Hiccups, glitches, and bumps in the road on the way
family, Sugarwings, Travel
We're back! What a trip. Not everything went as planned, but all was good. Sometimes you just have to roll with it and let it all turn out which every topsy turvey way it will.
No matter how carefully you plan the details, life happens and changes develop. There is no use pouting or being sad. Instead we looked for the good parts and made the most of them.
On the first leg of our journey, our free hotel room disappeared and we had to stay elsewhere. We found a room nearby at a good price, and it was fine, just not the freebie, 4 bedroom guest house at the ritzy country club we thought we'd have. But the friends we met up with and the fun we had made up for any inconveniences along the way.
Then, in Hilton Head, where these shots were taken, our ocean view room disappeared too. We stayed at a great resort and were able to get a half price room, but we had a roof top view instead. Our plans of tucking the fairy in early and toasting the New Year while sitting on the patio,sipping wine, and watching the ocean didn't happen.
But Sugarwing's comment about the ugly view of hotel roof tops and parking lots as far as the eye could see- "Why would anyone do this to our world??" was so funny and heartfelt that it will be 1,000,000 times more memorable than any glimpse of the ocean that we could have had.
And the hotel was still on the beach. The weather was chilly, but that didn't stop Sugarwings from running headlong right to the waves as soon as she saw the water.
If we'd stayed in a room facing the water instead, I might have missed that awed look on her face as she walked over the hill toward the beach and saw the Atlantic waiting for her.
While the weather wasn't perfect, it was plenty good for a Kansan, and good enough for me to decide that there is no place better to be on New Years Day than a misty beach with my fairy grand baby!
I think this little sprite agreed with me.
We'd packed a portable DVD player and a stack of movies for her to watch during the driving parts of the trip, and it stopped working as soon as we turned it on. So, I pulled out my magic phone, looked up children's DVD players online, and then found the closest place was to buy one, and 15 minutes later, she was engrossed in the adventures of Pooh and Piglet, and we were only out $99.
Which, if you've ever travelled with a 4 year old drama princess, you will understand that is a small price to pay for her entertainment. And the sanity of the adults in the car.
Her only souvenir from Disney World was a balloon, she isn't a child who demands anything or needs to shop. When we took her to the Disney store in our Orlando hotel, she ran straight to the coloring books and crayons set out for kids to play with and was content to make pictures. No thought at all about the merchandise around her.
And one of her favorite things at Disney was chasing bubbles in the dark.
I think she has her priorities straight in life. So, I don't think it hurts to spoil her a bit by treating her to a new pink princess DVD player.
My husband's vacation got cut short and at our Baltimore layover on the flight back, he rented a car to drive to VA to work. I flew the rest of the way with Sugarwings on my own and was so happy to have that "princess computer" as she called it. Although she was perfectly happy pretending that the seat belt was a snake and my fingers were baby snakes, I am old, tired and was ready for a break. The DVD player was much more important to me than to her.
Disney, and all of the rest of the trip was fun, but it was the little things that were the best about the trip. Laughing with family, visiting friends, watching the joy in Sugarwing's face as she fed the seagulls from this restaurant in St. Augustine.
Yep, feeding pigeons and seagulls meant as much or more to her than any ride at Disney. Here is a couple seconds long clip of her laughing at the birds. See what I mean? Kids know that its not what you spend, its what you do that counts.
