were “Man, that kid behind me was kicking the back of my seat and screaming his head off. And then, when he fell asleep, he snored SO loud I could hear it through my earphones!” I busted out laughing and said “Trust me honey, it could have been worse.”


Up next: Getting to the world and the magic begins!

[disneydani]

In the words (?letters) of my esteemed son, that update was ROTF/LMAO....especially your very vivid description of the plane ride!

I am glad you arrived safe and sound....love that the reveal went well and that Kiara was psyched!

danielle