Our First Family Vacation!

(Originally blogged April 11, 2007 on a different blog and transferred over)

I'm Baaaaacckkkk!

Yeah, like you couldn't tell?

I figured you all would like the rundown of our very first FAMILY vacation with the boys so I guess I will give it to you!

On Sunday the 1st we had to wake the boys up somewhere around 5. Believe it or not it worked pretty good. When we woke up we opened our door and their door and turned on the hall light and within minutes Johnny was up, and about a half hour later Dominic woke up. You would think if they were anything like their mother that waking up that early in the morning would make them grumpy....but no they were in really good moods!

So anyway, we went to the airport and let me tell you security sucks when you have twins to bring through. I understand the need for such high security and am grateful for it, but we went up the first time and no one wrote "Infant In Arms" on our boarding passes so we had to go back and wait in line. Then we get up there again and had to have our Benedryl and Apple Juice and Snacks declared for the boys and written on our boarding passes, then of course you have to dig all those out of your carry on all the while with a crying toddler on your hip crying because his Elmo Juice Cup is on the conveyor belt going through the x-ray scanner and he can't have it. Let's not even talk about they make you take their shoes off too and fold up the stroller and place them on the conveyor belt. Your shoes, and stroller...not the toddlers!

So, through all this we eventually get to the gate. I take one boy at a time and change diapers and give them benedryl. They were able to run around and work off the sugar high that benedryl gives them for about a half an hour then we board the flight and take off. Johnny ended up falling alseep on me but then Dominic started crying because he wanted me. The problem with that is FAA regulations don't allow twins to sit next to one another on a flight. I should say twins under 2. The reason for that is in case of an emergency there would not be enough oxygen masks. But the flight attendants were very nice and understanding and let Dominic come over to me. So I had Johnny sleeping on my left leg and Dominic sleeping on my right shoulder.

They actually did really, really well on the flight! The benedryl worked really great for them and perhaps getting up so early worked great for them too. We got down to our condo which was really nice, we had a screened in porch and right out of that was this grassy courtyard area..we had ducks out there every morning and of course the pool was near that....

Monday we tried to keep the boys to their normal schedule as much as possible which worked out pretty good. At lunchtime we went to the Owner's Pool Party Picnic and had really good food and music and walking back to our villa we found a children't playground so that was a nice relaxing day. We took the boys in the pool for the first time and they loved it. Not at first but then they warmed up to it. Johnny is like a little fish and just wanted me to let him go to swim by himself he would kick and paddle and jump into my arms...now I am thinking about swim lessons for him because he is so good...Dominic was just content to play on the side with daddy with their sand toys.

Tuesday we drove down to Cocoa Beach and took the boys to the beach for the very first time. They didn't really like that at all. Johnny had more fun putting water and sand into his bucket and eating it and Dominic was just content to sit there and eat his little picnic lunch and watch the birds. The ocean they hated.

Of course I got sunburned, even after putting on sunblock but I sitll had a great time. The boys passed out so tired on the way back to Orlando though.

Thursday we took the boys to SeaWorld. Which didn't go all that well. It was hot and they were tired from not having a nap that day so they were a little grumpy. Plus, it's hard because all the shows and exhibits you can't take a stroller through. We made it to the Clyde and Seymore Seal Lion show and ended up leaving early because their attention span just isn't there yet. We never saw the Shamu show (my favorite) because every one was full. But we did see Shamu in the underwater viewing and I took Dominic through the shark exhibit was got about a million "Wow"'s. But the savior of the day was the ELMO SHOW!!! Elmo and the Book-A neers to be exact. Thank God for Elmo! They freaking loved that show though!

On Friday we found the best Outlet Mall EVER! It was all designer stores. We're talking Armani, Burberry, Coach, BCBG, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Ferragamo, Movado, Gucci, you name it they had it. I did a little damage in Coach picking up a new purse and wallet but I was on vacation! My husband managed to get a Movado watch which he has always wanted. The watch was normally $1600 but they were having their annual sale to make way for new stock so he managed to get it for less than $500.

On Saturday we did Downtown Disney. Actual Magic Kingdom Disney just wasn't going to work for us. It's $70 a ticket and the boys can't do anything. Sure they can go on like 2 rides or so but then you have to wait in line for an hour...I just couldn't see spending all that money just to walk around the park. They might have like the parades though but at this point they are just too young for Disney. So we did downtown disney instead.

Sunday was my mom's birthday and Easter and it was considerably colder than the normal 80's all week. We went out to dinner at a Lobster place which was horrible! Johnny was so bad. He grabbed the lobster right off my plate and then started shoveling the food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in a year. And he had just finished eating his whole dinner. It was so bad...there was such a mess everywhere. Which now at least my mom understands why we don't take them to restaurants.

And of course Monday night we came home. We did the whole airport thing again but this time their sugar high from the benedryl was 10 times worse. Johnny finally collapsed on me just as they were beginning boarding and he slept until an hour in the flight but Dominic was sooooooo bad on the flight. Finally the flight attendants let us all sit in one row to try to help but at that point Johnny was awake and they were both just so bad. Just because on a flight for 2 hours and 20 minutes they can't go anywhere. They didn't want anything...no juice, snacks, toys, video...nothing. Then when we were landing they were mesmerized by everything outside. So that at least gave us 15 minutes of peace and quiet.

The worst thing that happened all vacation started the first night. Johnny woke up at 1:30 in the morning and cried. Now usually he does this every once in a while but he cries for literally a minute and he falls back to sleep. My mom, not knowing this picked him up and brought him into our room. He slept between John and I fine. But the same thing happened the next night until finally by the third night Dominic caught on and John slept on the sleeper sofa in the living room, while I had the boys in the bed with me. I think it was Wednesday night where Dominic woke up at 1:30 in the morning and couldn't get comfortable sleeping and I was awake from 1:30 in the morning on. I never fell back to sleep. It was so bad. I literally had 2 hours sleep that whole night. But by the last two nights they were both sleeping through the night again.
But in that time Johnny ended up getting a cold, then Dominic, then John & I. We took Zicam. John finished his doses I couldn't do it, the second time I took it I almost puked so I figured having a cold is better.

Of course now I am sicker than a dog but I am home! And that right now is all that matters!