Tuesday Tale

It was 3:30 in the morning. The bags had been secretly packed. The flights had been booked and all other plans made, and paid for, well in advance. We entered the bigger boys room and woke them saying, "C'mon get up. The limo will be here any minute."

"Huh? Wha'? ... What limo?"

Louie was 14 and had just graduated 8th grade. Alex was 12. And Zach, who had his own room, was 5. It was the last day of school for the year, but we had signed them all out of school for that last day. We had someplace to go.

"Mom? Dad? Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
"No, really, where are we going?"
"No time to talk now .. the limo is out front, waiting. Get dressed in these clothes (carefully laid out the night before, after they'd gone to sleep), quickly now, while your Dad gets the luggage out to the limo."
"Luggage? What luggage? Where are we going?"
"To the airport."
"The airport? Mo-om!!! Where are we going?"
"You'll find out when we get there."

And so it was all the way to the airport. When we checked the baggage in on a flight to Orlando, the older two said, "Oh yeah, Disney World". To which we replied, "Oh no, NOT Disney World, Orlando is an airport of convenience, that's all."

And it was that way all the way to Florida, and into the airport, and to the Hertz Rent-a-Car, where we picked up a big Chrysler and headed east, on the Beeline, toward Canaveral. We got to the musuem there well ahead of our planned 'thing', so we went through the museum, after which we told the boys that, "No, the Kennedy Space Center Museum is not our final destination." And we got back in the car and drove the 5 minutes or so to where we were REALLY headed - the parking lot for the people who were taking a cruise on the Big Red Boat.

And so we went on the Friday departure, Saturday in the Bahamas, Sunday cruising the water and a Monday morning return to Florida. And the boys had a great time. Swimming with rays in the Bahamas. Shopping in the Bahamas. Getting beads in their hair in the Bahamas. Me, too. I had hair long enough to put beads in, back then.

So we got back in the rental and headed back, west on the Beeline. And right past the airport and onto Disney property to check in at the Disney Resort (I forget which one, now, but it was a 'Southern' theme) for four nights at Disney World. With passes for all the parks. The boys had no idea. This particular seven days was, for them, one surprise after another. It's also the most expensive seven days we've ever had as a family, except for buying the house and the various cars we've had over the years. It's the best $7000 I've ever spent.

It was a vacation like we'd never had before. Nor since. Not the whole family all at once. Parts and pieces of the family have gone to England (twice), Ireland, and Jamaica. But the whole family, all together, has only spent one other out-of-towner together - a lovely week on the beach at New Smyrna, Florida. And during that vacation, we saw a nighttime shuttle launch. New Smyrna is but 19 miles north of Canaveral.

It. Was. Amazing.

So was being there with my whole famly.

Peace.