March Break - 1 week. Go!

When a few of the locals expressed surprise at our antics of travelling to Florida in a break that is only a week long, I explained that we have to try and cram the things that they will do over a lifetime into 1 year!

So, with only a week to spare, we raced for the states and Disney World in Florida. It started at a leisurely pace because we didn't want to be rushed when flying in the states. So much for plans.

The drive to Duluth (@ 3 1/2 hours) somehow stretched over much of the Saturday, but included a lucky find at the Gooseberry Falls. We pulled over for a rest stop for Megan and discovered a magnificent thundering waterfall, complete with ice blocks still mid stream.

This place was fairly thundering

There were few restrictions on safety - a nervous situation for parents

Ash was in a silly face mood on this trip

Hmmm, I wonder how cold the water is...?

These little critters are just too cute to ignore

By the time we flew from Duluth to Florida, we had been swimming, spent lots of money at Walmart on warm weather gear for Florida, chased a small child around numerous shops, got lost trying to find the airport (entered wrong location into the GPS) and were quite anxious that we might miss our flight altogether. The sense of calm evaporated even further as we went through airport security.

Flying United Airlines meant that we had to pay for any baggage that was to be put under the aircraft as checked luggage. So, we carried small cases and took it ALL on board with us which lead to the extra scrutiny at check-in. Add to this the fact that we had 3 small overexcited and therefore semi-cooperative children (the phrase "herding cats" springs to mind) and we were the epitome of harassed parents.

Finally able to relax into our flight to Chicago en route to Florida, I mentally reviewed what we had and realized that we did NOT have our driver's licenses - eek! I assured myself and Jill that because I had sent the entire details of the licences it would be alright - I always knew optimism was overrated.

To cut a long story short - at 1 am in the Florida International airport rental car pick-up booth - my hopes were dashed and we had to use a taxi. How I envied little kids being able to throw tantrums at that moment.