theDIBB - Scottishnellies Redundancy Trip Jun18. Travel Day. MAN

We had agreed we needed to be up at 6am so we set various alarms. Hannah set hers for 5:45 as she needs at least 15 minutes to browse her phone of course, before she can decide whether the world deserves the remainder of her day.

Next thing I know Kieran is saying Dad, how do you turn on the shower? I look at the clock and its 5:03. Aaarrrgh. Kevin is now stage whispering get back to yer bed its only 5 in the morning. Dozed a bit til Hannahs alarm went off then I nabbed the shower first to kick start proceedings.

The kids gave Kevin his Father's Day card and a nice grey polo top which he decided to wear today instead of the planned white t-shirt.

We were all ready and bags sorted by 6:50, sitting on the beds like a wee row of ducks watching the news and waiting for breakfast to open at 7am.

Breakfast is buffet style for juice cereal pastries fruit etc. The the hot breakfast you order from the waitress what items you want. Hannah just had 3 rashers of bacon but the rest of us had various different stuff

We headed back to the room and got ready to leave at 7:45 to the train station for the train at 7:55.

When we got there it showed it was now a replacement bus to Manchester airport but by 8am there was still no sign of it so we went back into the hotel and phoned a taxi. Taxi arrived at 8:10 and away we went. Hannah is rocking what I can only describe as 70s slippers. Apparently they are fluffy sliders and all the rage. What do I know?

Check in was pretty busy

When I had tried to check in online it wouldn't check Kevin in. I knew from dixiechics report last week that this meant he had been selected for extra security checks and would be pulled aside later.

When we reached the top of the queue a security officer checked our passports and told us the reason we couldn't check in online was they had these new security checks to do. He asked us lots of questions which were the normal ones about the bags but lots loads about where we live, what we do and previous trips to Florida. Then we went forward to the desk and went through the normal check in there. We were allowed 4 suitcases at 23kg each but were only checking in 3 (spare case inside of shopping obs!) and when we had left the house yesterday we had them all at 22.5 each, but with the staying overnight and rearranging stuff one was at 25kg so we had to weigh them to find which one was under and switch some stuff over to even them up. He said they were really strict that you couldn't transfer any weight allowance between cases so to watch that on the way home or be charged £90 eek!

All done and headed to security which was mobbed. We started there at 8:45 and took until 9:30 to be fully through. At first they were putting every person through the full body scanner but when a massive backlog built up they started putting everyone through the usual metal detectors and only selecting a few for the scanner. Kevin and I's bags both had to be scanned again as a second check. It was the busiest I had seen any security line for sure.

Once done we went to the first WHSmiths for magazines but their shelves were pretty bare so we decided to wait until the second WHSmiths and see what they had. I bought myself a big bottle of the same perfume I got in April which I have now finished and Kevin bought me the watch I wanted for my birthday (which is just after we get home).

Hannah a a smell around Victorias Secrets to plan which ones she is buying in Florida. Whilst in here I could here giggling then Kieran announces Muuuum Dads making me look at the mannequins. Yeah, that would be the bums in fancy knickers. I swear to God its like having 3 kids. I sent both boy children to go wait outside.

It was now 10:15 so we then got our magazines from the second WHSmiths who had a full range in stock, and found a wee seat to watch the planes until time to head to the gate. So far the flight shows as on time. Picked up a wee latte while we waited

My dad sent me a wee thank you for the Kindle Voucher I gave him for Father's Day. Now you know why I am Nellie as well as Helen. It's always been my dads name for me.

At 11:05 the gate showed and it was time to move. As I has suspected, Kevin was pulled aside for extra security checks right after we showed our passports and boarding cards. So if it doesn't let you check someone in online - they are het!

We were due to leave at 11:55 but we boarded at 12 and took off at 12:27.

Hannah was asleep by the time we took off and stayed that way for the first hour.

When they came round at 1pm we paid to upgrade the films at £5 each for 3 of us with Kevin saying he was happy to stick with the standard filmed which were as follows:

I started watching Murder On The Orient Express and Kevin and Kieran watched Justice League.

Shortly after the Air Hostess came over to apologise that no kids meals had been loaded onto the flight and Kieran would have to have an adults meal. This really wasn't a problem and I told her so but she said they would give us a 4th upgrade of films for free as an apology anyway so Kevin used that.

They came round and sold tea and coffee, then about 2:15 they came round with dinner which was a choice of chicken curry or slow cooked beef. Both were really nice.

And Kieran enjoyed the mint choc pudding

I then watched DADDYS HOME 2.

4:30pm they brought round the wee cornettos

And another drinks service in which I bought a canned cocktail and a glass of red wine

I then watched Ladybird, followed by The Greatest Showman having saved the best for last. At 19:40 they served afternoon tea

We landed at 4:25pm US time and I will switch to reporting in US time now. We walked off the plane at 4:35, were through customs by 4:50 and had our suitcases by 5:05 and we headed out the door to the rentals area. Oh how I loved feeling that heat as I walked out the door! We had rented our car through Alamo Brits and done skip the line as per the instructions in the sticky (where would we be without the dibb eh?) so straight to garage. Kevin took a few minutes to choose a Ford Edge and off we went. Through the kiosk, paid for the full tank and we were on the road, under an hour from walking off the plane. How easy was that?

Sorry no pics of the car so will do that tomorrow for those that are interested.

We were at the Rosen inn for 6pm and it poured with rain but only for 10 minutes or so.

Now since we were here so early, we decided to head out to Best Buys to buy Kevin the Apple Watch he has been talking about for the last 6 months. I knew it was best to get this over with as otherwise all I would hear for the next 3 weeks would be his debating out loud whether he should spend the money on it or not. This would drive me nuts, so strike while the iron is hot and all that, off we went.

So he paid $329 inc tax and seems delighted with it. Kieran had a look at Nintendo Switch games but didn't buy anything yet.

Back to the hotel and a quick freshen up then a short walk over to Millers Ale House for dinner. It was busy so we sat on the patios and started with drinks until our table was ready 30 mins later. Kevin ordered a bucket of beers and I ordered a pitcher of watermelon margarita. Woo hoo! What redundancy stress?

Table came up inside in the aircon (its so lovely and warm here) and Kevin was swithering about what to have for dinner, so I told him the Zinger Mountain was a Dibb fave in here so he went for that. He loved it and admitted he would never have ordered it otherwise so a good shout there folks.

I had Salmon, Kieran had a burger and Hannah had a Cheese Philly. Food was all yum. Receipts below.

Back to the Rosen to find the room key wasn't working so Kevin had to go get security to let us in. Poor Kieran had completely hit a wall by then. Not surprising given it would be 2am UK time. Poor wee soul fell asleep waiting for his dad to come back. There were loads of families down in the pool

So now it is 3am UK time and the other 3 are all sound asleep around me. Those who have ready my trippies before will know I sleep very little the first week in Florida so I thought I may as well write this up. Let's hope the Rosen wi-if lets me upload it now.

I leave you with a pic of my sleepy boy. Tomorrow we move to RPR and all things Universal.