Thankful for Enough

Craig and I recently decided to take a 24 hour trip to Disney World...yes you read that right. 24 hours, people! In my usual orderly fashion I mistook certain dates for others and wound up scheduling two trips back to back which left us exactly 24 hours to drive to Orlando, sleep, get up and visit Mickey at Magic Kingdom, and drive back. Why not, right? I am still young, I'll sleep later. That is what I kept telling Craig of course. What I am leaving out is that Craig and I had plane tickets to fly to Philadelphia the morning after our return from Orlando. So our trip/trips started out a little like this...

Tuesday Evening-Pack our bags and load the car

Wednesday-Everyone goes to school

After school 3pm- Load Car with excited and always starved children, embark on our journey.

3:30 pm-Rae has to poop

4:00 pm- Back on the Road!

5:30 pm- Addie has to poop, everyone is hungry, we need gas, Rae has a fever and a sore throat. Great.

5:45 pm-Children's Tylenol bought and dispensed, food being rationed out, everyone has pooped

8 pm-Get a text from our friends that have already arrived asking where we are...I realize I forgot about the time change and disappoint our friend's children.

10 pm-Finally arrive at the Hotel, hug some of my favorite people in the lobby tight! So excited to see my sweet friend Susan.

10:01 pm-Man behind the desk asks me if I am sure I reserved the room in my name. Ummm, yes duh!

10:02 pm-Digging through my bags to find the confirmation paper I printed out

10:05 pm-"Ma'am...um, you are at the wrong hotel...You made reservations at another Radisson in Orlando." By the way...just for your info...there are 5 Radisson's in Orlando.

10:06 pm- I don't care, I am tired, I pay for another night at this hotel and figure that I will argue for the other refund later.

11:30 pm- Finally get everyone settled in. I lay down with Addie and she asks me that if Mickey has a piece of candy in his pocket, can she eat it. And as I am answering her she tells, "Mommy, youwr bref stinks...it smells like ketchup." I laugh because what else am I going to do.

Thursday 3 am- I am up, thinking about things that I shouldn't be and worrying about my Rae. I pray and pray...for all the things on my mind especially my sick little girl.

4 am- Wake Rae up to give her medicine...she has a fever, she throws up...OH MY GOSH! Wake up Craig...decide to take her to the ER so that we may salvage something from the day to come.

5 am-Craig and Rae out the door

5:30 am- "Mommy? Is it time to see Mickey yet?" "No, Addie Grace...he is still sleeping and so are you." Wishful thinking...she is up!

9 am- We are dressed, fed and ready to go. Craig and Rae have just returned and she has strep throat and got two shots in her hiney...her throat feels great, but now her butt hurts so bad she can't sit down. Whatever...WE ARE GOING AND WE WILL HAVE FUN! I look at Susan and tell her that Rae is contagious...she looks at me and smiles, "This will be the best case of strep my kids will ever get." I love her...this trip is worth it.

9:30 am- Addison sees Cinderella's Castle for the first time and her eyes are as big as the sun. This trip is worth it!

9:45 am- Rae rides Space Mountain with Susan and I and her friends...twice. She is feeling good.

2 pm- Big parade down Main Street...with all the characters. Addie sees the princesses and her face is priceless. I am thankful that I am wearing sunglasses because I start to well up and think how magical this is for her and wish I had an ounce of that left.

7pm-Loading up tired kids into the monorail...it breaks down...then goes backward and we have to walk a mile to our car. At this point...who cares. It is all worth it.

7:30 pm- Hug one of my best friends goodbye and for the sake of not crying I say something funny instead of telling her how much I truly miss her.

7:35 pm- On the road again...crying of course and wishing we were driving to Missouri and not staying in Florida. I catch myself and think...I am thankful for enough. Even if enough consists of less than expected circumstances...I am thankful to have had at least that.


Was I crazy to attempt Disney in a day? I say no. When all was said and done we all had our one moment that made it all worthwhile. I saw Addie's face light up at the Magic of fairytale and fantasy. Craig was able to spend time with all of us as a family and to play with the girls which doesn't happen too much because of his work schedule. Rae and Addison learned a thing about true friendship...no matter what they are there for you and will even hold your hand when you have strep throat...which happened a lot that day. As we drove out of the Disney gates, Rae asked what each of our favorite thing was about the day. I said seeing Susan and spending the day with her and her family, Craig said riding Space Mountain with Rae and her friends, Addie said seeing Cinderella's Castle, and Rae, after listening to everyone else said, "I am thankful for the friends and family that were around me today." There isn't much more you can say than that.

Hope you and your families all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.