Downtown Disney and Naps Galore

After not even a full week back, this vacation is already becoming a distant memory...thank you everyday life! Let's wrap up the recap so that I can help Mike shovel some more snow.

Our last day in Florida was last Monday. After having rainy and cool days during our time there, the weather on that last day was absolutely perfect - 70 and sunny. To soak up some rays and throw some more money at the Disney corporation, we decided to spend our last few hours there at Downtown Disney. First, though, we had to get packed up.

It was at this point that, after too many days of serious sleep deficiencies, Dylan was DONE. Mike and I were having a hard time getting any of our packing done because Dylan was whiny and just wanted to be held. Mind you packing was no easy feat without balancing a child as well. Between suitcase weight restrictions, a limited amount of "extra" room that we came down with and too many souvenirs, it was quite the task to get strategically packed such that we could get our luggage on the plane without hundreds of dollars in baggage fees.

With no hands free from holding Dylan, I finally decided to put him in the backpack so I could attempt to make check out time. Fairly soon after settling down there, he fell asleep. Poor guy! So, I shifted the pack around front and relaxed to let the little man enjoy a snooze. During this time, Mike went down to the UPS store to ship the big bear and Mickey balloon home. After a week of hemorrhaging money at Disney, the expense didn't seem extravagant. If you had ask me a week before if I would ever be so ridiculous to spend a ton of money shipping a balloon and a carnival stuffed animal home, I would have laughed in your face. What a difference a week makes, huh?

My Napping Boy

With a little nap under Dylan's belt and a successful packing of the suitcases, we made it out of the hotel just a minute before our official check out time and headed to meet the rest of the family at Downtown Disney.

Once there, we did what we had been doing best all week - shop! Dylan adopted a couple more must have stuffed animals and I finally found the souvenir sweat shirt I'd been looking for all week. We had a bite to eat and just enjoyed the last bit of time that the group had all together. A couple of hours later, it was time to head to the airport.

Very soon after getting in the car, Dylan snuggled with his new Tigger stuffed animal\pillow and let his heavy eyes drift off into another nap.

With the rush we had getting to the airport in Boston, we left ourselves ample time this go round. The car was returned, we checked in, got through security and bought some snacks for the plane all with time to spare. Just after we boarded and got settled in our seats, Dylan stretched out across his Dad and laid down onto the Tigger in my lap and was out - for an hour and 15 minutes! This is the child that doesn't nap on planes. After he woke up, he looked at both of us with super sleepy eyes then nuzzled down on his Daddy's shoulder to sleep another 15 or 20 minutes. This child was pooped out!

It was probably the easiest flight we've taken with Dylan. Not only did he sleep half of the time but we also had an extra seat. Nice! When we took off in Florida, it was 70. Upon landing in Boston, the temperature was announced - 7 degrees! Now that's a big difference!

We got off the plane, bundled up, grabbed our bags and ran out to catch the shuttle to our parking lot without having to stand in the cold. As we approached our car from the shuttle, Mike noticed something on the side of the car. Since we'd missed a big snow storm, I presumed it was probably just snow. Once off the shuttle we realized it definitely was not snow, it was Dylan's beloved "yaya!" His night time must have snuggle buddy was dirty and frozen and "safely" wrapped around the door handle. Spending a week on the side of a car through a snow storm must have been quite the adventure for yaya. Oh the stories he could tell!

On the way back to the house, we called in a pizza, Dylan fell asleep again, and we safely arrived home. The first words out of Dylan's mouth after he woke were Luci and Oliver....they had greeted us at the door. Dylan seemed genuinely excited to see them and be home. Yes, it was a great vacation but it was also great to be home.

We walked around the house to visit all the other animals and also let Smokey, the chinchilla, out to play. Dylan pointed at her and called her Stitch (as in Lilo and Stitch). Stitch was the big eared, big eyed, energetic little martian. And, well, Smokey does resemble her. I'm thinking the inspiration behind Stitch very well could have been a chinchilla.

After a very long day, it was an early bed time for all. We all had a wonderful time in Florida and have some great memories to share for a life time. Oh, and with the stuffed animal count at a total of 7 for the trip, we also have lots more friends to play with at home.