Thanksgiving at Hogwarts

With the triplets almost 61/2 months old, we felt it was time to subject ourselves to a long road trip to Orlando to tough out the crowds at the amusement parks and possibly lose our minds in the process. I am happy to report that things went much smoother than we had planned. In fact, the trip was a great success. The children ( and I am talking about Mike, our friend Vanessa and I) really wanted to go see Hogwarts at Universal. We were one of the first to arrive that morning and got into Ollivander's shop and had the other kid's (Golden and Eva) wands picked out for them. I tried Butterbeer. Suh-uh-weet! It is about a pound of sugar in a frosty. Don't think I will be having it again. We also got to visit The Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios.Many visitors confused the triplets for a Disney attraction. For example, on countless occasions I would be sitting on a bench, waiting for the family to finish a ride. I would have one baby in my arms feeding and two in the stroller. Baby A would start to whimper a bit and  Baby B would fuss. Then a crowd would gather around and I would hear, "Look, the second one is waking up. What will she do now." An equally curious person would answer, " It looks like she might need to put one down on the floor. Will she put it down?" I just looked over at countless crowds of spectators and wanted to tell them, "You know I can hear you?" None the less, it all worked out in the end and all the babies were taken care of. ( Without being put down on the dirty floor.) And here is just the usual responses to the usual questions asked everywhere we go:
"Yes, they were all born on the same day."
"Yes, we have our hands full, and our feet too."
"Thank you, God has definitely blessed us, three times more than we deserve."
"No we did not do in vitro."
"Yes, you probably couldn't do this. That is why Heavenly Father didn't bless you with triplets."( I just think this in my head when idiots say, "Glad that isn't me.")
"Yes, we think they are adorable too but we are truly biased."
"I think better men than us deserve a Purple heart."
"Yes, we are Mormon."
"Yes, they are all mine."
"You go right ahead and think that having them one at a time was the hard way."
"No I did not have bed rest. I worked until 10days before I delivered. And bed rest would not be funner."
"No, we are not crazy.....yet."

Even though I was left with the desire to pull down my pants and tell folks exactly where they could collect a fast pass for my ride, I managed to have a good time anyway. I realize that being a triplet parent will always be a bit interesting to others and must cut folks some slack. Besides, I think of the alternative...not having had my three newbies to add to my already perfect kiddos, and I just cringe.
     I loved taking my youngest to Orlando and continuing the Villate tradition of having fun in the park until your exhausted and than no one is having fun but we keep going because there is more to see and you just better shut up and get on the ride......But I changed it up a bit and now we just have fun and go home. I like my version a bit better but it doesn't make for a fun story. What I really loved was the Thanksgiving meal at Emeril's restaurant. No mess, No fuss!!! And some banana cream pie to finish it off. (Can you hear the angels....Aahhhhh!)

The car ride to Orlando was fun too. We rented a 15 passenger van and drove down. I must admit. I like the feel of the van. I am able to walk down the aisle, taking drink and food orders and everyone had plenty of leg room. It is better than any airline around but Mike insisted on charging everyone $15 dollars a bag and getting everywhere late to give us the true airline experience. 

Things my kids say:

Entering a hotel room at Lowes Universal we would be using for a day. With two beds, marble bathrooms and a balcony overlooking a beautiful harbor that looked like Portofino,Italy, Eva looked around discouraged. "Is this it?"

On the drive, Mike asked Golden,"How can I be awesome like you, Golden?" Golden thought about this for awhile and said," First, you got to be good looking like me. Then you have to eat- a lot. And then you have to do my homework for me because I hate doing homework with mom." 

That's the thanks I get for my kid getting A/B Honor roll. Your welcome. 

Eva to Mike when he was hooking up her cable in her room. "Oh dad, your just like the ATT guy." Then Mike asked her, "I wonder what this cable goes to." And without skipping a beat, she responds, "And now it's gone."