The Ship of Dreams

We just got home from spending a week in Orlando. We spent 4 days covering Sea World and Universal Studios and then boarded the new Disney Ship Dream.

Funny story about that. My last post was about how crazy I was trying to keep us all from getting sick.

It didn't work.

The motel we stayed at in Orlando was a no-frills place. Perfectly adequate for crashing at night after an exhausting day trekking around theme parks, but not a lot of bells and whistles. We knew this when we booked it, so we were happy with it. It included a bare bones continental breakfast which even saved a bit of cash. The pool was closed but given unseasonably cold weather we didn't care. It did however have one HUGE bonus we didn't expect.

It was next door to a hospital.

So at least when we had to take a kid to the ER we didn't have to call a cab. I was terrified that we would not be allowed on board the ship if kids were hacking up lungs as they had the same upper respiratory bronchitis crap that Hubs had. Luckily, thanks to the miracle of Zithromax he had recovered nicely. (Not before he spewed germs on the rest of us...but that's another post.) I knew if she and I were sick it was only a matter of time before D1 came down with it as well. Sadly, now that antibiotics are harder to get than most street drugs, no doctor will give you a prescription for a healthy kid even when you KNOW that in four days they won't be healthy. The day when you will be on a ship in the middle of the FREAKIN' OCEAN FAR FROM THE DOCTOR YOU WANT TO KICK IN THE SHINS!

It was time for desperate measures. I told D2 that when the doctor asked if she could swallow pills she was--under penalty of no desserts on the ship--to say she couldn't. I hoped there would be enough liquid left over for the other kid.

Yeah, I KNOW you're not supposed to do that. But honestly, with an entire vacation on the line? Sharing antibiotics wasn't gonna cost me much sleep in the guilt department.

Apparently they have learned that trick in the ghetto hospital because there was enough for her 5 doses and not one blessed drop more. I mean, for heaven's sake, we're talking an antibiotic here, not crack! It's not like I was going to lick the bottle! Sure I was planning on cheating, but still! The nerve!

Don't judge me. We had been planning this cruise for THREE YEARS and there was no way a sinus infection was going to stop us.

Stay tuned for the next post: Why I wish we had skipped the ER after all...