Day One: Yes, We Have No Bananas

It's amazing how much nicer it is to wake up in the cold, snowy north when you know you'll be heading to 80 degree temperatures soon. We travelled to NH the night before our flight, courtesy of Gramma and Grampa who volunteered to put us up and drive us to the airport. We were met bright and early by Grammy and Poppy, who were hitching a ride as well, all of us eager to get the day rolling.

The only one not excited by the prospect of adventure was our poor dog, Toby, who was scheduled to lodge with Gramma and Grandpa in our absence. In the commotion of packing up the car, Toby decided to try the old "stowaway" routine, climbed into the car, and wedged himself under the way back seat. We tried, calling, cajoling, and treats, but nothing would move him. Ted even tried starting the car and driving it in a circle in the driveway to convince Toby that the trip was over, and we had reached our destination. He was not fooled. Ted finally had to physically dislodge him, and carry him inside to wait with Grandpa.

Dog out of car: check. Luggage and kids in car: check. We were ready to roll.

I will spare the frightening details of boarding our flight with six people, five carry-ons, two car seats and a stroller, as anyone who's travelled with small children is familiar with it already. Suffice it to say that we made it on, had an uneventful, if turbulent, flight, and arrived in sunny Orlando right on schedule.

We had elected to rent a car for the length of our stay, and my husband was the designated driver. God bless him, because everyone else in the car immediately became a front seat driver (Poppy), middle seat driver (Grammy), back seat driver (myself) or car seat driver (Griffin). Only Amelia stayed out of the fray. With all passengers shouting out sometimes contradictory directions, we finally got on the road to our new home: Old Key West.

Old Key West is the first of Disney's DVC resorts, and as a result the rooms are bigger than those in other DVC resorts. Because there are seven in our group, my parents hauled out the big guns and booked us the Grand Villa: three bedrooms, four bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, dining room and laundry room spread out over 2400 square feet and two levels. Sweet! I had seen pictures online, but I was still blown away when we walked into the space.

A few weeks before the vacation started, we had ordered groceries to be delivered to the room. The bags of food arrived shortly after we walked in: sandwich fixings, breakfast foods, snacks and...bananas. Tons and tons of bananas. An entire brown grocery bag filled three quarters of the way with bananas. Apparently, it's cheaper to order bananas by the pound rather than the bunch, so we had plenty.

While Ted took the kids out in search of a playground, my parents and I unpacked and settled into our various rooms. The plan was for pizza and an early bedtime. Uncle Matt was not scheduled to arrive at the resort until 9:30 PM, and Grammy was texting him anxiously to make sure all was on schedule. Poppy pulled out the bag of electronics he'd packed, and set up the wireless router so the Villa was wired to the hilt.

Sadly, I did not have the stamina to wait up for Uncle Matt. Bath and bed was the order of the day for kids and Mommy alike. Tomorrow: onto the Magic Kingdom!