BilikFamily.com

I've been offline with site updates this past week because the seven of us have been away at a family reunion in Kissimmee/Orlando, Florida. It was planned between my late mother and her best friend Bev Tarpey late last summer. They arranged to rent a villa in Kissimmee that would house all of us. All we had to do was get there. I checked briefly into the possibility of driving but Google Maps estimates that it's 23-24 hours of driving. It's torture enough when we drive the kids to Benton Harbor, MI or Chicago, IL but this might put them over the edge. So we used some of our savings to buy the seven round trip tickets on Southwest and rent a van at Orlando. In hindsight I'd say the tickets were reasonable but there were few bargains to be had on getting a bargain minivan for week.

Saturday — Our trip was scheduled to start Saturday afternoon. Now we've had a decent winter here. Little snow. More importantly, no one got sick in any notable way. Imagine our concern when we woke up around 4am to the sound of Claire vomiting. We knew she didn't plan it, but our thoughts at the time were, “really? today of all days?” It reminded us of when Abby got very sick on the morning of her class's Nature's Classroom weeklong outting. Since our flight wasn't until the late afternoon, I took the morning Step and Abs class. Claire took it easy and never got sick again. She was fatigued by the experience but made it through the flight.

That flight was a big lesson in patience. We were delayed by Orlando in taking off from Manchester. When we got there, there was no gate for us. Once there was a gate for us, we had no crew who could aid us on parking the plane and chock the wheels. When we finally got off the plane, it was a very long time until the baggage claim started to release the plane's luggage. And finally there was a long line at the on-terminal rental car agency. When we got to the minivan, my GPS said it would be another 55 minutes to the villa. It's dark. We are all tired. I'm driving in an unfamiliar area. By the time my head hit the pillow, I was wiped out.

Sunday — Sunday was simply a recovery day. It was also a time to catch up with my dad, Bob & Bev Tarpey, and my sister Suzy's family. Late that afternoon my other sister Alyssa and her family arrived from their long drive. The place we were staying at had a nice screened in porch with a pool and hot tub. Then again, many of the homes in that area did. It seemed to be as standard issue as a fireplace is in New England.

Monday — Monday we all head out to Epcot. We toured the various ‘lands’ and saw a few shows. My boys really didn't seem to like the walking around, especially with the warm, humid sun. I imagine it's difficult to go from New England early springtime to such tropical weather so quickly. About midway through our trip, my brother and his wife joined us. They had already been touring other parts of Florida before any of us had arrived in Kissimmee. In the late afternoon we took the monorail and a ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. That is “classic Disney” and the area seemed mobbed. We rode several rides and didn't leave until around 10 o'clock after the parade and just as the fireworks were going off.

Sadly when we were within striking distance of the minivans, Bev took a tumble. It was dark in the Epcot parking lot and she tripped on a low profile parking bumper. One could see that she was in great pain and her arm showed a broken wrist. The ambulance took her to a nearby hospital. From there she was transferred to a larger one where the next morning there were scans and surgery to insert the plates and pins to insure that it would heal properly in its cast. Unfortunately that took Bob &Bev out of loop for much of the rest of vacation.

Tuesday — Tuesday was a simple recovery day. Having left the house at 9 the day before and not getting home until 11, the kids (and the parents) were pretty exhausted. There was a lot of hanging around the pool. While the kids did a lot of time swimming and being silly in the hot tub, many of the adults were enjoying novels. Michelle and Alyssa were reading Hunger Games. Bev, who is still in the hospital, is also reading this series but is further along.

Wednesday — Wednesday was another Disney day. This time we decided that we wouldn't stress out about maximizing the day. Monday already had its casualties from staying out so late. We decided to go to Disney Studios. Michelle really liked how retro Hollywood that whole park was. We saw several shows there and got a few decent pictures because if the neat backdrops. This being our second Disney day, Michelle and I were noting how as we've gotten older, our tolerance for rides is going down. When we were newlyweds, I would enjoy any ride or coaster as long as it didn't involve just spinning. Now we could barely handle many of the rides or simulators with getting a bit nauseous.

Thursday — Thursday was a split up day. Bev had returned from the hospital late Wednesday night but was still rather tired from all the procedures and medications. Having spent more than her fair share in hospitals these past three years, Michelle could relate. Alyssa's family, Michelle, and the girls went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Suzy and her family went to the Disney Animal Kingdom as they had three day Disney passes. The boys and I stayed back with my dad, Bob & Bev. Michelle said Universal was packed and it was probably the hottest day of the trip. She said it was a good move not to take the boys. Instead we went to a nearby park, later enjoyed a lunch with dad at Tijuana Flats, and hung out at the pool.

Friday — Friday was another lazy day. We stayed around the house, mostly in the porch, swimming, talking, and reading. I also spent a few hours helping Claire with her trigonometry homework. We wrapped up the day with a final dinner at Bahama Breeze. While we were a bit annoyed that making a reservation still yielded an hour wait to be seated, the food was good and it was our only meal out together. We didn't return until about ten that night, whereupon we had to say our good-bye's and do a lot of packing as we knew we'd be gone before the rest woke up.

Saturday — I didn't sleep particularly well the previous night. My mind was too preoccupied with getting the family to the Orlando airport. Michelle got up around 3:30am and I got up after she showered. We got the van packed up and out by 4:30 and had a pretty quiet drive as all the kids were still tired lil' zombies. Unlike our trip out, our return went well. The plane took off on time and arrived on time. Timothy and I went to fetch our van while the rest gathered our luggage. We were back home in Milford before 11:30am. As the cats had been trapped indoors all week, there were a fair amount of fur balls to vacuum up while I brought in the bags. Many of us zonked out at one point or another during the afternoon.

Daniel and Abby had their dance classes this week. The kids also spent some time doing more school work catchup. But overall getting up well before dawn made us all a bit lethargic today. Hopefully when everyone has a good night sleep in their own beds, tomorrow everyone's metabolism will be back in sync.