Better late than never, eh?
So – we went to Orlando in May 2010 so Rick could do a triathlon. Seems that most of our vacation are “working” vacations, we never go anywhere just for the heck of it. My dad & Shaners came with us, and Rick’s entire family met up with us down there. Here weego.
Friday – travel day to Flordida. Mallory was concerned that the captain of the airplane wouldn’t know where we were going and told me she’d tell him. She was obsessed with finding our gate (love that she knows her numbers so I could tell her to just look for the sign with a seven and a three on it). Shane & Mallory had so much fun on the moving walkways, with Carson right behind them. It was super cute. The kids were all good on the plane (I think? It’s been a few weeks so maybe my memory is going) – but I do know that at one point we harnessed Carson in Mallory’s carseat, because it was easier to have her on our laps than it was to wrangle him. We got to our hotel later than expected but still had time to swim real quick. We stayed at the same resort we did two years ago and we again were not disappointed. A million pools, great two-bedroom condo, screened-in porch. It was perfect.
Saturday – I need to do a flow chart to follow the events of this day. Rick & I had to go to the sales presentation so that we could get the great deal we did on the room. We took Carson with us in the hopes that he’d be an idiot and we’d be able to get out of the presentation quickly. But no…my good boy fell asleep. Argh!
My dad took the kids to the pool while we were getting pressured, and when we got out of the presentation, Rick had to go to registration for his race. He thought that I’d want to go with him, so that I could see where to go. Um no thanks. I’d like to go to the pool, please and thank you! Rick’s dad & step-mom drove over from Tampa for the night so they could see the kids (and supposedly us too…) so it was fun for them to spend time with M & C. Then I had to drive my dad out to a high school friend’s house who lives near Orlando and I took Mallory with me. She was shy with Rick’s dad & Terry but the biggest reason is that I knew she needed to sleep. Smart momma that I am – she was OUT before we got on the expressway, so it was a good almost 2-hour nap for her, that she desperately needed.
That night, Rick wanted TGIFridays for his pre-race dinner. I don’t know if I should have been surprised or not.
Sunday – RACE DAY – Rick got his sister or his dad to take him to the race (I’m just thankful that I didn’t have to get up that early!) but as soon as we all got moving, everyone headed to Disney. His triathlon was actually on the property (Fort Wilderness) so we got to park in the Grumpy lot to take a bus to where the race was. We got there in time to see Rick make the transition from bike to run – and we were all yelling and cheering for him, but he was so “in the zone” that he couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t want to hear us and Mallory got *very* distressed and started to cry because her daddy wasn’t listening to her. Mama Bear (that’s me) yelled “RICK, WAVE AT YOUR DAUGHTER!” and he gave a quick hi before heading out for the final leg of his race. 
Flordida was HOT, like SUPER DUPER I don’t know how people can stand it hot. And it was only May. Rick & I were down there in July the summer that I was pregnant with Mallory and HOLY COW was it hot. I can tell you that much to my step-mother-in-law’s chagrin, we will never move there.
We had some time to kill while Rick ran; luckily there was a great little playground. Oh, I should point out that I came out of the restroom at this point to find my step-mother-in-law holding my brand-new fancy $400 lens…that had fallen off my stroller and someone found on the ground and for some (insanely lucky for me) reason asked my SMIL if it was mine. How whoever picked her out of all of the people there to ask, I don’t know but thank GOD they did. Rick would have kicked my ass, even after just completing a 70.3 mile race.
After some playtime and some snacks in the shade, Mallory, Shane & I camped out near the finish line and waited. And waited. And waited. Everytime I’ve watched Rick race, I never recognize him until he’s right in front of me, but this time I got smarter and remembered he was wearing a Michigan hat and shirt. So we saw him run down the chute (again, too much in the zone to say high or slap Shane’s hand, blah) and I was reminded that we need a better post-race meet-up plan.
Rick’s dad, step-mom and sister stayed with Rick at the race so the rest of us could head back to the hotel. My cousins had driven up from the Miami-ish area for the day to see my dad and I wanted to spend some time with them. They have a little boy who is about four months younger than Carson who we hadn’t met yet.
The rest of the day was spent at the pool, just relaxing. Rick’s dad & Terry had to head back to Tampa so we only got a short visit with them, but it’s always fun to see them!
Check back later for the rest of the trip – two days at Disney and princess breakfasts and rollercoasters, oh my!
Sounds like it was a wonderful trip and a great opportunity to catch up with family.
“I can tell you that much to my step-mother-in-law’s chagrin, we will never move there.”
Never say never :) Besides hot is better than snow and ice anyday. Plus you get fewer colds in warm weather.