March 21-26

March 21 - Miami, FL

The night before we labelled our luggage with the earliest tags (meaning our luggage would be off the ship and we could leave with the earliest group), then ended up ready to get off even before that. We were in a bit of a hurry, because they had announced that the taxi cabs in Miami had gone on strike for the day and there were only 13 working. And we needed a taxi. So "the guy" let us get off with the people who were carrying all their luggage off. Even though he wasn't supposed to, but he had let another family off, as well. Seemed like a good idea to my dear hubby. Really, we could have eaten a snack, or something, as once we got to the bottom we realized, we were leaving the terminal building and we didn't have any luggage. So we got to wait with the other family for them to open the door to the luggage area so we could go in with all the other people who had pink tags. Not much of a time saver. But there was all our luggage, all together and the porter grabbed it for us and got us outside. And there was a whole long line of cabs. I'm guessing if you are a cabbie in Miami, the lure of Saturday cruise day negates any strike action. We figured with the amount of time it took him to get us from the port to the airport (where we were renting yet another car) that he could do at least another 4 trips that morning. Then there would be all the people needing to get to the port to get on the ships. I bet striking could wait until Sunday.

So we got our rental car and headed off for our hotel. And once we got there, we got a message from our house-sitter saying that the cruise line had called and we had the wrong bag. Huh? How could we have put it in a taxi, taken it out, wheeled it around the car rental place, found a perfect place for it between the kids, driven it to a hotel and have never noticed it was the wrong bag? I don't know, but we did. Back in the car (worked out okay, our room wasn't ready yet), back to the Port of Miami, convince all the porters that, in fact, I don't want them to take this bag, and yes, I do want to take it up to the terminal building, get the right bag, realize we should have been able to tell by weight alone, and back to the hotel we go. By this time the kids are absolutely sick of being in a car, soooo..... we strap them in and go for supper! 

March 22 - Coral Springs, FL

We went to a mall. A big mall. With outlet stores and such in it. And we walked around and bought a couple of items of clothing. Ate some more. Went back to the hotel and packed. That's always the most fun of any trip, right? The packing at the end of it?

March 23 - Fort Lauderdale, FL to Ottawa, ON

Some tired boys made it onto the plane and back to Ottawa. I can't over-emphasize how happy a was to have found a non-stop flight. With TVs in the seat.

March 24-26 - Ottawa, ON

We spent a couple of days shopping and stocking up. We had a big list, but we got it all, including a trip to Quebec (unintentional) for an Action-Packer (which they had), the only way to pack stuff to come up north. Another car, this time a van, more tired kids, a visit with a friend for supper (with two surprisingly well-behaved children - ours). Then on a plane back to Iqaluit. With no TVs. Sigh.

I think we had a very good trip. We all got along. Only one major meltdown. No major problems, other than Craig's ear. We learned a lot, I think, but I'm glad we did it. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of good memories! We wouldn't mind keeping our trip in June a little bit more low-key though, okay?