Fun in the Sun

Derek and I just got back from the best trip to Orlando. We got to spend 6 days there - without kids. Crazy eh? HP invited 500 of their employees, and spouses, for an annual program they hold and this year Derek got invited to go. It's held at one of the Disney World Resorts and is first class all the way.
We had to be at the kick-off dinner at 6:30 Wednesday night and since we couldn't get there by that time by leaving on Wednesday we got to leave Tuesday (the biggest scare of the trip came when we checked in at the airport and found out that our plane was delayed enough that we were going to miss our connecting flight, so they tried to put us on a red-eye flight that would have landed in Orlando at 6:00 Wednesday morning! Luckily a different airline had room on their flights to get us there Tuesday night at 11:30).
Because we got there Tuesday night we all day Wednesday to ourselves since the HP things didn't start until that evening. Animal Kingdom - here we come! Derek and I had heard that Animal Kingdom had a great roller coaster called Expedition Everest and an awesome safari attraction. All of Magic Kingdom could fit inside this safari. You ride in these trucks and see awesome wildlife - a giraffe came right up to our truck. It was incredible - maybe our favorite thing out of all the parks. It was so foreign to be at Disney World with no kids - everywhere I looked there were strollers and crying kids and Derek and I were empty handed! We told each other we'd only do rides that had height requirements just because we had no kids. It was sad every time we saw a character to be there without kids - I felt like I was betraying them when we just walked past Mickey and Minnie (I consoled myself with a giant roller coaster ride though).
The only HP things on Thursday were breakfast and a dinner program so Derek and I went to Hollywood Studios. Two reasons why we picked that park - Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster (a roller coaster in the dark that takes you from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds!). We saw a few stunt shows and almost melted in the 80 degree, 96% humidity weather!
Friday morning we had an HP breakfast where they had as a guest speaker the first American woman to summit Mt. Everest. She was awesome as she told about climbing it. That ended our HP part of the trip and we could come home then . . . but we were all the way in Florida, so why not stay throughout the weekend eh?
Friday we went to Universal Studios and then went to see Blue Man Group that night. We were all excited to go because we got front row tickets - which was in the 'poncho section' - because paint might get splashed on you they provide ponchos for everyone in the first three rows. The downside to being so close was that they picked poor audience members to come up and be a part of their act - and lucky Derek got picked! He had to go up and be a part of it - I was laughing so hard I was crying! Blue Man Group was my favorite thing out of the trip.
Saturday we went to an indoor sky diving wind tunnel. You take a 30 minute class, put on a flight suit and helmet, and then they let you go in this wind tunnel with 1000 horsepowered fans blowing air at you. You have an instructor in there with you so it's not scary. You just stand at the doorway and fall in and the air takes you up. It was awesome! Skydivers practice all of their manuevers there because you can stay up as long as you want. Afterwards we went to a lake to go on an airboat ride and look for alligators. All we saw were two bumps out in the water that our guide said were alligator heads (I think they might have put logs out there just in case you don't see anything your guide can take all these tourists there, tell them their alligators really far away and everyone's happy). Afterwards we did get to hold a baby alligator though - and that thing was creepy! For dinner that night we went to a Pirates Dinner show - it was really fun and both Derek and I had to participate (Derek had to do the can-can with a bunch of guys!).
Sunday the vacation was over and we had to come home. I was so excited to see the kids and I thought they would come with my mom to pick us up. No, when asked who wanted to come the the airport all of my kids who can talk said 'no thanks' - Logan came to get us only because he can't voice an opinion! I couldn't believe my kids were completely indifferent to us being gone! And then that Logan . . . I was so excited to see him that I threw open the van door to see him and he burst into tears! So I unbuckle him - still bawling, give him to Derek - still bawling, he gives him to my mom - stops bawling. Can you believe it? That was quite a welcome home! But of course that only means my kids were so happy to be with their grandparents - and of course that's what I want (though coming to the airport wouldn't kill them!).
Now of course this whole trip couldn't have happened without my parents being so willing to tend my kids. My mom had to take days off of work to tend, they had to move into my house so kids could sleep in their own beds, ride the bus, go to preschool and all the rest. I had 7 pages of instructions for my mom! They took Tyler to his school concert, got kids to all the places they had to be, do naps, baths, homework, dinner, and see Logan in the middle of the night! And things at my house were better when I got home than when I left it - my mom thought one of my pans was a bit too old (and that's putting it mildly!) so I came home to new pans, fixed bumper pads on Logan's crib, and the weeks' worth of laundry done They were incredible to be so happy to tend for 6 days, they made it so easy the big joke was that we might extend our vacation a little - I promised I'd be home by Thanksgiving - and I am. We had a great trip.