Kate Mouse checking in here to fill you in on the antics of Mamma Mouse and I finding our way to our darling, Polly Mouse.
Last week I wrote list after list of things to pack to try and minimise what I took to Orlando. The idea behind that was that I can buy stuff and have plenty of room to bring it back. I finally finished packing on Thursday night using my very handy packing guide that I found on pinterest.
Last week I wrote list after list of things to pack to try and minimise what I took to Orlando. The idea behind that was that I can buy stuff and have plenty of room to bring it back. I finally finished packing on Thursday night using my very handy packing guide that I found on pinterest.
On Friday I had an amazing day at work getting trained to be the in house photographer. It was an awesome way to finish off the week before I went away. I was so excited for the trip too that everything lead to this day making it into the top 5 days I've had at work since I started. To check out the first example of said photography you can go to this Rembrandt Style Counsel page and to see more in the future like the Rembrandt page on facebook.
I left for Auckland on Friday night. Dave took me out to the airport nice and early and I checked in and went to the gate via Wishbone to pick up a muffin for dinner. Went through security and found a good spot to watch planes coming in while trying to complete the Candy Crush level that I am stuck on. A few planes came in, even more left and then all of a sudden there were no planes anywhere. There was a heavy fog that had been lurking all day - it now seemed adament to stay. Sure enough half an hour later I got a text to say the flight was cancelled. Eek! The anouncement hadn't been made over the speaker yet so i quickly headed to the check in counters to try and get another flight as soon as possible. They gave me the number to ring and I quickly got through as the anouncement was made over the speaker. A really nice guy helped me book in for the next day at 1.35pm. Assuming that the plane left it would give me plenty of time to get up to Auckland before Mum and my international flight.
I called Mum to tell her not to pick me up and then rang Dave to ask him to please pick me back up. He came and got me and to my surprise when I got home our big TV had been moved into the bedroom. Dave's idea around this was that if he doesnt use the lounge then he won't have to tidy it before I come home. Interesting concept...
I had such a good night sleep. I hadn't slept much during the week because I was trying to get everything finished for work before I went. I woke up and went to a weights class at the gym, came home, showered and then headed back to the airport to try again. The flight took off and landed - phew!
Dad picked me up and we went on a reccy to McDs. Dad got his usual, lime milkshake and I was very pleased to see that frozen raspberry Fanta is back. Yet another fabulous outcome of this week. We were going to keep this a secret from Mum but we left the rubbish in the car. Rookie mistake.
I left for Auckland on Friday night. Dave took me out to the airport nice and early and I checked in and went to the gate via Wishbone to pick up a muffin for dinner. Went through security and found a good spot to watch planes coming in while trying to complete the Candy Crush level that I am stuck on. A few planes came in, even more left and then all of a sudden there were no planes anywhere. There was a heavy fog that had been lurking all day - it now seemed adament to stay. Sure enough half an hour later I got a text to say the flight was cancelled. Eek! The anouncement hadn't been made over the speaker yet so i quickly headed to the check in counters to try and get another flight as soon as possible. They gave me the number to ring and I quickly got through as the anouncement was made over the speaker. A really nice guy helped me book in for the next day at 1.35pm. Assuming that the plane left it would give me plenty of time to get up to Auckland before Mum and my international flight.
I called Mum to tell her not to pick me up and then rang Dave to ask him to please pick me back up. He came and got me and to my surprise when I got home our big TV had been moved into the bedroom. Dave's idea around this was that if he doesnt use the lounge then he won't have to tidy it before I come home. Interesting concept...
I had such a good night sleep. I hadn't slept much during the week because I was trying to get everything finished for work before I went. I woke up and went to a weights class at the gym, came home, showered and then headed back to the airport to try again. The flight took off and landed - phew!
Dad picked me up and we went on a reccy to McDs. Dad got his usual, lime milkshake and I was very pleased to see that frozen raspberry Fanta is back. Yet another fabulous outcome of this week. We were going to keep this a secret from Mum but we left the rubbish in the car. Rookie mistake.
We got back to Wo town and I said a quick hi to Gretel and then Mum and I got into re packing our bags so that we could fit everything in that we had to take to Polly. After a bit of a juggle we got it sorted and headed back to the airport.
