Monday, March 4, 2024

Florida 24 -Your approval is pending.

 It's been a hectic year so far - House stuff, builders, work, family visitors, pooping or not - Illnesses and all the usual gubbins associated with being a tiny little growing family. 

One thing we were all looking forward though to, was our yearly winter vacation. This year we were heading to Florida - a nice warm holiday with swimming, rocket launches, a beach, lots of things to do and some time to have fun together. 

Florida trip day 1..kind of..

So earlier today, (Friday Feb 23rd) the cleaners arrived to clean the house after the plumbers, builders, electricians and carpet fitters had spent the last month destroying and rebuilding our stairs and cupboards so that they pass the 'code' and permits would be issued. Luckily 'Paul', who did the renovations and sold us the house paid for the lot as it was still his house when the jobs were picked up. Also luckily, it would all be finished today, just in time for our holiday.  The inspector arrived at 3.15pm - we were due to leave for the airport at 3.30pm. We were very happy to hear the permits would be issued, so we headed to the airport. 

Unfortunately, when we arrived and tried to check in it became apparent that I had forgotten something pretty important- As an English Passport holder I would need an ESTA Electronic System for Travel Authorization for entry to USA and with everything going on these past few months I had simply forgotten to get one. This had happened to me before though and I knew I could apply online and get instant approval as I had done once in the past. So while Buffy and the kids waited, I went through the appallingly looooong 7-step on-line application on my phone- including my mum and dad's names, contact details in the USA and all sorts of info. I pressed complete and the screen flashed up..........

 'Your approval is pending, this could take up to 72 hours'. 

It was 1 hour till the check-in closed.

The check-in staff said I could wait till the last minute if needed. 

We waited and refreshed the screen and waited and refreshed the screen and then the check-in closed at 5pm. I was told that maybe could still get me on the flight if the approval came right now, but sadly it did not. 

Then at 5.26pm, as I refreshed the screen, it changed to 'Authorization Approved'. I rushed to the check-in, and they called the gate, but the passenger manifest had been given to the USA security and I was not on it. My name had been removed as a passenger.  Buff called from where she was already waiting in departures with the kids and tried asking the staff at the gate, but they could do nothing. 

I would not be taking this flight. 

I will not be going on holiday to Florida today. 

I was gutted. Absolutely gutted, and it was all my fault for forgetting about the ESTA. (As a side note, I no longer need to do this after this trip as I have been approved for Canadian citizenship and will be sworn in 2 days after the Floridian holiday. Life sometimes smacks you right in the balls and then tickles you just for shits eh!? ) 

So what to do now? Buffy had quickly and correctly decided that their holiday would go ahead and they were already boarding. But we had cars booked with me as a driver so I quickly contacted the car people and added Buffy as a driver which was really easy, to be honest. (We booked through Turo, it's like Airbnb for cars) So that was done. Hotel and day-out bookings are all done online so there should be no issues with those. But Buffy may have to deal with the kids, on her own for a week. if I can't get out there. 

So I looked online for flights to Florida, expecting to get nothing and found a flight at 6.30am, tomorrow with Sunwing. But for some reason, on my phone, there was no button to 'book'. I jumped in a taxi and arrived home before Buffy and the kids had even aken off. I ran upstairs to my PC and found the flight,. pressed book..... and .....it .... was..... booked! I fly one way, no bags, on my own at 6.30am tomorrow morning! Phew. My approved ESTA is printed with my flight booking and I have an Uber coming to pick me up just after 4am. If it doesn't arrive I will drive and park the car at the airport. But I will be there, in Florida by lunchtime tomorrow, fingers crossed! 

After getting little or no sleep I woke up early at 3.30, before any of my 3 alarms had sounded. I got up, washed and dressed and was ready to set off again. My small backpack was already packed last night with the Esta, paperwork and of course plastic bowls and spoons for the Kids, which Buffy had asked me to bring. I even had time for a quick Weetabix breakfast before my pre-booked Uber arrived 20 minutes early.  At the airport, I nervously approached the check-in, with Esta in hand. 

But of course, this time they never even asked for it. FFS. 

USA security opened at 4.30 and was easy with no bags, electronics or children!

