It is incredible to believe that we are down to our final three-and-a-half weeks, after years of dreaming and months of planning.  Our house doesn’t really resemble our home anymore; it is more of a loading area for our boxes,  and the kitchen breakfast counter resembles a command center for organizing our move.  As soon as it gets cleaned off, the piles reappear again.  There are days this seems so surreal, like we’re going to wake up any minute and find this to be a huge dream.  🙂

Our original plan involved staying in a hotel the night before the movers arrived, as our beds will be gone and we’re not ones for sleeping on the floor. Our love for Walt Disney World precipitated our move, so we intended to stay at Port Orleans Riverside for our night of arrival, this being the first (and only) resort hotel we have stayed at, and have mattresses delivered on Tuesday.  As the weeks passed we realized this strategy was full of sinkholes and probably needed to be revised.  A one-night stay at the resort for our family of four would run $208.   Ok, we reasoned.  Let’s get our driver’s licenses right away and be eligible for the Florida rate.   This brought the cost down to $167.  Still, it seemed too high for one night’s stay, and we didn’t really want the hassle of rushing to arrive in Clermont so that we could fit in all our appointments necessary for obtaining our driver’s license.  We drove constantly when we went to Disney in 2009, and we vowed this time it will be different.  It also wasn’t realistic to expect mattresses to be delivered the next day; while it could happen, it’s not likely.

We then made the decision to purchase airbeds once we arrive in Clermont and sleep on those until the mattresses arrive.  This was kind of our holding-thought pattern until this weekend, when we decided why not buy them now?  It would allow us to cancel the reservation we have for the hotel on July 21st, it would save the time and hassle of having to shop for them on our first night in Clermont, and chances are it would be more cost efficient to buy them now in Wisconsin as opposed to Florida.  It helped that a few local stores had airbeds on sale, and we spent Sunday afternoon checking them out.  We decided on a queen mattress for ourselves ($45), and two twin mattresses for the kids ($10 each). We also bought a pump for $20.  (Just as a side note, the airbeds at Target got horrible reviews–we passed them by, went to Fleet Farm and selected Coleman brand instead).  We felt the investment of $85 was well worth saving on three (possibly four) nights in a hotel.  This eliminates the pressure of finding mattresses immediately, and it will also allow us to spend our last night in our home together.  The airbeds will be put to use later for sleepovers or when Nick visits us during the holidays.

We’ve updated the website with a new “Schools” tab, that contains links to all the resources we’ve utilized in the process of getting the kids registered for school.  A physical examination and up-to-date immunizations are required for all students entering the Florida school system, and immunizations must be put on a Florida Certification of Immunization Form DH 680 (aka the Blue Form).  Only Florida providers or the Health Department have access to this form, so please be sure to bring an updated copy of your child’s immunizations to have them transferred to this form.

Ben and Catie both had their physicals completed today, and Catie was identified as having a possible vision problem in her left eye.  Thanks to a cancellation, she is scheduled to see an optometrist tomorrow afternoon already, and we are thankful that we made the doctor appointment early enough before our move that we are able to see our own eye doctor before we leave.  In your relocation efforts, plan to complete your medical appointments at least a month before your final move to allow for any surprises that may pop up.

There are times lately where life is routine as usual, and then there are those moments where you think:  OMG we’re moving to Florida and Walt Disney World will be part of our regular lives.  It kind of takes your breath away when you stop to think.  It reminds us of the Disney song from Aladdin  “A Whole New World”, where Ali instructs Princess Jasmine “don’t you dare close your eyes”.  Yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at.

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Thanks for following along with us~   Mark & Jen