Orlando - Part One

This free digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox We didn't actually intend to go to Orlando.  Basically we have had a vacation to the beach scheduled since January.  (FYI, my husband is not really a fan of the beach.  Our beach vacation is my selfish way of saying "I drove 57000 miles to school and doctors/dentist appointments this year and you friggin owe me!"  Luckily, Kevin is very understanding and  as long as his laptop works, what difference does location make to him?) Anyway, Kevin had to attend a conference in Orlando.  He suggested Disney.  I reminded him that it would cost us 13 million dollars to take 5 kids to Disney.  He suggested Universal Studios.  I looked it up.  Wow...we might actually be able to afford Universal.  By the time Kevin explained that the room and mileage would be covered by his employer, my mind had been changed.  It almost seemed like it would be fiscally irresponsible not to go.  (Yeah...just kidding.  Although I use this same rationale when I shop at Kohl's.) My next big reservation was the 12 hour drive.  When motivated, we can make it to the Gulf Coast in 7 1/2 hours.  Orlando takes 12 hours on a good day and we don't actually have a lot of good travel days.  But guess what?  We had a really good travel day.  We left the house by 6AM.  We always plan to leave at 6 AM and usually leave by 9.  The kids were patient and not total brats.  Kevin and I listened to the audiobook of Stuff Christian's Like by Jon Acuff.  Go read that book immediately if you haven't already done so. So overall the drive went great and we actually made it to Orlando before sunset.  We celebrated by eating Giordano's famous stuffed pizza.  No way Disney could compete with that pizza.