- The purpose of the trip south was to take a cruise with my parents and my sister and her family for my parents' 50th anniversary. Before the ship sailed out, we decided to hit Disney and Universal to (to quote my husband) "do it now while we're down there, so we'll never have to do it again". Although the exhausting theme park vacations are not his choice (he's more of a National Parks kind of guy), we all had a wonderful time. We laughed and laughed and laughed together during the trip. It was wonderful family time.
- The weather in Florida was a bit chilly (although substantially better than it was at home, we heard). By the last day at Universal, the "real feel" was 37 degrees! We had on winter coats and gloves, but the upside to the less-than-amazing weather was that the lines were significantly shorter, and the kids got to ride several rides multiple times.
- My 11-year-old is a Harry Potter fan (to put it mildly), as are my oldest two children. My son had saved his money to buy a wand, and was thrilled to pieces when he was chosen for the coveted wand ceremony. We all were so excited for him (and I admit I had tears in my eyes) as the HP guy (I'm sure he has a technical HP title, but I have no idea what it is) tried out several wands until the correct want chose him -- with lots of sound and light effects. Our son was beyond elated to have the experience, and went around Universal the next two days using the wand on the interactive store windows. He guarded the wand with his life (that is possibly not an understatement), and wouldn't let anyone else come near it. It was wonderful to see him so excited.
- At Disney, my husband offered to let my eldest daughter and I go to Epcot by ourselves. Yes, he took the other four kids to Hollywood Studios to enjoy those shows and rides, and my girl and I walked 11 miles and took in all the countries in Epcot.
- After Disney and Universal, we met up with our family and boarded the cruise ship. I had had some apprehension about sailing (re: my severe hatred of expansion bridges and large bodies of water), but I knew my fears were silly and all would be fine. We had a great reunion and got settled in, and then the ship took off. . .into very, very choppy waters. There was a lot of wind, and the sailing was rough. I was struggling to balance my nerves with what I knew to be true --that we were safe. Several of our family members were quite seasick, but none of the adults were worried. . .except me. When we sat down to our formal dinner that night, one of the prep stations right by our table (and some shelving units in the kitchen) crashed down loudly during one particularly tumultuous wave. One of my kids asked me if we were going to drown, and I had to put on a brave face and assure the child that we were perfectly safe. Over the next 24 hours, I ate little and prayed continually. By the next afternoon, my anxiety had subsided and I felt more like myself (and was able to enjoy all the cruise food!!).
- We had a wonderful time all together on the cruise, and had many opportunities to celebrate my mom and dad. We got to talk, laugh and simply be together, which is hard to come by as everyone is pulled in many directions.
It was a wonderful break, full of family, food and fun. Tonight as we are settling in, getting ready for work and school tomorrow, I am reflecting on the many blessings we were gifted through our time together. I am grateful for the example of marriage my parents have shown to us in their 50 years, and I am grateful for the gift of family.
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