In My Way...Charm: Planes...Trains...Ships and Vans...oh and Busses too..

Well hello! and welcome to my world :)

Way back in 2008...no... it was before that...

Way back in early 2007 ... Edwin my husband started talking about going on a family holiday [is there any other kind...not for us anyway] to Disney World in Orlando Florida...and i was horrified...yes u read right... HORRIFIED !!!

At first i thought... Ja Ja ... never gonna happen! too expensive...

But 'it' just didn't go away... like i fully expected 'it' to...

The seed had taken root...become a seedling...and next thing 'It' was ON...!!!

I can clearly remember feeling ticked-off with him...and telling friends about this crazy plan for a holiday my husband had dreamed up....Here's why i thought he was a little nuts...

U see we live in South Africa... and that's a 24hour flight [at that stage]

with refueling in Dakar and a connecting from Atlanta to Miami...

oh yes i forgot to tell u...we were first set to go on what was at that stage one of the 2 LARGEST CRUISE SHIPS IN THE WORLD [Royal Caribbean's ...the Freedom Of The Seas...] for a 7 day cruise of the Caribbean...

A dream holiday surely?!.... i hear u saying...

the part of this puzzle u still do not have is that Bradley was ONLY 18 MONTHS OLD at the time...

and still breastfed...

**YIKES**

I am the kind of person who goes with the flow...pretty much...

if the kids can come....i'll go ...

but it was rather a daunting thought...and the logistics were hectic people...hec-tic...

Soon we had both sets of Grandparents on-board if you'll excuse the pun...lol

Edwin's parents traveled alone...and met up with us in Miami...

My Mom and Dad were with us all the way...

U might be thinking...many hands to help Charmaine with the Baby...

u would be OH SO wrong...!!!

Not that they all didn't try...but it was no use...all 3 my kids were extremely bonded to me...

me and my boobs :) I am one LUCKY mommy...read...I am one LUCKY mommy :)

for real...

Anyway...our epic holiday began with a hour long drive to the airport...in a van we hired...

4 adults 2 kids and 1 baby...

lots of luggage...the reclining stroller and Bradley's car seat...in tow

the car seat was for the flights...because even though we did buy him his very own seat on the plane...

i still wanted him buckled into his car seat too... well this plan didn't work and we had to ask the Air Hostess to store it for us... i also wanted him to be properly buckled up on the roads in the USA...

I will say this about air travel with such a small child...it's WORK but totally doable also :)

they DO NEED their own seat.... that's for sure.

So off we went... our weird little band of.... about-to-be world travelers :)

one fearless, very organised leader very intent on leading [Ed] 2 totally awestruck pensioners if a little weary at times [my parents]

1 worried/stressed/harassed but in a calm kind of way... Mama [me] 1 twelve year old [Bianca] a 9 year old [Brandon] who alternated between excitement and nerves in equal measure and an at times overwhelmed Bradley [18months]

a VERY excited but still totally weird little group

and so this is how our adventure began...

and lets just be honest an adventure is all of those things...

highs and lows....highlights and low-lights...all in the mix...

Our little group of intrepid travelers filled up a whole line of seats ...the not so big then big kids at the window seats on my left...then myself and Bradley next to me in the middle with Edwin ... and my parents on the window seats next to Edwin...

Bianca and Brandon saw a little red light through their window and got a fright ...

Bianca said "we r going to die...."

as it was a nighttime flight out... that little red light on the wing looked rater ominous to them...

and i had to reassure them both... while feeling a little afraid of what lay ahead myself...

not easy...

About flying... Bradley was ok during the flight as long as he wasn't restricted to being buckled up for too long...read... he cried every time we landed or took off :( he slept very well for hours and hours actually...fully stretched out over my seat and his...so that means i didn't sleep much or sit comfortably hey ... but thankfully we had a safe flight and landed at Atlanta airport....when we had only roughly 1 hour to catch our connecting flight to Miami...not much time let me tell u...because that place is big....BIG and busy!!!

We also road a FAST train from one side of the airport to the other...u really had to hold on to keep from falling down...

