All Ears Meet and Greet – a Good Reason to Use that Annual Pass One Last Time!

So the Facebook invitation came in from Deb Wills, the genius behind www.allears.net , for a Meet and Greet at Animal Kingdom.  The Meet – on March 15th – happens to be the day before my oldest daughter arrives at Disney World for her senior trip; the week that my brother-in-law, just back from Iraq, is also in Florida; and two weeks before my annual passes expire.  Can you feel the alignment of the stars here?  But wait, there’s more!  If I can talk my husband into springing for this trip, there’s a chance I’ll get to catch up with a couple of the other Moms from the Walt Disney World Moms Panel – three of whom will be in the vicinity around the same time I will be there!  This, ladies and gentlemen, is what they call kismet!

The decision is made that Granuaile and I will head down to Florida, stay with Jim’s parents, rent a car, and enjoy a few days in the theme parks, maybe take a trip down to South Florida, and attend the Meet and Greet.  I start to feel really and truly guilty about leaving Eilis at home, even though I know she shouldn’t miss school.  But with Brighid heading down on her class trip, and Granuaile and I now going down there, I can’t help but feel terrible. 

The night before we are supposed to leave, Jim logs on to US Airways and finds that the cost of airfare is the same as it was for Granuaile and I if he adds a ticket for Eilis.  So guess what? 

  She’s going with me!!  This is her replicating the excited face she had when she learned she was going 🙂

The flight down was uneventful, but it took forever to get started!  The plane sat on the runway for about an hour before we took off, because apparently, our flight crew was coming from a flight that had come in late.  I’m feeling really badly now, because my in-laws have offered to pick me up so I don’t have to deal with the kids and the luggage by myself, and now our flight is getting in much later than expected, which means instead of being home to their house around 9, it’s going to be closer to 11 or later. 

We finally get there, and the kids pretty much go right to bed.  They are excited about seeing Grandmom and Pop-Pop, but sleepy too.  The plan for tomorrow – sleep in!