Lessons Learned from a Girl's First Trip Out of State With Her Kids

We just got back from a great trip to Disney World and Cocoa Beach. Here's a few of the things I learned:

1. I learned that having my family go on the ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster on the first day is a good idea. I already knew that 80% of my family doesn't handle fast rides well. At all. But we went anyway. Since this ride is in the dark, the entire roller coaster was in a building, hidden from view. We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. This is a scaled down version of what I just found on Disney's site:

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, a roller coaster that races across 3,400-feet of roller coaster tracks with the force of a supersonic F-14, your body feeling the force from launch to loop at zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, then swooping into 3 inversions and then traveling upside-down.

So, why was it a good idea to go on it the first day? Because we survived. And all other rides after that seemed like a walk in the park.

2. I learned that you should never turn your back on the ocean. We visited the Atlantic side of Florida, and none of us really had any idea what ocean waves were really like. Kyle, Cory, Alecia, and I walked out into the ocean up to our waists, then waved to Lance and the camera on the shore. We waved for a few seconds, giving him ample time to take pics, and didn't see the HUGE wave coming up behind us. It hit and knocked us all under for a bit longer than some of us appreciated.

3. I learned that ocean water tastes worse than I anticipated it would.

4. I learned that the ocean is not only strong and bad tasting, but it's also dexterous. Those waves can grab at the bottoms of your swim suit, and darn near pull them down. I learned the hard way that the waves can also untie the tie behind your neck of your halter-top style suit, and has great potential to embarrass you when you come up out of the waves, unaware. That same big wave mentioned in #2 also has the ability to grab a kid's eyeglasses (which he was still wearing so that he could actually see the ocean, of course, since he's legally blind without them), and fling them into the ocean.

5. I learned that the chances of finding a pair of lost glasses in the ocean is one in 357 trillion.

6. I learned that knowing the odds doesn't stop you from looking for lost glasses for quite a while. Or to continue checking the area every so often just to see if they happened to wash to shore.

7. I learned to be greatly appreciative of the whisper of inspiration to pack a back-up pair of glasses, "just in case."

8. My kids learned that the beauty of going to the beach actually lies in the ocean, not the beach itself. They had anticipated playing for hours in the sand, and instead spent hours battling the waves.

9. My kids learned that it is impossible to hold a grudge against the ocean.... even if it does steal your glasses.

10. I learned that spray on sunscreen is fabulous for the parks. It doesn't actually count as sunscreen at the beach, though. Ouch.

11. I learned that, after letting out a choking gasp when I learned how much Disney World tickets cost, while I was there I would be left wondering how they can do all that they do when they charge people so little.

12. I learned that the water in Orlando is nasty! It smells like it traveled through a forest fire on its way to the tap. And as my kids put it, it tastes like the rear end of a cow. Bottled water only fixes the problem so much. It doesn't help for taking showers or brushing your teeth. And dishes washed in an Orlando dishwasher come out smelling terrible!

13. I learned that I really, really, REALLY like to fly. Between the flight there and the flight home, we had a total of 5 window seats-- one for each of us. My turn was on the flight home. I haven't ever had a window seat before, and I have to say it is magical. I really wished that the entire country was having a cloudless day, so I could see more of the land I was flying over. It was amazing. It actually made me want to take a geology class. And it made me want to write books. Lots and lots of books. And when the clouds were there, it was pretty awesome, too. They looked like an endless ocean. I felt like my snow globe had been shaken up, and then left upside down. It was strange to look at the clouds from the wrong side, and then to look the direction opposite the clouds and see blue sky instead of ground. I wanted to stop time so I could drink it in a bit more, and make sure I was enjoying it enough.

14. And sadly, I learned that it is entirely possible to gain 5 pounds in 5 days when eating out twice a day.