Behind the Stone Wall: Welcome Home, Pappa Smurf

So……. I am back………. Vacation is O-V-E-R……….. I am in mourning.

I know you have been dying to hear ALL about it, and let me reassure you that I have been dying to tell you ALL about it.

If you are a regular reader, you probably know that I was stressed about travelling with Little Man. I asked for all the advice I could possibly get, I packed my bags as tightly as I could, I made phone calls, read articles, but nothing could prepare me for how easy it was….

For the record, I am a huge fan of TSA. A lot of people complain about the invasion of privacy they get at the airport, but I would much rather take ridiculous precautions and be safe than not. They were extremely helpful and friendly to us, while checking through our bags and scanning our luggage. They have a special lane for families to alleviate the jam up that can happen from travelling with all the extra stuff that little ones demand.

We arrived at Philly International around 7 am, a little early considering our flight did not leave until 10 am, but our ride had other responsibilities to attend to and we are known for being meticulously early for these types of things. (Remember the time we arrived at the airport 6 hours early, Honey?) After cruising through security, we arrived at our gate around 7:15 am and noticed that there was an earlier flight heading to our destination. With a little coaxing, Techy managed to change our tickets to the earlier flight, and off we went.

The only down side to changing tickets was that we were not able to sit together. I was about 10 rows behind Techy with the baby. A potentially bad situation, considering how nervous I was. But for a first flight with Little Man, we couldn’t have picked a better destination. The flight was packed with kids heading to the wonderful world of Disney. And seated across the aisle from Little Man and I were the most memorable characters of the day. 2 Gentlemen in their late 30’s – obviously single. They were part of a group of 18 heading to Disney. They boarded the flight with their poor, poor mother, who was 2 rows in front of them. They made very loud, very obnoxious, very funny comments to her the whole time… “MOMMY, want some liquor? I do! I want a cocktail!” “MOMMY, look, I found the ONE!” To the lucky, new-found bride-to-be: “Wanna move into my mommy’s basement with me?” The 2 of them made more noise than all the kids combined. And I was worried that Little Man would cause a distraction!

We flew into Orlando, MCO airport. I have to say MCO is the nicest airport I have ever been in…it is beautiful, friendly, comfortable…everything you could ever dream of from an airport.

Our resort was about an hour and 45 minutes away from the airport. And totally worth the drive. We stayed at Cinnamon Beach which is a part of Ocean Hammock Beach Resort. It was gorgeous. It was awesome. It was the nicest place we have ever stayed. The amenities were amazing. The wildlife was breathtaking. The privacy was startling.

I promise to post pictures as soon as Techy finishes editing some of them.
So far, the most of what I have is of us and not of the resort, but in case you were wondering....