Gretel waved us goodbye from her favourite spot.
We popped in to see Sam and Meg on the way to the airport. Sam's a little shit but I still love him anyway. Wish he was coming with us.
After we had finished at Sam and Meg's, Dad drove us to the airport and dropped us off. Boy can my Dad wave - was pretty sure his arm was going to get ripped off as he drove away.
Mum and I checked in and went through customs to the Koru club. We had a bit to eat and drink before we went down to board our flight.
We boarded the plane and settled in for the 13 hour flight.
Mum and I checked in and went through customs to the Koru club. We had a bit to eat and drink before we went down to board our flight.
We boarded the plane and settled in for the 13 hour flight.
I watched Saving Mr Banks, The Hunger Games - Catching Fire and Frozen (x3 times). During Saving Mr Banks one of the air hostesses came and asked if we were gold elite koru members. I said Mum was and he gave us some flash headphones that were much nicer than the economy ones.
Neither Mum nor I got much sleep. At one point Mum got up to go to the loo. We both got stuck in the blankets and headphone cords and then got the giggles. We had to try and keep ourselves quiet as everyone else was asleep around us. It didnt help that the man directly behind us had his gob wide open, snoring.
When Mum got back from the loo she attempted to get back past without me getting up. This lead to even more laughter and EVEN MORE once we sat down to see she had ordered ear plugs and a toothbrush with her bum on the touch screen.
We eventually made it to LAX. Mums ankles had been swallowed by her calves on the flight as you will have seen in Pollys photo from her last blog post. We got through customs easy peasy and picked up our bags. We needed to get to a different terminal so we went to find someone to ask. We found a man outside. This is how the conversation went:
Mum: "Hi, can you tell us how to get to terminal 5?"
Man: "Delta?"
Mum: (holds up hand with five fingers spread and says very slowly "T E R M I N A L. F I V E"
Me: "Yes, Delta Airlines"
Man gives directions.
Me to Mum after we walk away towards terminal five: "Did you not hear the man say Delta?"
Mum: "I thought he was saying five in a different language. You know, Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta..."
Another fit of laughter began.
We got to terminal five and checked in to our domestic flight. Went through security and my bag had to be searched. The baby wipes had come up as a suspicious mass. Lady swabbed and drug tested them and it was all fine. Mum and I found a spot to hang out for eight hours until our domestic flight was called. We shared a BLT sandwich and used the free wifi to let everyone know where we were.
We found out our flight was leaving from another terminal so had to walk throught the airport utilidors to get to it.
When Mum got back from the loo she attempted to get back past without me getting up. This lead to even more laughter and EVEN MORE once we sat down to see she had ordered ear plugs and a toothbrush with her bum on the touch screen.
We eventually made it to LAX. Mums ankles had been swallowed by her calves on the flight as you will have seen in Pollys photo from her last blog post. We got through customs easy peasy and picked up our bags. We needed to get to a different terminal so we went to find someone to ask. We found a man outside. This is how the conversation went:
Mum: "Hi, can you tell us how to get to terminal 5?"
Man: "Delta?"
Mum: (holds up hand with five fingers spread and says very slowly "T E R M I N A L. F I V E"
Me: "Yes, Delta Airlines"
Man gives directions.
Me to Mum after we walk away towards terminal five: "Did you not hear the man say Delta?"
Mum: "I thought he was saying five in a different language. You know, Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta..."
Another fit of laughter began.
We got to terminal five and checked in to our domestic flight. Went through security and my bag had to be searched. The baby wipes had come up as a suspicious mass. Lady swabbed and drug tested them and it was all fine. Mum and I found a spot to hang out for eight hours until our domestic flight was called. We shared a BLT sandwich and used the free wifi to let everyone know where we were.
We found out our flight was leaving from another terminal so had to walk throught the airport utilidors to get to it.
We waited some more, eventually getting a hot drink each.
Two hours to go...
We finally boarded for Orlando on our Delta flight. Mum and I were seated apart. I was sitting next to a couple from Auckland - bloody small world (excuse the pun). Four and a half hours later and we landed in Orlando. We collected our luggage and found our bus to our resort. 36 hours of travel with four hours sleep was officially completed.
On the bus to our resort to find Polly Mouse.