Once we knew Cooper was going to be OK and was released from the hospital after a few hours at the ER, we decided we'd play things by ear from that point forward. We had a reservation for me to swim with the dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium on Friday but if Cooper wasn't doing well we would skip that. Thankfully, by Friday morning Cooper was already happy and doing really well so off we went - a 2 hour drive from Naples to Miami so I could frolic with dolphins :). Vacation pics will be posted soon here on the blog.
By the end of the day Friday, Bob and I decided we wanted to spend our final couple days of our FL vacation on our own doing things we'd hoped to do (Disney parks) but that weren't possible to do with the entire family, for various reasons. Friday night once we were back in Naples we packed up and loaded up the car and set out for Orlando (a 3-4 hour drive).
We stayed at the Residence Inn Buena Vista Lake and we loved it - so close to the parks and offered the full kitchen (frig, microwave, dishwasher), plus complimentary breakfast, internet access, and parking. We got in late (around 12:30 am) and didn't end up going to bed til 2 am because we had to wash and fill bottles, organize laundry, and create a game plan for the one day we had there. We decided we'd sleep in so we would all be plenty rested, get breakfast, and then clean up and head out to the parks in the following order: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and if we were still standing we'd spend the dark part of the evening back at Magic Kingdom.
Our plan turned out well. There isn't a lot of things at any of the parks that would fascinate a 9 month old baby but we figured out ahead of time what Cooper would enjoy. The train ride and various wild bird exhibits and Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Country Bears Jamboree at Magic Kingdom (plus all the bouquets of balloons vendors sell throughout the park - he loves to see balloons LOL), and then the Nemo ride and sea aquariums at Epcot. In between the Cooper-focused rides we squeezed in meals, snacks, and occasional rides that we might enjoy but knew Cooper would be bored by. I can not believe "the Carousel of Progress" is still in operation and hasn't been updated to make it more interesting - talk about a snoozer for all - taking up valuable real estate at the park!!
Even though our day of parks didn't start til nearly lunch time on Saturday, we managed to achieve our plan. Woohoo! Cooper did really well in spite of not getting his usual naps - there was just so much to look at and see that he wouldn't close his eyes until we got into the Country Bears Jamboree and he started to hear the banjos. BINGO. Banjo music - our secret sleep weapon. Within two minutes Cooper was sound asleep in my arms as we watched and listened to mechanical bears playing bluegrass music LOL. After the show was over we put Cooper into the flat reclined position in the stroller where he continued his nap while we had an early dinner.
Cooper loves water - waterfalls, bodies of water, fish tanks - if there's water involved he wants to be involved. Ever water feature we passed was greeted with flailing arms and kicking legs and Cooper screaming out in excitement! So he enjoyed Epcot the most this time where he rode a Nemo ride and got to see "The Seas" exhibits and all the waterfalls around the park. Too cute.
Cooper's 2nd nap came when it got dark while we were at Epcot. He slept in his stroller as we began making our way around the Lake to visit the countries. We realized at that point that we had only 30 minutes before the big Illuminations show with fireworks and that if that started while we were still there Cooper would have a major fit - he does not like loud noises. So we didn't stop at any of the countries - we just enjoyed a brisk stroll past them all as we headed for the park exit to get back onto the monorail where we figured we could shield Cooper from the booms of the fireworks show. We made it out of there just in time but once we got to the transfer station where we were faced with either boarding the next train to Magic Kingdom or the next tram to the parking lot we decided we were done for the night and needed to ensure a good night's sleep before another big day of driving back to the Fort Myers area where we'd be departing from on Monday.
Sunday morning we had breakfast, did our laundry, washed and filled bottles, and pulled things out of our luggage to ship home to lighten the load on our journey home. By about 11:30 am we headed out of the hotel, found the FedEx store and shipped stuff home, then got on the road for Fort Myers. We made a few stops along the way (Dunkin Donuts for me ;), diaper changes for Cooper, and gas for the rental)...and about 4 hours later we were at the Embassy Suites hotel in Estero, just a few miles from where we were departing the next day.
We got settled in, a quick trip to crapmart to pick up some more formula since we'd run out, and then met my parents for dinner. Monday morning we packed up and headed to the airport to start the journey home. We arrived in L.A. late Monday night after flying from Fort Myers to Minneapolis and then on to L.A. from there. While at MSP I bought $50 worth of Power Ball tickets and started day dreaming about winning the $150M jackpot. :) Sadly, we lost $47, and just got back $3 with one ticket that we got the PB number on. Oh well!!
Stay tuned for upcoming posts with pics from our vacation. :)
1 comment:
Sounds like you 3 had a great time on vacation! I think you have all earned it
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