"I wuv you, Wauren."

...These words, spoken from the mouth of my 3 year old nephew, make up my very favorite phrase. Over the past few days I have heard them often. My Aunt and Uncle from Michigan are spending the week at Disney at the Old Key West Resort, and they had invited me to come stay with them for a few days. Tuesday evening, while my sister and her kids were over, I was getting ready to leave my house. When I went to say goodbye to my nephew, he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, "I want to go with you, Wauren!" At first I figured he'd just get over it when he realized it would mean leaving mommy, but he was insistent that he wanted to go. My sister was OK with it, but I was a little hesitant. I was afraid we would get up there and he would want mommy and daddy, and I admit that I was selfishly concerned that I wouldn't have as much fun if I had to chase him around the whole time. After much deliberation, I decided that I would take him along. It's so hard to refuse that precious little face, and I love being able to spend time with him. I packed up his stuff, put him in the car, and hit the road for a 3 hour drive to Orlando. Five hours, a flat tire, and a trip to a sketchy tire store later, we arrived in Disney world. Wait, I think that story deserves it's own paragraph...

Just under an hour from home I started to hear pieces of tire flapping up and hitting my car. As this did not seem like a good thing, I decided I should probably pull of on the side of the road. Naturally, the first thing I did was call Dad in a panic to ask what I should do. I HAVE changed a tire before, and in general I know how to do it. However, I haven't changed a tire on my current vehicle, and it has been about 5 years since changed one at all. My dad talked me through what I needed to do. I managed to get the spare out from under the car and pop off the hubcap, but I was seriously struggling with loosening the lug-nuts. I was beginning to think I was going to be hitchhiking home, when I heard a voice behind me asking if I needed any help. I hadn't noticed them pull off, but a couple about my age had stopped to help me out. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief and gratefully handed over the wrench. The couple was very friendly, and they guy got my tire changed much more quickly than I would have ever been able to do it. It may be anti-feminist of me (not that I care, I've never claimed to be a feminist), but I totally agreed with his statement that, "this is no job for a woman!" I thanked them profusely, and got back on the road. Since it seemed unwise to drive all the way to Orlando on a spare, my dad called around to some places in the area and found a tire place that was still open. My first choice for an establishment to sell me a new tire would not be a place called OK Tires, but beggars can't be choosers. It got me to Orlando and back home again. Through all the stress and craziness of the evening, my nephew was cheerful and sweet as he could be. I actually somehow felt better having him with me. When we finally got to the entrance to Disney, we were both very excited and a bit giddy. I'm not sure which one of us was more excited about seeing those big Mickey ears.


We spent all of Wednesday at the Magic Kingdom. He is now tall enough for some of the bigger rides, so I decided to take him on Thunder Mountain. He sat between my aunt and me, held tight to us, and repeatedly said, "I don't like this ride!" He didn't cry though, and when we got off he was happy and ready to go on to the next thing. He was so good for me the whole day. He loved almost everything and was full of questions and energy. His favorite part of the day was going to the Tiki Room and seeing all the singing and talking, animatronic birds. He was still talking about that today when we got home. Thursday we went to Epcot, and while he was still very good, it was obvious that he was a little tired. We had a few moments when his attitude and mouth needed some correction, but for the most part he was excited and happy to be there. He especially loved going to the Living Seas and seeing all the Nemo stuff. I cannot begin to count the number of times he would spontaneously give me hugs and kisses or tell me that he loves me. He can be a bit stingy about hugs and kisses, so I was loving every minute of it. I know that I will cherish the memory of this trip for the rest of my life. Every night I would give him a bath, and then we would snuggle up in the big hotel bed and go to sleep. Never have I been so OK with going to bed before 10:00 PM! All my selfish concern about not having as much fun was totally washed away. It turned out to be one of the best Disney trips I've ever had (and I've had A LOT!) Last night, as we talked about going home in the morning, he was so torn. He wanted to go to his home and see his mommy, but he really wanted to go back to Disney and see Nemo and Mickey again. I understood. I felt the same way. Except for me, it wasn't Nemo and Mickey I was going to miss, it was that sweet little guy that I got to have all to myself for a couple days. When he is at our house, Grandma and Grandpa are there and he can get a bit snotty to me. This time it was just us. My Aunt and Uncle were there, but he doesn't know them well, so I was his familiar face. It was nice. When I got home this afternoon, my dad asked if I felt like a little burden had been taken off of me. I said that I didn't. Instead, I felt like I'd dropped off a little piece of my heart at my sister's house. I guess, in a way, I did.



BTW, I have a job interview in my area tomorrow. I really want this one to work out. There is a little voice in my head saying, "Go off and experience a new place and new things," but there another voice. It is small but insistent. This little voice has big blue eyes and arms that wrap around my legs. I can hear it whispering in my ear. It is saying, "I wuv you, Wauren."