one step forward...two steps backward

This morning Love Bug and The Mayor both woke up fever free again.  They were in the best moods playing and running around.  I just knew we were past the worst and both were going to school tomorrow.

We even ventured out to run a few quick errands.  We ran to Target to buy Love Bug a new pillow and then went to get The Mayor's haircut.  We were home for lunch and then I put Love Bug down for a nap.  While she was napping, I asked The Mayor if he wanted to get into bed with me (I was so tired and needed a nap).  I told him I would let him watch TV and he cuddled in and rested with me.  After about an hour, I noticed his nose was running more and his cough had picked up.  He got up and went to the bathroom, came out, looked sick and told me he needed to rest.  I touched him and could feel him burning up with fever.  I checked and it was 101.6.  An hour later, it was already over 103.  Two days of no fever and then this relapse.  This flu is never going away.

He feel asleep on the couch at 5:00 while D and I were making dinner.  We woke him up to eat, but he had no appetite again.  He and I cuddled on the couch and he feel asleep again at 6:45, so we woke him up to give him his medicine and then D carried him upstairs.  He fell asleep while I was reading to him. Poor guy.  Who knows what tomorrow holds for us.  Thankfully Love Bug is still fever-free and if she wakes up that way, she is going to school.

showing off his haircut

sweet sleeping boy

another day...another opportunity to dress like a princess

we survived

I am writing this blog from the comfort of my home...which means we survived Disney 2013.  It is by the Grace of God that we made it.  Seriously, because with the fevers, coughs and aches we were all nursing, there is no reason we should have been upright let alone walking around the Happiest Place On Earth for 4 days.

Yesterday morning, we all woke up, showered, packed up the car and headed to Animal Kingdom.  Of course it wouldn't be a Shirley vacation if we didn't enter the park without some drama.  Love Bug tripped, cut her knee and got a nice goose egg on her forehead.  So the first place we went was First Aid.

After she was cleaned up, we headed to the Safari.  The Safari was amazing.  We were in a big truck driving through the African Safari...it took about 20 minutes and we saw tons of animals.  It was early in the morning and still fairly cool so all of the animals were out.  I don't know who liked it more - D and me or the kids.  We left the safari and then hit a gift shop to buy the kids a little treat.  Then we left. It was hard too...it would have been easy to have gotten sucked in and ridden some rides, but I knew it was going to be a long day ahead of us so we loaded up and got on the road.

We hit some nasty rain in North Florida but got to Valdosta safely where we ate a late lunch/early dinner and let some of the storm pass.  Thankfully, there was nothing more than light drizzling the rest of the way. We were home by 8:00 and all of us were so excited to sleep in our own beds.  I know I slept like a rock...I barely remember my head hitting the pillow and didn't wake up until 8 this morning.

This morning I took The Mayor and Love Bug to the pediatrician where The Mayor tested positive for Flu B (shocker) and was told Love Bug was on the mend.  She will definitely be going to preschool Thursday...and if The Mayor can stay fever free, he will too.  The rest of the day was spent napping and watching movies.  Tomorrow will be much the same.  I don't know if the kids need it, but I certainly do.  I am exhausted!

black rhino

pelican

monkeys

giraffe

elephants

lion

pink flamingos

lioness 

ostrich eggs

ostrich

warthog

zebras

Day 3...Magic Kingdom...A Great Day...a Horrible Day

In the middle of the night last night, I really wasn't certain what today was going to hold.  Were were going to go straight home?  Were we going to hit the park for a little bit and then head home?  Or were we going to hit the park, go to another park tomorrow morning and then go home?  No one slept all the way through last night.  We all slept horribly.  Between Love Bug's croupy cough, The Mayor's feverish awakenings, mine and D's coughing fits...I told myself we were waking up, going to Magic Kingdom for a few hours and then heading home to Georgia.  We would take the loss on the hotel and missing one day at a park.

We took our time bathing and showering and were at Magic Kingdom right when the gates opened.  We went straight to Space Mountain where The Mayor and I rode it (it was my first time).  He loved it, and asked if we could ride it again.  We went straight back in and walked right onto the ride again.  Then he wanted to ride with D.  The Mayor rode Space Mountain 3 times in less than 20 minutes.  There was no line.  He was squealing and so happy.  His fever was so high I could feel it through his hand as I held it but he acted like a normal, healthy kid.  They kept wanting to more rides so we let them.