So it's now 5.20am. I was supposed to take off nearly 12 hours ago and at least on the correct side of customs this time! 

I'm happy that I am here, but feel guilty having had to leave  Buffy to deal with the kids on their flight yesterday. I really should have remembered about the ESTA.

The flight was pretty empty, so I managed to bag 3 seats and lay down to sleep for most of the trip. A quick Uber from the airport and I met Buffy and the kids, at the pool just about 1pm Florida time. I had missed just 2 hours since they got out of bed! Not a bad result. 

Buffy told me all about the previous night - The kids had been great on the plane. The car pick-up was a breeze (I had waited up to give her directions that were being given to me by the people we rented from) and the main issue was tired kids late at night an checking into the hotel. I will not steal her thunder but she did great to get 2 kids 4 bags and the stroller from the car parked at the wrong end of the hotel, up to the 6th floor and into the room with swipe cards that didn't work!

On the flight  - no dad!





In Florida day 2.

Buffy tried to feed the kids oatmeal in a cup with a stirrer stick, hence, me bringing the bowls later on. We stayed at the resort hotel, played in the pools, mini-golfed and generally enjoyed the nice weather and the resort. Hannah and Ollie made friends with some other kids and we had pizza for dinner!



Me checking in at 4.30am the next day!







Florida day 3.

We had looked into taking the kids to Disney and othe theme parks, but the fact that Ollie is so small meant that he would not be able to get onto most rides and with the queues and cost we decided we would leave that for a couple of years until the kids would get the most out of it. We gave them other choices and they decoded on the Peppa Pig theme park. A much smaller park, but especially meant for kids like ours. They have a few good little rides, much smaller queues and even a cinema showing round the clock peppa pig episodes for when the kids get tired. 

It took our two a little while to work out how a theme park works - choose a ride, queue, go on ride, get off, find another ride, queue, repeat. But they soon got the hang of it and by the time the first 'Peppa Pig live appearance came around', they had already been on about 5 rides. We then watched Peppa on stage before returning to more rides, lunch, more rides, another (the same) Peppa Pig live show, more rides and yet another (same yet again) Peppa Pig live show and then a final round of even more rides. We were the last people off the dinosaur ride after Hannah and I had also been on the last ride in Daddy Pigs roller coaster. It was a great little park for the kids and it was no surprise that they were a bit emotional to lave after such a good day. That night they slept well (after arguing about the beds of course!)










Day 4 - I think.

Day 4 was moving day - we were heading to a different hotel over on the East coast in Cocoa Beach. We wanted to go to Kennedy Space Centre and relax in the pool or at the beach away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando. It was all pre-planned so we packed the car and headed to a different theme park on the way - 'Fun Spot Orlando'. Now this is a proper old-style park, again with lots of rides the kids could get onto and small queues as well as really good but reasonably cheap food, an alligator show that was part of the entrance fee and some really great, super fast double seated go-karts that the kids could ride as we drove! Some of the ride queues were actually non-existent and we actually spent a good while sitting by the kids' rides while Ollie and Hannah went from ride to ride, showing their wristbands to the staff member, who would then get them on, start the ride, let them off and them repeat again. The kids must have been on 20 rides a total of 60 to 70 times in the entire day. Honestly, at one point they were off the rides for about 30 seconds before getting back on again. They loved it all. There were a couple of good rides for us big kids too and we all enjoyed feeding the gators around dinner time - Ollie and Hannah throwing little fish straight into the gator mouths!











After a full day at Fun Spot, we drove the hour or so to Cocoa Beach, stopping on the way to pick up dinner and arrived in time for bed at The Beachside Hotel. A lovely hotel with a 60s vibe, just a block from the beach and with a lazy river pool which the kids would spend a lot of time in over the next few days!

Day 5 MAYBE? Cocoa Beach 

Today was spent just relaxing and having fun in the sun. Breakfast was included and was great - 56 menu items we were told and there was so much choice the kids wanted everything of course! After breakfast, they never went back to the room, but played in the big sandbox, swam and floated around the last river, made friends with other kids and had a brilliant morning. In the afternoon we took a short walk to the beach and got our first glimpse of a rocket as we could see Blue Origins, 'New Glenn' sitting on a pad just a couple of miles away. The kids loved the beach and ended up covered in sand and shells as they both decided that they should be mermaids!

