We Made It!

Yesterday I was super excited to post 1 day to go and that we got the final go ahead! However, after 8 hours at the clinic (Eric got blood and platelets to make sure he had the best possible week ahead), plus an hour drive there and a 1hour 20 min drive home, last minute packing and prepping the house, taking the dog to Granny's, getting to park n'fly and finally checking into the airport hotel, I was exhausted and fell asleep early! Good thing since we had to get up at 4:30am to make our 6am flight. We had a layover in Calgary where we basically just had enough time to clear customs before boarding our flight to Orlando. That flight did end up delayed as we had to wait for de-icing. Arrived in Orlando a little after 5 local time but there was a medical emergency on board and we were met by an ambulance. I think maybe a woman was in labour. She kept rubbing her very pregnant belly and was making faces of terrible discomfort. Anyhow, we eventually made it off the plane, and then on to the tram to the main terminal where we were met by Tom, our Give Kids the World Greeter. Eric was excited to be met with a sign with his name on it! Tom took us to find our luggage and our rental car and gave us directions to Give Kids the World. We made it here, though perhaps did some illegal toll-related things, completely accidentally (they really need to work on their signage). Instead of checking in, we went directly to the Christmas Party which happens every single Thursday night year round. The kids decorated cookies and we all took a pic with Santa. (They have professional photographers here and I get all the pictures uploaded to an app so those will come later.) In the meantime, Eric wanted his picture taken with all the inflatables. Once we met Santa, we were able to check in and have orientation. This place is truly spectacular. It is absolutely covered beyond imagining in Christmas lights, including a Christmas tree in our villa. We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa with a kitchen and living room and laundry. There is ice cream available from from first thing in the morning until 9:30 at night. There's a splash pad, 2 pools, an indoor movie theater and an outdoor movie theater, fishing, horseback riding, and I can't even think what else. Even though it's not quite 8pm at home, being up since 4:30am and all the travel has us all ready for bed!