Originally Scott and I had planned to take Jacob to Sesame Place, Pennsylvania, home of the Sesame Street Theme Park. But, as the days approached, Scott got called to go to Florida for work during the same time we had planned to be in PA. Bummed, he made his flight and hotel reservations and Jake and I sulked as we saw our dreams of a family vacation vanish.
About a week before Scott was due to leave, I got up the courage and decided that Jake and I should go to Florida with Scott. I knew he would be busy during the day, but the evenings we could do family stuff together and it would give all of us some fun time away. The only problem was, since Scott already made his flight reservations (in first class), Jake and I weren’t able to sit with him. We went ahead and booked the same flight…but our seats were in coach.
Completely terrified of having a two-year old, by myself, on an airplane…I packed an entire back pack full of toys, games, and snacks. Or so I thought!!! We boarded the plane and I think Jake went through each toy and game before we even started taxing towards the runway. I was sweatin’ it!
To my amazement, Jake self entertained the entire way there. I fed him snacks and drinks during take off and landing to help his ears, and he was a very good, quiet boy (for the most part) during the entire trip. When we arrived, I was completely exhausted, but grateful to have a darling little boy.
When we arrived at the hotel, I immediately started planning all the exciting things Jake and I would do the following days while Scott was in meetings! I had it all mapped out, only to wake
up the next morning to a completely soaked forecast! Yes, we were visiting Florida on the wake of a tropical storm! Sweet! Now what? What does a person do with a two year old, in a strange town, without a car, in the pouring rain???? NOTHING! My game plan was ruined and I was in a complete daze. We went back up to our room to allow me time to sulk! Fortunately, when Jake crawled up into my lap and said, “Let’s play, Mommy” it snapped me back into reality and the reality is…kids can have fun at anything if you make it fun. So, back down stairs we went. We toured the hotel, we played in the lobby, we looked through the gift shop, and played some more in the lobby. Then, I found an arcade! The cheapest form of entertainment for a toddler…an arcade. No money is necessary since they don’t get the concept of the game anyhow, and luckily their imaginations are able to run wild. We spend a very LONG hour in there…but hey, what else were we going to do?!
Scott was finally able to sneak out of his work stuff around 7 pm, and we eagerly met him at the door. Not wanting to be at the hotel any longer, the three of us ventured out on a trolley to my
favorite restaurant, Houlihans! We tried to time our dinner so that we finished our meal right when the trolley would pick us up…but to no avail. We ended up walking about a mile back to our hotel…in the pouring rain! Jake ran and laughed and didn’t mind a bit getting wet. That was the moment my sulking spirits stopped and I decided to make this the best vacation I could.
The next few days, Jake and I spent the afternoons trolling around town. We took the trolley to a mall, we went to a place called
WonderWorks, and just played anywhere we could. WW was really cool! The building looked like an upside down house and inside was 3 stories of totally interactive games and “stuff” to do and play with. From a bubble station where you could be inside a bubble, to a rocket flight simulator, and a giant piano that you could walk on and make music…it was really neat.
The final night we were there, Scott and I decided to brave the weather and take Jake to Rainforest Café (appropriate, huh!) in Downtown Disney. While we waited for our table, we walked through a couple stores and to see the excitement in Jake’s eyes is priceless! He was excited to see life-size figures of the Tigger
and Pooh gang, and even jumped onto a log to have his picture taken with them. Then he spotted Mickey and Minney Mouse, and finally a HUGE toy store!
We finally made it to our table at Rainforest Café and Jake was in awe. All the animals and sounds were so exciting to him! Walking through the pouring rain was so worth it. None of us melted, and we all had a terrific
time.
We were on completely separate flights from Scott coming home, but at least our flights were in first class! Jake was awesome on both flights and even took a nap on my lap during part of the trip. Would it have been more fun without the rain? Probably. Was it a good time to make memories? Definitely!!
About a week before Scott was due to leave, I got up the courage and decided that Jake and I should go to Florida with Scott. I knew he would be busy during the day, but the evenings we could do family stuff together and it would give all of us some fun time away. The only problem was, since Scott already made his flight reservations (in first class), Jake and I weren’t able to sit with him. We went ahead and booked the same flight…but our seats were in coach.
Completely terrified of having a two-year old, by myself, on an airplane…I packed an entire back pack full of toys, games, and snacks. Or so I thought!!! We boarded the plane and I think Jake went through each toy and game before we even started taxing towards the runway. I was sweatin’ it!
To my amazement, Jake self entertained the entire way there. I fed him snacks and drinks during take off and landing to help his ears, and he was a very good, quiet boy (for the most part) during the entire trip. When we arrived, I was completely exhausted, but grateful to have a darling little boy.
When we arrived at the hotel, I immediately started planning all the exciting things Jake and I would do the following days while Scott was in meetings! I had it all mapped out, only to wake
up the next morning to a completely soaked forecast! Yes, we were visiting Florida on the wake of a tropical storm! Sweet! Now what? What does a person do with a two year old, in a strange town, without a car, in the pouring rain???? NOTHING! My game plan was ruined and I was in a complete daze. We went back up to our room to allow me time to sulk! Fortunately, when Jake crawled up into my lap and said, “Let’s play, Mommy” it snapped me back into reality and the reality is…kids can have fun at anything if you make it fun. So, back down stairs we went. We toured the hotel, we played in the lobby, we looked through the gift shop, and played some more in the lobby. Then, I found an arcade! The cheapest form of entertainment for a toddler…an arcade. No money is necessary since they don’t get the concept of the game anyhow, and luckily their imaginations are able to run wild. We spend a very LONG hour in there…but hey, what else were we going to do?!Scott was finally able to sneak out of his work stuff around 7 pm, and we eagerly met him at the door. Not wanting to be at the hotel any longer, the three of us ventured out on a trolley to my
favorite restaurant, Houlihans! We tried to time our dinner so that we finished our meal right when the trolley would pick us up…but to no avail. We ended up walking about a mile back to our hotel…in the pouring rain! Jake ran and laughed and didn’t mind a bit getting wet. That was the moment my sulking spirits stopped and I decided to make this the best vacation I could.The next few days, Jake and I spent the afternoons trolling around town. We took the trolley to a mall, we went to a place called
WonderWorks, and just played anywhere we could. WW was really cool! The building looked like an upside down house and inside was 3 stories of totally interactive games and “stuff” to do and play with. From a bubble station where you could be inside a bubble, to a rocket flight simulator, and a giant piano that you could walk on and make music…it was really neat.The final night we were there, Scott and I decided to brave the weather and take Jake to Rainforest Café (appropriate, huh!) in Downtown Disney. While we waited for our table, we walked through a couple stores and to see the excitement in Jake’s eyes is priceless! He was excited to see life-size figures of the Tigger
and Pooh gang, and even jumped onto a log to have his picture taken with them. Then he spotted Mickey and Minney Mouse, and finally a HUGE toy store!We finally made it to our table at Rainforest Café and Jake was in awe. All the animals and sounds were so exciting to him! Walking through the pouring rain was so worth it. None of us melted, and we all had a terrific
time.We were on completely separate flights from Scott coming home, but at least our flights were in first class! Jake was awesome on both flights and even took a nap on my lap during part of the trip. Would it have been more fun without the rain? Probably. Was it a good time to make memories? Definitely!!
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