In the evening we went to Noland Irish pub for dinner and ended up sharing a table with a nice couple from Virginia. Of course, the kids were a bit wild and knocked over a glass of water all over them, but they were really nice about it and as it was only water they didn't actually seem to mind too much.  













Day 6 - Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Centre

I like rockets and I hope the kids do too. So we had to visit KSC. The first half hour there was a dud though. The kids didn't seem interested and they were tired. But that changed when we went into the Atlantis space shuttle exhibit. Now I just wanted to see the Space Shuttle. but you have to sit through 2 short 6-minute movies before you do. I was a little annoyed but it was so worth it. The movies are great and build up to a crescendo and then the reveal. The screen you are watching disappears and the real-life - been to actual space - Space Shuttle appears like magic right in front of you. I will not even try to describe how good it is, but I was almost in tears at the reveal. It was brilliant. But the kids needed pees, so that came first before we had a good look around. It really is a great exhibit and included is the 'Space Shuttle launch experience' which unfortunately Ollie is too little for. I had done it a few years back, so Buffy took Hannah in and she loved it even if it was a little loud. Ollie and I were able to watch through the onboard cameras and see everything that happened which is a great touch for those that cannot do the ride. 

We took the bus tour to the Apollo and Saturn 5 building, which the kids liked but didn't love. Returning to the main visitor area for the kid's play area, the Mars exhibit, some science shows and the IMAX cinema which was also brilliant. The kids didn't want to leave at the end of the day. It was a big turnaround and another great day out. We even had time for a dip in the lazy river when we got back and saw one of the Space X boosters in Port Canaveral on the journey home. Plus we found a special surprise that we planned for the next day....more about that in a minute.  











Day 7  - One day left

I had really wanted to see a rocket launch while in Florida, but the only launch so far this week was while we were in Peppa Pig World! Luckily there was another due to take off this morning, but the weather was terrible and we didn't know if we would see anything. We drove up to Titusville which normally has a clear view of the launch pads and waited. But it was pretty muggy. A few locals were there too and told us where to look so at 1030am  - right on time - we sat a Falcon 9 take off with Starlink satellites set for space! Now the clouds were low and we only saw about 15 seconds of the flight but it was worth it just to say we had done it once! The best bit was the sound of the engines which lasted a whole lot longer than we could see the rocket for! My camera work is aa bit shit but the launch takes place just after a minute into this video...



After the launch, we went back to Port Canaveral for the surprise we discovered yesterday - $20 helicopter flights! Yes, you read that correctly $20 for a helicopter flight. The kids were excited, Buffy was excited and even I was excited. I have been on a few Heli's in my time but not for a few years, so to get in one again was great. It was only a short flight but so worth it with great views on what was now a clear day and we saw the recovered Space X booster again from the air as well as bug cruise ships and a submarine base!!







That night there was a cancelled launch we had planned to watch it from the local beach, and Hannah especially was really excited to go to the beach in the dark and see the stars. So we took them down there anyway and had some fun listening to the sound of the ocean at night and trying to find shooting stars and black holes!



Coming Home.

Our last day in Florida - a good breakfast and a nice drive back to the airport at Sanford. Hannah and Ollie enjoyed playing with a little puppy that was also on our plane and we had time for a good lunch before boarding our flight. There was a bit of a mess up with seats as we were not sitting next to the kids, so we moved around and managed to get all together in the end. The flight was good and got us back to Winnipeg just a few minutes late. I used my PR card for the final time coming through customs as from tomorrow March 4th, I will be a Canadian Citizen and can apply for my Canadian passport after taking my Citizenship oath.  





It was a great Holiday - starting with a big bump but things got better. It's the best time we have spent together as a little family - the kids were great and played well with each other as well as making friends with other kids too. We even got to make friends with other adults too. The weather was superb, we rode a helicopter, saw a rocket launch and did so much swimming and playing and so so much more!. It felt so long - much longer than the 7 days Buffy and the kids had and the 6 that I got! We are already planning our summer with lots more days out and little trips. But for now we are glad to be home in our new little house and with the end of winter in sight!