This is the look of my sweetie hubby as we tried to make last minute changes in our travel plans when a friend alerted us that an ice storm was coming on Thursday night to TN..and we decided to leave within the hour on Thursday instead of Friday morning as planned. I'm blessed to have awesome kiddos who know the Hanna way of "bugging out" and were able to shift gears and get the entire van packed quickly!
Christian made us all laugh as he pretended to board the little kids on an airplane..taking them one by one and calling out their rows..then asking them if they wanted Diet coke or Sprite (even though they were really getting water but they loved the act!) and then serving them homemade brownies that had just finished baking! Rick and I ran around saying "this is crazy" as we tried to pull extra things that were needed out of the dryer and make hotel cancellations (one we got just in time as the last moment to cancel was in 3 minutes that day!) We decided to pray and go to Birmingham AL that afternoon/evening...always nice when we both look at the map independently and agree instantly that that should be our goal..after 21 years of marriage I think sometimes we can read each other's minds!
The hardest thing over our two travel days was explaining how our carefully planned out countdown had changed and how it would still be a few days before we could see Mickey! We prayed and thanked God for each step along the way as we made it on dry ground through Tennessee into Alabama..arriving at our hotel at 11:00pm. I tried to remain calm thinking about how late they were going to bed but just slowly taking each step of our routine to get everyone tucked in and we were able to get to bed by midnight (some of us didn't sleep but God still provided strength!)
Corey surprised us with this self-portrait on the way to FL..he said it was himself and it's the first time he's drawn himself or anyone with that much detail as we can see glasses and hair..way to go Corey!
On Friday morning we left around 9am with a goal of making it to Orlando by evening. We took a little detour to head through Albany, GA so we could see Sherwood Church (known for production of movies such as Courageous and Facing the Giants). We ended up on some windy country roads that reminded us of home.
One of the funniest Starbucks moments happened on this leg of the trip. After leaving the hotel, my sweetie hubby always looks out for a place to stop for chai and I have a gift card this time from my inlaws that makes Starbucks stops extra sweet. We pull up in our 15 passenger and I went in, only one of the ladies in drivethru must not have seen me come because she loudly announced "OH NO.. a 15 passenger van just pulled up and it's full of kids!" I hesitated then smiled and said "oh that's mine" She laughed nervously and then said.."oh I was worried we've have to make a bunch of frappaccinos!" I assured her that only the adults drink caffeine and that we were headed to Disney with 6 kids and had another full day of travel to go. Next thing I knew a bunch of the staff were asking me questions about the kids and I joyfully shared :) The lady doing the drinks asked me if I had ever had chai w/ expresso and I told her I didn't (and frankly didn't want to ruin my routine LOL)..so then at the end she hands me a complimentary pumpkin chai w/ expresso in addition to my drink and smiles and says "I'm the oldest of 5..my mom was a great mom" It made me smile and also was a very kind gesture that made my day bright :) Always glad to share how much I love my kids with strangers and admit that I'm a bit nuts for taking everyone to Disney but God has provided for us to go!
We arrived in Orlando around 8pm and everyone crashed a bit. The younger kids went to sleep right away while the older ones at chipwiches and worked on internet (or school in Chelsea's case).
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