Oh - and that part about Hawaii.......yeah.........scratch that.
Here's the scoop:
On Saturday, we dropped off our car at the airport, shuttled the kids, carseats, double stroller, 3 huge suitcases, and all our carry on's over to the correct terminal, and checked in for our stand-by flight. Our bags got checked, so they got onto the plane, but we did not.
Basically, we repeated this entire process 4 more times and disappointedly came home, whilst our bags chilled out Hawaii waiting for us. We tried going through Maui and even rerouting through Atlanta, but because of Aloha Air and Hawaiian Air going out of business, and the holiday, we were on a huge list of people that could never make it onto the planes.
One of the days, we actually got on, walked all the way down and were just going into the plane door, when we were bumped by one dumb guy that had higher seniority than us! Max cried the whole way out of the airport. :(
Sooooooo.......we called my brother and sister in law to see if we could use their timeshare, and they had compassion on us and hooked us up with a gorgeous resort in St. Augustine, Florida! So, Tuesday we flew out there and had a BLAST relaxing on the beach, checking out the local Alligator Farm, and even Ripley's Believe It Or Not! We spent 4 days there, and then we drove a rental car 1 1/2 hrs.. down to Orlando and hit up DisneyWorld for the rest of the trip. It really was so, SO much fun, and I feel like we've been gone forever.
Here are some highlight pics -
Waitin at the airport - one of the MANY times. PS - DO NOT, under any circumstances, fly standy-by, with small children. Just don't do it.
The resort in St. Augustine.
Getting ready for the BEACH!!
Hudson after eating handfuls of sand
It was SO green there!
Merry go Round at the local park
Shells EVERYWHERE!!
Beach tent = good idea
Disturbing, yes! Ripley's was very........interesting...and weird
Max in the "fat" mirrors. This pic totally cracks me up.
World's biggest Ferris Wheel made out of an Erector Set. This is for you, RJ!
Gerritt savoring some fresh, local Gator tail, coincidentally, just after we left the Alligator Farm..
Park at Alligator Farm
This cobra actually striked at Max a few times! He was so scared, and it was funny.
This guy was NUTS! He was down there in an enclosure with 43 hugemungous alligators!
At the Animal Kingdom in DisneyWorld, on a safari.
Gerritt showing Max the Light Parade at DisneyWorld
This was one of Max's favorite parts
Waiting in line for Small World with two sleeping kids
Notice Hudson's red fro, a product of the humidity I'm hoping..
and, of course the boys had to get their personalized Mickey Mouse ears!
I'm going to be busy catching up on everyone else's blogs for a while, I'm sure. Hope you all had a great Holiday too!
18 comments:
You poor thing! I have heard of so many people getting screwed over on their hawaii vacations! Glad you at least got to go somewhere fun. Looks like you had a blast!
Oh man, I can't believe that happened to you! Such terrible luck! But it looks like Florida worked out great for you too! I bet it was so awesome to get the heck out of dodge!
Wow, what a fun adventure, not the standby part, but the other part. I love the guy with the corndog nose! Sorry you weren't able to make it back to hawaiiland. The point is missing you I'm sure! Glad you're home, we missed you on the Moab trip!
What an ordeal! I'm glad you at least got to go somewhere cool and didn't have to settle for Lagoon or something!
Welcome back!
The airlines did you a favor! Disneyworld is the bomb! Your kiddos looked like they had a blast there!
Sorry for the mix-up but looks like you had a great time! I am glad that you got some vacation out of it! Glad you are back!
i'm so glad you guys made it to some place fun! Looks like it was a blast!
holy moly- what an INSANE story! i'm glad it had such a happy ending, though. actually- right before sarah and michael got married last year, we all went to orlando together and stayed in a place that looked just like that resort because we had similar hook-ups. (gotta love generous people who actually own those places...) isn't it crazy to see how green places are outside of utah? that one shot of the freeway looks like my drive to school everyday. LOVE it. also- we went to a similar gator world place last year and found it equally enjoyable. we also hit up animal kingdom. the pics of ur boys on the beach are so cute. u guys looked like u had a blast! welcome home!
Okay, I didn't want to scare you (but maybe I should have told you?). Sorry about the airport drama. Been there done that (with small child) - NEVER AGAIN (with small child).
Your FL pics look awesome. I've been to the alligator farm, Disney World, etc. and it is pretty fun I must admit. Your resort looks nice, too! Can't really beat a beach resort in Florida, ya? Glad you guys had a great time. And glad to have you home again! :)
Oh my gosh what a pain! i'm so glad it worked out for you though! It looks like a fun vacation. some of those ripley's pictures were disturbing to say the least! I want to go to disneyworld! how fun.
Bummer about Hawaii!!! That stinks....BUT, you made the best of the situation and had fun anyway - - good for you! Great pics by the way!
I love the pics! Especially Hudsons cute smiles, he's such a happy guy!
emily - i love it! cute pictures. sounds like we were in disneyland while you guys were in disneyworld...we'll have to get together and chat!
Too bad about the sucky luck with your flights, but it looks like you really worked it out! I love all the pictures.
CUTE CUTE CUTE! you guys are such a good lookin bunch. Glad you made it to florida! where can I get my hands on a beach tent?? waaaay good idea!
Wow! Sorry you didn't make it to Hawaii! That really stinks, but I am glad you had fun in Florida! The pictures our great!!
We went to that Ripley's museum too. My oldest daughters were 3 and 1 and 1/2 at the time and everything in there freaked them out. They cried the whole time and we rushed through it. Ah memories!
Oh my heck, sounds like a mess! Sorry your Hawaii thing didn't work out, but at least you got to go to a beach... thats all that really matters!
Looks like such a fun trip for plans getting changed around! How fun for the kids, esp Max!
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