Our last first birthday
We've taken each of our kids to the World for their first birthday. Penelope, aka "Eppy," is our last. We decided to make it super-special, so we're spending two weeks at Disney, with 10 days in the parks.

Cast:
Susan, (me), 36, 11th trip
David (DH), 31, 9th trip
Sammie (DD), 8, 7th trip
Lily (DD), 5, 5th trip
Joey (DS), 3, 4th tip
Eppy (DD), turning 1, 1st trip
Connie (DMom), 65, 3rd trip
Sam, (DDad), 68, 3rd trip

Friday, December 9, 2016
On Thursday, David texted me and said that he could take Friday off if I wanted him to. I had taken most of the day off already, and we were planning to rush out the door at 6pm as soon as I could get off the clock. But since he was able to take off, I went ahead and changed some vacation time around, and took the rest of the day off myself. So we had nothing to do other than pack the car.
We got up around 8am, and didn't feel rushed. David cooked breakfast (which turned into brunch), while I loaded the car. We watched an episode or two of Fuller House on Netflix, and finished packing the last minute things. We were on the road at 11:00, seven hours earlier than we had planned (which turned out to be a good thing due to traffic).
I had purchased some new portable DVD players as an early Christmas present, and they turned out to be very worth their while. The kids were quiet and David catnapped while I drove to Chattanooga. We had a late lunch at Taco Bell and then headed on south. Traffic was backed up in both Chattanooga and majorly in Atlanta, causing us to lose some time. Even with the early departure time, we didn't get to Perry until after 8pm. I had made reservations at the Travelodge there, so after a quick drive thru at Chick-fil-A, we checked into the hotel. We ate and were in bed by 10:30.

Saturday, December 10, 2016
Eppy and I were awake at 6:30, which was unexpected with the time change, but the beds were small and hard. I wouldn't call the room anything more than adequate, but it was clean. I woke everyone else up at 7:30, and while they got ready, I made multiple trips to the breakfast room, where I made belgian waffles for the kids and got juice for everyone. Eppy and I shared some oatmeal, but David didn't feel like eating.
We left at 8:30, and I drove as quickly as I could to the Florida state line, where we stopped for some fresh orange juice at the visitor center and to call my parents. Have I mentioned I love the DVD players? Not a peep from the kids till we hit the exit ramp. David was hungry by now, but the center didn't have vending machines, so I stopped at the next exit to get some fries and a sandwich for him.
We met my parents in Ocala for lunch at Steak 'N Shake around noon. It wasn't quick as the place was packed out, but we were finally able to shed our warm clothes. It was in the teens in Tennessee, and we were dressed in jeans and long sleeves with our hoodies in the car. David still wasn't feeling well, and even though it didn't seem that he had a fever, he felt very chilled and remained in his hoodie.
From here on we caravan-ed, which I hate doing, but my parents haven't been to Disney nearly as often as us, and they were afraid they'd get lost, so I slowed down, and made sure to keep them in my mirrors.
As happens at least once on every trip, the GPS took us to the CM entrance of somewhere. This time, it was one of the back entrances to the property. We saw lots of warehouses that we've never seen before, and what appeared to be a cast member credit union. But it was a fairly quick way to get to Fort Wilderness, rather than entering through the main gate.
I'd completely forgotten to do online check-in, but once the CM realized we'd been there before, he rushed right on through, and I was finished in 10 minutes. I'd requested a site in the 2060s, close to both transportation and the comfort station, as mom is handicapped, and we got 2061, which is next door to both. It's the site I will request from now on. When the kids had to go potty, we didn't have to drop everything to walk them over; a quick jaunt through the trees, and they were there, and we could see them the entire time.
David and I set up our tent and got it ready to be "home" for the next 13 days, and then helped Dad do most of theirs, too. Mom had been diagnosed with arythmia (I think... blanking on the technical term) just the week before, and was told to not exert herself at all on this trip, as she'd be having her heart shocked the next week, so she sat at the table and watched. The kids played in the sand, something they'd been looking forward to (you know... thousands of dollars on Disney, and they just want to play in the sand...ha!). We decorated some, but would soon come to realize it wasn't much compared to many others. I'd made Mickey ornaments by hot gluing three balls together and then spray painting them red, and we decorated the bush by our drive. Then we used rope lights to make a Mickey on the ground, and outline our pad. And we also hung a Mickey stocking on our site post. Not much, but it made it seem even more like home to have some Christmas decorations.
Then we took our car back to the overflow parking, as we'd been told no more than one car per site; all the while seeing multiple cars and golf carts on all the sites we passed. David wasn't thinking when we caught the bus back, and when the driver called out "loop 2600," we got off... though our site was 2061. Oh well, it wouldn't be the last time we'd have a long walk back to the campsite.
The only plans we had that night were dinner reservations at Trails End, so we got cleaned up and caught the bus to the Settlement. (It took a good 5 days to teach my parents the internal bus system for the Fort). It was cool outside, but not enough that we though to grab jackets, except David, who was still in his hoodie. We got there 30 minutes early, and our table was ready right on time, but the kids got cold waiting outside.
David fulfilled the first step of his mission to eat as much as possible on this trip. It was the first time we'd used the dining plan since we had kids, and he was planning to eat whatever he wanted. Dad wasn't too impressed with the food, and I'll agree that the veggies were bland, but I still enjoyed the options, and the meat was good. The kids enjoyed dessert, of course. Both Eppy's birthday and my parent's anniversary were on the reservation, but neither were mentioned, which was fine. The server was slow, and we were ready to leave, and not have to wait on "celebrations."
We picked up our refillable mugs, which we never used on the trip (it's just too far away at the Fort, and we got drinks with every meal on the DP anyhow), and headed back to the tent. We got everything ready for the next morning, and were in the bed by 9:30, only to listen to the water pageant three times and the fireworks, too. It was very cold, and we didn't sleep well. I woke up at 2am and then again at 3am, then finally got up at 6.