the wag saga continues part 2 - Orlando baby!

 It all started in January when Dan, Mya and I got Covid. What I never should have said was "Well at least we will be good to go on our trips to Napa and Florida in February now that we’ve had Covid." Famous last words. That stomach flu is a sneaky little devil. 

Several months ago, cousin Wendy and I made a plan to bring both of our families to Orlando to visit my sis and fam and go to Disney World. Dan hates crowds, Disneyland and Florida so that was a hard pass for him. He ended up working 5 out of the 6 days we were there anyway. We purchased tickets back in November for Winter, Mya and me to fly out in February. Mom purchased tickets to come out and stay with us the month of February and watch the littles while we were gone and Dan was at work.

The day before we were supposed to fly out to Orlando, Winter came down with the stomach flu. This may seem like a familiar story. Just like when Aunt Debie got the stomach flu the day before we were supposed to go to Napa in early Florida and we had to cancel our trip. 

And as if Winter getting sick wasn't enough, Angus came down with a fever the same night. So the morning we were supposed to leave, Winter was still not feeling good and developed a fever to seal the deal of her staying home instead of going to Disney World with her cousins. She was crushed. And everyone was crushed for her. 

So about 15 minutes before we needed to leave for the airport, Dan and I decided to swap Addie for Winter since we already bought nonrefundable discounted tickets to 3 Disney parks. I didn't want those to go to waste. We didn't know what the outcome would be but we were hoping we could just do a kid swap with little to no fee. 

I was on hold with the airline the whole way to the airport as the traffic slowed way down and my heart rate sped way up. We were running behind and I was running out of can-do spirit. Long story short, Addie got on the plane with us but it was a very expensive and stressful kid swap. That was one of the most stressful mornings I've had in years. And with the stomach flu exposing my family, I was so scared one of us was going to get it in Florida or on the plane. We didn't, praise Jesus. And I have to mention our flight attendant, we'll call her Shelly. She had my back from the minute we got on the plane. I wasn't sitting with the girls but she told me to sit with them and she'd handle the other passenger when they got there. And she winked at me and snuck me a free drink because she could see that I was rattled. Kind people are out there.

And yes, I did think about just saying Addie was Winter when we checked in but Addie looks like she's 5, not 11. And I would have passed out with the added stress of trying to sneak the wrong kid through security. I was already a basket case.

I don't like to think about how sad Winter was that she couldn’t go and how heartbroken everyone felt for her, including Addie. But I love to think about the sweetest gift my friend and neighbor dropped off for Winter and Angus after she found out what happened. It was a box full of fun activities and thoughtful gifts including balloons. They felt so special. 

I don't like to think about how many hours I spent on the phone on hold with Delta and Priceline trying to get a credit for Winter‘s flight. And I don't like to think about how much money we spent on Addie‘s flight at the same day price versus buying it three months in advance. I will always buy insurance now. 

What I do love to think about is the amazing time that we had once we reached Florida and the nerves settled down, and how amazing my sister is and how much fun we had with our Baker family.

And I love to think about how amazing my mom has been. She sent me off to the airport telling me everything would be fine and not to worry even when I know she was worried. Addie said as we were leaving, "I can't believe you're leaving your mom with two sick kids." Haha what a sweetie that one.

And I love my amazing husband, strong and steady, taking care of all the house stuff, working around the family and added house guests, quietly and efficiently. And working tons of overtime in order to pay for the surprise home remodel. Honey, you amaze me.

Winter is completely fine by the way. She has had the best attitude through the whole thing. And now, Addie and Mya have had their fun and it's her turn to plan a trip to Arkansas to see her Grandma in June. 

Here are 1,000 pics of our Florida trip if you're interested. They're out of order because it's way too much work to order them. But you get the gist. We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom and Wendy took Mya to Universal to see all that is Harry Potter.

A ginormous thank you to Wendy, tour guide extraordinaire. We were VIPs from the moment we arrived until we left. You are THE BEST 💖 I especially loved the duvet covers 😉 Very luxurious.

Well done staying 'till the end! Happy Thursday.