My Dad got pulled aside and questioned during a security check...that was a little scary...

and because he had done some tile grouting without gloves recently...his fingerprints wouldn't scan...lol...

and we had to go through all the strict American airport security check points...taking shoes off and on again...and and and...what an experience it was...all the while keeping track of 2 older folks and 3 kids...and the pram and the car seat and all 11 pieces of luggage...no mean feat!!! Another moment that stands out at Atlanta was when we received our bags off the plane 1 of our bags had been opened and searched...for what i don't know as we followed all the baggage rules to the letter...not wanting trouble of any kind...we were all a little shocked and upset at this...while i was frantically checking if anything had been removed ...for a minute my attention was obviously not on Bradley ... when suddenly i look for him and when i couldn't spot him immediately... fear grabbed my heart and squeezed HARD and i asked loudly "where's Bradley?" all eyes searched around quickly for the shortest among us...he was nowhere nearby...just as i felt myself about to loose my grip on calmness...thinking we are at an AIRPORT!!!...if he has been 'taken' he could be removed to anywhere in the world....we'll never find him...and that was the moment when Brandon my 9 year old decided it may be a good time to let us all in on the 'joke' that he was hiding Bradley [who was standing right there but behind Brandon and between 2 huge pillars that Brandon was standing right in front of] boy i was not impressed and no one laughed....until later....MUCH later...shame... Brandon really got a tongue lashing that day :)

Yes... Atlanta was...

memorable...

We arrived later that day in Miami ...

Where the taxi ride to the Holiday Inn was ....well how shall i phrase it...

interesting to say the least...scary to say the most...

i remember very clearly thinking to myself...

"did i just survive the last 24 hours...a flight over the sea no less...6 takeoffs and landings in total...to die in a car accident in Miami...?!?" NO WAY!!!

But we arrived safe and sound at our hotel...and i was weak with relief... while the folks had to rest we hit the ground running in true Team Gouws fashion...we went exploring...

That night we were really feeling the aftereffects of traveling across the world and not getting much shuteye on the flight...

we had supper and hit the sack early...what happen next was like something straight from a movie...

I put it down to being a Mama...i sleep light...i look after my kids even while fast asleep ...lol...

a noise woke me...as i surfaced from sleep i realized it wasn't Bradley wanting a quick suck...OH NO......it wasn't my baby...it was the hotels fire alarm...alarmingly loud and clear...the female voice was saying..."this is not a drill...please evacuate this floor...there is a fire...do not use the elevators...use the fire escape...this is not a drill...."......i could not believe my ears!!! but reacted with haste ...i woke Edwin up, we jumped out of bed pulled on our pants and shoes i picked a soft and soundly sleeping Bradley up and called out to Bianca and Brandon to wake up and get up...she listened immediately...he did not...mumbling something about him waiting there for us...that's when Edwin reached out a grabbed him by the arm and up and out of that bed....as i stood by the door waiting...i sniffed at the air for the smell of smoke...and found none...i remember thinking "when i open this door there may be smoke in the passage...i was afraid...and wondering where the fire was....above us or blow..." the whole time the recording was repeating ... we opened the door... no smoke...in that moment i felt like we would be able to get out ok...we looked out and up and down the long passage...others were doing the same ...some were standing around undecided... looking around at everyone else looking at them... we exited our room into the passage...and suddenly we all started moving as one towards the fire escape....down down down we all went...Bianca said again "we r going to die..."....the door at the bottom only had a handle on the inside...nothing on the outside to open the door with...i was wondering about my mom them...had they used the fire exit near their room...? as we went out i asked a young girl to hold the door for me i wanted to go back inside to make sure my parent had left their room which was not near ours but was on the same floor... she put a rock in front of the door and followed the small group of pajama clad people round the side of the hotel...i gave Bradley to Edwin and turned back ... but he stopped me dead in my tracks by saying no i shouldn't go back...i was a mother now...

With a heavy heart i kicked the rock away so the door could close...

I joined the group again thinking it strange that there was not hotel staff to tell us what to do or where to go...

we moved as one around the side of the hotel back to the front...still no signs of a fire...in we went through the revolving door into a lobby filled with people and late evening diners having supper in the dinning room off to the right hand side...i spotted my in-laws eating... a staff member informed us it was a false alarm...that there was no fire...no real danger...Thank God!!

When we got back to our room i double checked that it was just a false alarm...and went to see if my parents had also evacuated...they were still fast asleep in their room...i banged and banged on their door before a half asleep Dad with robot red eyes answered...

I remember a terrible sinking feeling ...what if it had been a real emergency...??

to be continued...

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