Sunday, June 12, 2011

Vacation: the drive


We were told that we were crazy for attempting to drive 18 hours with two small kids. We actually thought it was crazy ourselves but the thought of taking the boys on a plane had me nervous. Yes, I'm one of those incredibly fearful of flying people. I can do it and have often and even overseas, I just wasn't ready to try it with the boys. I know the statistics are far better for flying but there is just something about soaring miles above the ground that freaks me out. Maybe next time...

The boys were such troopers for the drive there. I thought it was going to be much worse. Especially when 15 minutes outside of Springfield Drew said, "How much longer do we have to go?" Mike and I glanced at each other with a look that said "What in the world were we thinking!?!" Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. There was very little whining, only a few fights, and many, many hours spent watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Marmaduke. We departed Springfield at about 3:00 p.m on Friday after Mike got home from work and arrived in Kissimmee, Florida at about 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. I never thought we would make it straight through and figured we would stop midway and then attack the second half of the drive the next day. But Mike was determined. 


He has spent the last few years of his job driving for long periods of time so it was a piece of cake for him. The boys both dozed off around 11:00 p.m. and slept until sunrise in Florida. 


We had many laughs along the way that added to the vacation fun. The bumpy bridge, Drew saying he was going to "hold it" until Florida, Jackson constantly asking if we were going to Mickey's house, reading funny signs, the scary bathroom, the no air conditioning McDonald's...

It was quite the drive!

6 comments:

dawn said...

Hi Allison, so glad you posted and let us know how you did. So glad it went ok, next time you can share your plans early with us and we can give you tips and ideas. But then again your pretty clever and crafty.
I hear you about the flying part not my thing either. But for my daughter whose graduating from college this week means showing my love and flying to Florida to see her graduate. So you won't hear from me for a while but plan on catching up when I get back. Hope you have some Disney photos to show by then. Have a great week. Oh and let us know how the trip back home was, sometimes those are the worse because all the fun is over.

Amy from KC said...

Glad the drive went well. It sounds as if you planned strategically so that the drive would take advantage of normal sleeping time for the boys. (So smart!) I hope the trip has been wonderful. My favorite part of WDW is getting to see everything through the my son's eyes.

Luv2talk said...

Disney REALLY IS "The happiest place on earth!" Hope you all had a great time. I miss those magical years. Now both my boys know that there is someone in the costume. Life was a little sweeter when they didn't:)

Can't wait to see the LOs.

Lisa G. said...

Sounds like an adventure!! I hear you about the flying, I try to explain that part to people too, if the plane falls out of the sky what are my chances? Where as if I crash in a car I like those chances much better. ;) I'm glad you and your family are safe....now have fun!!!

Jennifer Boehme said...

Glad it went well for y'all! We went the same time you did but no way was I driving with my two kids! We drove 5 hrs last year for vacation at it was crazy! I loved getting there in 3 hrs with peace and quite the whole way!

Shari Thurman said...

Glad to see you had a good trip. We drove straight through the way back from Florida. I think with little kids, it's almost easier that way. Hard on the adults though. I look forward to seeing all the amazing layouts you will be creating about your trip.