Florida!

A trip to Disney World and Universal Studios had been in the back of our minds for a couple years and then last February, acting on the advice of Paul's co-worker, we decided to plan it for November of this year.  It seemed such a long way off!  I nonchalantly mentioned it to the kids way back then too so it was a major conversation point in our family for the past 9 months.  But seriously, if you're going to do this trip right, you need 9 months to plan.  We knew this would be our once in a lifetime trip (unless I go as the favorite grandma someday to watch the little ones while parents are on rides) so we were prepared to go all out.  And we did.  Paul and his friend planned this trip for hours over the course of those months.  We planned two days in Universal Studios so Drew and I could get our Harry Potter fix, and then 6.5 days in Disney World.  Paul researched the best days to go to each park to "avoid" the crowds and he came up with November, the weeks before Thanksgiving.  We even took advantage of DW's free food plan they offered at that time in order to attract more visitors.  He was able to reserve us a dinner with princesses, a breakfast at Cinderella's castle with princesses, and some other neat places which I will describe later.  He put so much work into planning the perfect vacation!  He's awesome!  Best dad ever!  I think I will break up these posts by parks so they don't get too long.  But this first one will cover the first day of our travels.  Drew and Mason had flown before when they were very small so it was pretty much a new experience for all 4 kids.  We got up at 2 in the morning to get to the airport to catch our flight on the 10th.  UGH!  We had great flights with a lay-over in Denver.

 We actually got to Florida about 45 minutes early and we figured we had time to dip our toes in the Atlantic Ocean before we checked into our hotel.  We drove about 40 minutes east to Cape Canaveral and parked our rental car.  We lost sight of it as we played in the water for about 20 minutes.
 When we got back to the car the passenger's window was broken and my purse and sweatshirt were gone!

 I was in shock for a second, said a few choice words, and then we were in action mode, calling all the credit card and bank card places we could think of.  Turned out the thieves had used my card to buy gas just down the street so I was hoping it would be resolved quickly.  No such luck.  We filed a police report and since our vacation was pretty much already paid for, we soldiered on and continued our trip.  I no longer had any ID or cards but luckily I did not have our park tickets or wrist bands in my purse.  They were packed away in the back of the van.  They could have ruined us, I'm so thankful it was just a smash and grab.  But since we have returned from Florida it has been anything but easy.  The day we got home we found that the thieves had wiped out our bank account.  They used my ID to cash checks, and I am still getting calls from Florida about them trying to use my checks to steal money from others they have stolen from.  We got caught in an ID theft ring.  They patrol the beach accesses and as soon as someone leaves their car they steal their purse.  I know of 2 women now who have had their ID returned due to alert bank tellers, but mine is still out there and it freaks me out a bit.  I guess there is a woman who uses the outside drive through lanes so the teller can't get a good look at her and she tries to cash checks.  She's driven off twice now, leaving the ID behind when they asked her to come in.  Hopefully they have great pictures of her and her car and it will only be a matter of time till they throw her sorry butt in jail.  Its amazing the havoc this has wreaked on my life.  I know its just a temporary setback, not a life altering event, but dealing with identity theft sucks!  We have been home 6 days now and pretty much all of those days have been filled with my calling people, changing account numbers, replacing cards, talking to police, freaking out full-time about what else this sorry excuse for a human would do to me.  I think things are settling down now, knock on wood, and I am able to breathe.  Public Service Announcement:  Unless you use your checks on a daily basis, DON'T CARRY THEM AROUND WITH YOU!  Its easy to cancel debit cards, its a whole other ball game when it comes to checks.  Huge lesson learned on my part.  Hopefully this can save someone else from having to go through this mess.  I am so thankful for all the help we have received though.  So many people along the way have stepped up to help us and its just been incredible to watch.  I'm not a people person and I could let this taint me even more against mankind, but I think I will just appreciate the good we have seen in so many people and go from there.  So this is my downer post.  The next ones will be all about what an awesome trip we just experienced!