We met Buzz Lightyear, rode tons of rides and were back in our hotel by 4:00.  When we got back, the kids were literally running laps around the room.  Not exactly how kids with fevers should be acting...then D crashed and burned.  We had to take him to the ER...and he has Flu B as well.  Which I guess is a good thing since they also x-rayed his lungs for pneumonia.  I guess Flu is better than pneumonia...right??  We found a 24 hour pharmacy and he has Tamiflu and Tylenol with Codeine to help with the cough.

Tomorrow morning is a quick run through Animal Kingdom and then home.  We need to leave early enough to get home at a decent hour but late enough to avoid Atlanta afternoon rush hour.  We are planning on going and riding the safari so the kids can see the animals and then hitting the road.  I can't wait to be home in our own beds and then to our own doctors on Tuesday.  This has been both the best and absolute worst vacation...ever.

his new favorite thing...pretending to sleep and asking you to take a picture so he can see how "cute" he is while he sleeps.  I don't know where he gets it...

sweet Snow White

all smiles after 3 trips on Space Mountain

D and Love Bug on the Astro Orbiter

Mr. Independent.  He wanted to ride on the teacups...all by himself.  

Buzz Lightyear!

The Beast's castle

Prince Eric's castle (from The Little Mermaid)

Repunzel's Tower

Belle's Village

Perfect cloudy backdrop for The Beast's Castle

Don't let this face fool you...an hour after this picture was taken, he was running and bouncing around the hotel room

the new Under The Sea ride

"Kiss The Girl"

We had to take our try at the Sword in the Stone...none of us were the lucky one :)

hollywood or bust

Day 2 of our trip to Disney World wasn't as fantastic as Day 1.  We decided to go to Hollywood Studios, which we made the most of it, but it was kind of disappointing.  There are only a handful of rides, it is mostly shows.

We got there about an hour after the park opened, and headed to Toy Story Mania.  A new ride which is all the buzz.  And apparently so.  The wait was 100 minutes and the Fast Pass was slated for 5:15-6:15.  We grabbed one before they were all gone and hit the shows.  First up was The Pirates of Caribbean, which was fun since they asked The Mayor to be in charge of the Skeleton Key of the show.  He got to stand on a special balcony and when the pirate asked "who holds the Skeleton Key" The Mayor was supposed to say "Aye!".  It was cute - he was shy so D had to help hold his hand up with the key.

The hit of the day was meeting Lightning McQueen and Mater.  The kids were so excited...The Mayor was actually trying to hug and lie on top of Lightning.  They had their pictures taken with Jake (from "Jake and The Neverland Pirates") and Handy Manny.

We went to Lights! Motors! Action!  It was a 40 minute live stunt show with cars chasing each other, motorcycles chases, people catching on fire and the real live Lightning McQueen makes an appearance and takes down a bad guy.  That show was pretty fantastic!

While D and The Mayor rode Tower of Terror (which FYI - he loved), Love Bug and I went to see the Beauty and The Beast show.  It was a 25 minute live reenactment of the movie.  It was beautiful and had all the amazing music from the movie.

We ended the day with the Toy Story ride which was tons of fun but so happy we had the Fast Pass.  Not worth a 100 minute wait in my opinion - but few things are!  We left tired and feverish.  The Mayor spiked quite the fever and Love Bug sounded like she had a croupy cough.  We really should just pack it in.  And that was the plan - we were going to leave today after a quick stop at Magic Kingdom but man, my kids are resilient.  They were so excited about coming back to MK.  They didn't want to leave.  So we stuck it out...but of course...there is more drama...stay tuned.

waiting on the shuttle

sassy

holding the Skeleton Key

The Mayor and the green army man from "Toy Story"

Lightning and Mater!

The REAL Lightning chasing the bad guys!

Ka-Chow!

Lights! Motors! Action! Some really cool stunts

The family with Jake

Giving Handy Manny a high-five

He was so excited!

And she was so flirty!

Standing next to a picture of her favorite...Sofia.  Hopefully next time Sofia will actually be there!