The OctoNovember Birthday Vacation ~ The Road Trip Begins

First it was as a birthday present on my twenty first birthday. The next time it was just a family vacation because we needed one. The third time there was a new section to explore and it was a Graduation celebration. When we returned home from our third time visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort we had no excuses to book another trip for next year. Not too much time later vacation packages offering amazing not-to-be-missed deals popped up and it was time Abbie and I had to come up with an excuse to convince the rest of the family that we needed to go again next year. We all collectively decided that this time the excuse would be our birthdays. In OctoNovember falls my birthday, Abbie's birthday, and our baby Gubby's birthday as well. Gubby is going to turn one and this is the first year we'd all be celebrating three birthdays together. So the great Birthday Road Trip was booked and, after what seemed like a million years, Abbie and I were packing for Orlando, Florida again!

It was a beautiful Friday morning and we were supposed to wake up super early, get dressed and ready, and hit the roads as soon as possible so we could reach early before it got dark. The night before, I slept tired from all the packing and wrapping up the housework but more excited for where I was headed next. Sadly, when I woke up on Friday morning IBS kicked in. My stomach felt weird and after a few minutes of discomfort in bed I was awake and running to the washroom. Before I knew it I had paid seven trips to the bathroom, thrown up, and taken poop medicine that made me fall asleep instantly. We had to delay our trip a few hours during which I slept and thankfully my stomach corrected itself. I quickly showered, the horror of not being able to travel clawing at my brains inside my head, got dressed and ready and helped everybody load the car with our luggage. Just as always traveling light was just not our forte. Bro had his sulky face on, the kind of face that shows up whenever we have packing and loading to do. In contrast, the backyard was as beautiful as ever. It was one of those pretty Fall mornings when everything just seemed perfect. The sun was shining mildly above our heads and I felt the warmth sweep over my body which felt weak and cold from the bad morning I'd had earlier. Before I knew it I had Abbie beside me, Gubby in the seat in front of us, and bro, whose mood had thankfully gotten a bit better, driving us away!

Scared of how my stomach might react, I had skipped breakfast and began the road trip with an empty stomach. A few minutes into the trip my stomach was roaring like the dragon we were going to see at Diagon Alley soon enough. It was time for snacking! I was breaking away from my diet plan that I'd so strictly followed for the last six months so it was time for junk food at last. Our signature way of snacking in the car is using paper cups. Mama passed a cup full of Funyuns and Barbecue flavored UTZ chips and I instantly gulped down a few at once. Eating felt great but what felt even better was the taste of junk food in my mouth. Delicious!

Hours passed with me deeply engrossed in the Mortal Instruments City of Bones. I had started reading on the road trip and as the story unfolded I kept falling more and more in love with Jace Wayland. Abbie laughed when I told her I wanted to pull Jace out of the book. When we finally took our first rest break it was for lunch. Over the years, Abbie and I have gathered enough experience to provide a full fledged gourmet lunch in style within the confinements of the car. I held the dish full of chick peas curry while Abbie added helpings of kababs and naan to each plate before passing it on to the front seats. Bro got food first, the added sympathy for being the one driving non stop coming to his aid. Mama was next, SIL's plate followed, and finally Abbie and I shared food in one plate. The single disadvantage of being the food server in a car is that by the time Abbie and I get to begin eating everybody has gulped down half of their food and the car fills up with impatience. Breathing in the ever increasing impatient atmosphere of the car, the two of us bit into our juicy kababs and savored the chick peas and naans that we had. Eating delicious food without thinking about diets felt heavenly. It was like being freed from a really long prison sentence. No kidding.

Traveling with an adorable baby who keeps you entertained throughout the journey is such a blessing. As we sat in the car in the little space Abbie and I have in the very back seats of bro's van, Gubby kept making adorable noises and funny faces. Since we couldn't move enough to cuddle her cheeks thanks to all the luggage we had around us we had to fight the urge to squeeze her until we finally reached our hotel for the night stay in Florence. Gubby hates her car seat and gets annoyed and cranky when buckled up for hours. She was the first to be let out of the car and when we reached our room she began playing between the pillows, letting the softness sink into her back and adorable bum where she probably felt stiff by now. Amidst the pillows she looked like one herself, her soft cheeks all fluffed up like the pillows and her tiny cute feet bouncing around. She's such a sweetheart!

My outfit for the day had been a really comfortable and simple coral dress. It was loose in all the right places so I could relax as much as possible in that over packed car. It was a great choice actually, given that I woke up with my IBS triggered and began the day in severe discomfort. Though simple, it looked really pretty. The coral color sent relaxing vibes and the comfortable fit paired perfectly with the tight space I had for travel. Once we were in our hotel room and Gubby had been let out to straighten her back, I began getting the room fit to sleep. From a previous terribly painful experience of catching a pink eye infection from a hotel I had learnt my lesson to travel with sanitizing wipes. After wiping every possible surface that we might touch in the room with sanitizing wipes, spraying Lysol all around, and laying out clean bed sheets I'd brought from home over the hotel's own, the room was ready for us to lie down and spend a relaxing night stay in. Call me crazy, but I'd better be safe than a sorry loser with a swollen pink eye.

We showered, cleaned up ourselves, laid out our outfits for the next morning, and finally got in bed to relax. Abbie broke out the Chai session, a necessary routine for the satisfaction of our Desi blood, and I loaded Big Boss 9 for everybody to enjoy. It had been a terrible morning for me, but the journey up to Florence had been adorned with delicious food, adorable baby expressions, and crazy awesome demon hunting of the Shadow Hunters' world. I had a cup of steaming hot soothing chai in my hand, Big Boss 9 happening in front of me, and was headed to my most favorite place in the world next morning. Life was awesome and I was already loving the OctoNovember Birthday Vacation!