A lesson in spontaneity.

We spent all of last week with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my brother in Marathon, FL in the Keys. We had a blast - ate great seafood, played in the beautiful beaches, did some fishing, visited Key West, and spent good quality time together. 

On Saturday, we drug ourselves out of bed early to head (with Rachel and Chris) to the Orlando airport and get back to the real world. As soon as we arrived at our gate, SW was searching for 3 willing ticket holders to fly out later (Monday) on their overbooked flight. We kept hearing them make offers, but didn't think too much of it. The offers kept getting better though, and when I went to the bathroom, Andrew (sneaky boy) went to talk to them about the deal. Because we accounted for all three tickets and only needed one hotel room, they made us an offer we couldn't refuse, even got our bags off the plane for us. Andrew had Monday off, so it didn't take too much effort to convince me that this would be a fun adventure that extended our vacation a little bit. And so, we headed for the hotel, walked to Walgreens to buy more diapers and snacks, let Jackson play in the pool and ride the "exabater" (elevator) - which he liked just as much as the pool - and put the kids to bed. 

At 9pm, we sat on our balcony and started planning for Sunday. We talked several weeks ago about wanting to take Jackson to Disney while he still loved Mickey Mouse, but we debated spending all the money to travel since our kids are so young. Without pictures, he might not remember a thing...and we know that. But, we couldn't pass up the chance to do this...and it was so worth it. A rental car (and carseat), a 20 minute drive (and $5 in tolls), 2 adult and 1 child admission tickets to Magic Kindgom, lunch and dinner inside the park, a tram ride, a monorail ride, a double-stroller rental, an ibuprofen, cotton candy and 6 Mickey Mouse suckers later, we got this.....

And it was worth every penny! I am so glad I let Andrew talk me into this - expensive and unexpected, but so rewarding! We didn't ride everything, do everything, or see everything - how could you with a toddler and infant? It was way more crowded than we like, we waited in line too long in some places, we took turns holding a sleeping almost 11 month old in the heat, and we stayed in the park 12 hours to see the nighttime parade. But none of the effort on our part (because we were both exhausted Sunday night) was without reward. It was perfect.

Jackson, upon seeing Mickey live and in-person, had to be held back from running to him when we met him the first time. Seriously...I had to hold him by the shirt when he tried to take off for Mickey during someone else's picture! And the second? Just as magical! He got to hug Donald and Goofy too. He was thrilled to fly with Peter Pan (laughing at Captain Hook), and he could have ridden the train around the park all day. We found every playground that existed and laughed at pirates and flying elephants. And I'll treasure forever Evie's face on It's a Small World - she sang along the whole time and lit up at all the lights and sights. Andrew and I just laughed as Evie and Jackson giggled and snuggled in the stroller all day as we walked from land to land in search of shade and water and more family rides. 

This is definitely an experience I'll treasure forever. I like to think that I've come a long way in my willingness to be spontaneous. And I'm so grateful for this lesson in spontaneity!