ALL ABOUT THE ALLFREYS: January 2009

So in the last post I wrote about what a wonderful time we had in Disney World with the exception of about 20 minutes. Well, this is what happened in those 20 minutes.

We had all just got off the magic carpet ride and decided to head over to the jungle cruise ride just across the way. We parked the strollers and gathered the crew and began to walk over. Keep in mind that there is quite a lot of us and on this particular day we were all wearing our matching mickey mouse shirts that Brian's mom had gotten for all of us.

We got in line for the jungle cruise which said was about a ten minute wait. It was a single file line and we were moving pretty much the whole time, winding back and forth through the switch backs. We got to the front of the line and they asked us how many in our party and they loaded our big group onto the boat.

The ride begins and I decided to grab my camera to take some pictures of the kids. I snap a picture and after doing so I realized Jackson was not in it! (Above is the picture I took. I hate now to even look at it. Wow, my stomach is hurting right now just thinking about what happened). I looked at Brian and said "Where is Jackson, he's not on the boat!" At this point I started to totally FREAK OUT!! We were stuck on this stupid boat and my baby boy was not on with me. They couldn't just turn the boat around so we had to just sit there completely helpless until the ride came to an end. I wanted so bad to just jump into the water and swim back to get my little boy.

The whole time I was freaking out. Brian kept trying to settle me down and tell me that I wasn't helping anything and that I was starting to scare the other kids, but I physically could not help myself. I tried to think back when the last time I saw him and I couldn't remember now even seeing him in line with us. I felt like the worst mom in the whole world. How could I have been in line that whole time and not noticed that my child was missing?!!!

I don't care what anybody says, that jungle cruise ride is the LONGEST RIDE in history! As soon as we got back I jumped off that boat so quick and found the first Disney person I could find and asked if they had seen Jackson. As I was asking, another Disney worker walked by and overheard and said a little boy was with the security guard just around the corner and she would take us to him.

As we walked around the corner I could see a glimpse of that beautiful blond hair and I felt the biggest sense of relief I have ever felt. I yelled out his name and he turned around and I went running toward him and grabbed him up into my arms. I was crying uncontrollably and thanking the security guard and the Disney worker through the tears. I was so happy to have that little guy back in my arms again.

My heart was racing for at least an hour after the whole ordeal happened. And even now as I talk about it I get that knot in my stomach and I get a little emotional. I NEVER want to have that feeling again. I have never been so scared in my entire life!

Apparently what had happened was as we were all walking over the jungle cruise ride, Jackson saw some misters and went over to stand in them for a second and none of us noticed. He told me that when he turned around everyone was gone. So he went back to where we had parked the strollers and when we didn't come back after a few minutes he started to cry. He then saw a Disney worker and he told them that he had lost his mom and dad. He described to them what we were wearing and what we looked like and our names. I am so proud of Jackson for doing the right thing and telling someone that he needed help. He did exactly the right thing in this situation and for that I am a very proud mom. (Although I still feel horrible about what happened.) They brought him to the security guard and they gave him some tokens and let him play with the remote control boats until we were able to reunite with him.

Needless to say I did not let go of Jackson's hand the entire day! I had him in my sights at all times. I was also doing endless head counts everywhere we walked the rest of the week. Even the next day when we went to Hollywood studios I took Taylor over to play in the Honey I shrunk the kids playground. After I took her up to the slide I realized there was no way I could fit in that slide and I put her down it and went to find where it came out and I couldn't. She found me only about a half second later, but I was about to have a full blown panic attack that I couldn't see her, so I made her come out and find something else to do. I could not stand to have any of the kids out of my sight even for one second!

Mother of the year right? I still feel so bad that I could let this happen, but I am so glad that it was only for 20 minutes and that he is safe and sound. I love that kid more than words can express!

I know I have a ton of pictures posted but I had too many to choose from. We had such a fun trip to Florida (with the exception of about 20 minutes the first day, more to come about that in a later post). It was nice to spend time as a family and the kids had such a great time playing with their cousins.

We call these boys the threetards! When they get together they are wako and crazy.

Taylor is getting ready for Thunder Mountain Railroad. She didn't hold her hands up for the whole ride, but I still think she is pretty tough. She rode on EVERY ride that she was tall enough to ride, including tower of terror! She is way tougher that either of her older brothers.

Jackson's favorite ride was star tours. I think he rode it at least five times.

You can't go to disney without seeing Mickey!
Brian's dad made reservations at the 50's diner in Hollywood studios. Since it was Taylor's birthday they had a cake all ready for her and everyone sung happy birthday to her after dinner. What a fun day we had that day! Taylor kept saying over and over that it was the best birthday ever!!

Brian and the kids got the opportunity to feed the dolphins. It was pretty fun to watch them feed and touch them. Although Taylor would get a little nervous when the dolphin opened its mouth and she would panic and just throw the fish into the water. The boys thought it was pretty awesome.