After yesterday we knew that today was going to be a lazy day, and that’s now we started it. Emily woke up at 9:02am and we didn’t leave the villa until 11:15am. We decided to go to the Mall at Millenia an indoor mall for some running and walking around.

First we stopped at the Starbucks for a coffee. After we continued to the Mall we first drove to a small rainstorm and afterwards there was a lengthy traffic jam on the I-4. I decided to take a detour but that was a mistake it took twice as long. But we saw some new things…

And how typical, just before we reached our destination Emily fell a sleep, after 20 minutes in the car we decided that it was time for her to wake up. We walked into the Mall and the first stop was the Macy’s with a special 25% event. Emily now drinks Apple Juice from a box on her own…just sometimes it gets messy like her in the fitting rooms! Happens only when dad is in charge..

We were all hungry and for lunch in the Mall. During lunch we started messaging with Dusty, a friend from Belgium, who was on his his way to Orlando. He would be visiting Epcot in the evening, we had three possibilities in mind nothing, Animal Kingdom or Epcot. We only wanted to make the final decision after Emily had her afternoon nap. 

Emily went to bed at 3:00pm and slept till 5:45pm, not really long but she was very active. At that moment a huge thunderstorm also moved over the villa and we agreed that we would just go for Epcot as soon as the thunderstorm was over, 

A couple minutes before 7:00pm we buckled up and drove to Epcot to see Illuminations and maybe do. a bit more. When we arrived at 7:10pm the sky didn’t look friendly and we parked Emily her stroller somewhere dry and decided to go for a ride in Spaceship Earth. 

Just before we entered the ride we met with Dusty and his parents. They went for dinner and Soarin’ and we would meet up with Dusty at the German Pavilion in World Showcase to drink a beer together and watch Illuminations. 

On the decent in Spaceship Earth the ride broke down, we were stuck for just 10 minutes but being stuck in a ride vehicle in backward direction going down in the dark is an experience on his own. But except for not wanting to sit down she did very well. 

After the ride we went back to pick up our stroller. Here we also found out that the wait for a picture with Joy and Sadness was minimal andd thus we stopped by to say hello before we walked to our favourite spot to watch the fireworks spectacle. 

While I went for a huge pretzel and beer Dusty joined Danielle and Emily. The girl from Hannover, in the country pavilions the cast members are all citizens of the country itself, ask me for my ID. I did not believe that she would think I was only 21-years old, she didn’t want to answer my question but her colleague thought it was funny. 

While waiting for the firework to start we chatted a bit in Dutch. Dusty is from the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. 

Emily really enjoyed the fireworks, during some displays she even reponded with a “Wooooow”. Maybe you can hear her (and me) in the background! 

After the show we left the park to go back to the villa. Emily slept before we arrived, but in 15 minutes she was in her own bed…tomorrow 9:00am again, I hope so! 

This night Emily woke with a fever again and we decided to go to the doctor. First I needed to call the insurance from our Credit Card to get an approval, then we needed to find a doctor which was ok for the insurance, since I called early (6:50am) they let me do whatever I wanted and find a doctor on my own. Also I called Disney to cancel our breakfast with the stars from, Disney Junior and they waved the penalty for a late cancellation. I also rebooked it for Thursday hoping she is better by then…

We found a a doctor in Celebration, the village originally developed by the Walt Disney Company, and decided to go there. At 8:00am I could and we got an appointment at 9:00am, pretty quick. The also informed about the rate which was something ranging from 150$-200$… Yes that blew my mind and I called our insurance company again. They told me that was an to be expected rate and we could proceed. 

We arrived on time, 8:50 in a beautiful Art Deco style building. The doctor office was brand new and had a child friendly design. It almost felt like a Disney waiting line for a attraction. 

First we started with a 25 minute wait, I paid the 150$ during the wait, then Danielle needed to fill out about 10 pages of paperwork and finally it was time for our 3 minute appointment. The doctor checked a couple things and found an ear infection, something we already expected as Emily was pulling on her ear since yesterday evening. 

To be honest I think it’s an insane rate for just looking in the ears of child and some other general checks. I’m really happy we always lived in countries with universal healthcare. I believe there are many parents in the US which can’t afford the healthcare their children deserve… 
Back to our appointment, it took an other 15 minutes to get the medical report and then they asked Emily (21 months old) if she wanted a lollipop…very interesting as they also have a dentist department. When we finally got the prescription before we were able to leave and go to a pharmacy and get the antibiotics. 
The pharmacy was part of the Publix and the antibiotics were free. Most interesting question I ever got at a pharmacy came next, which flavour…apple, banana, bubblegum, cherry, grape, grape/bubblegum, grapeade, lemon, orange, raspberry, sour apple, strawberry or watermelon. We went with Banana at a cost of 2,99$! 

We shopped for more items and brought everything home. Emily liked the bananantibiotics and after she got those we left to go to a new indoor play area at the Florida Mall. There is a lot of advertising available but to me it was a bit of a disappointment. Emily however played for a while. Besides playing we also shopped at a Macy’s and the Crocs store. 

We went home and Emily went to bed for another hour of sleep. And late in the afternoon we started with some meat on the BBQ. It was a bit warm and so dinner was over quick, them we played a little bit around the pool, Emily loves splashing with water.

Another laid back day in the greater Orlando area ended with writing this blog on the side of the pool with this lovely view:

Let’s hope the antibiotics do what they are supposed to do and we get our always smiling an giggling Emily back.