ok, so we are going on the disney cruise for spring break. we have worked very hard to save money and pay for it outright. our destinations are key west, grand caymans, cozumel, and castaway cay (the disney owned island). because we are going to other countries, we need passports. technically my children don't need them but why carry around paper birth certificates if you don't have to and can carry passport books instead. besides chelsea is going to the DR (dominican republic) this summer on a mission trip..she needs one anyway.
so in true sergio fashion, we don't have birth certificates for me, chelsea and alex. we looked absolutely everywhere for them. the obvious places and the not so obvious places. none were to be found. oh, we had jay's because his mom had just given us all of his medical records and school records and old passports and stuff. so now we are in a pickle. we are 8 weeks from departure.
so this past friday, i call the state of virginia and go through their whole process to have certified copies of their birth certificates sent to us. i explain to the lady that i need to have them overnighted. she kindly explained with glee in her voice that i would have to pay extra money...um, duh! all this happened last friday. so, i gave her my credit card number and verified that they were going to overnighted and i would have them by monday...yes she confirmed. she did however, fail to explain that i would have to be home to sign for them!
so while i am doing all of this on the phone, i am online ordering my birth certificate from the great state of TN. i have it overnighted too. by the way, it cost me $27 to order and overnight it from TN. it cost me $50 a piece to order my kids from RICHMOND, VA!!!! which is only 2 hours away!!!!
monday comes and i get my birth certificate. no kid's. tuesday comes--no kid's. wednesday mid-morning and thank God, jay is home and he signs for it. which was required...but not explained...
so, my question is...why can TN be 1/2 as much and get here on time? and virginia cost twice as much and took 4 days!!!! i am sorry but last i checked 4 days is not the same as overnight. well, it is overnight, overnight, overnight.
anyway, all is fine, we have our passports in the process. the cruise is just 7 weeks away!!! just a small price to pay for a vacation of a lifetime...and yes, we will probably do this only once but from what i hear it is completely worth it!!!!
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Hey Ellyn- I just found your blog and love it! I hope you guys have a fantastic time on your cruise- that's really aweseome and your kids will always remember it! Thanks also for the info on the birth certificates....we can't find Travis' TN birth certificate, so now I know how to track it down! Have a great day.
I'll tell you why. You can thank Al Gore. He's from Tennessee AND he invented the internet! So, logically speaking, of course, since you were able to order your birth certicate online from Tennessee you got it faster because a) you used the Internet and b) you didn't have to interact with a real live human being thus cutting the cost of the service as well as the possibility for human error.
Clear as mud, right?
that may be one of the lamest excuses as to why i should like Al Gore nonetheless, the internet seemed to win. Apparently Al is biased to TN. and thus made it easier for TNians to have an easier time...good for those of us from TN. Virginia doesn't have the option to do it online AND have it fedexed. stupid huh?
Kelly--the website i went to is www.tennessee.gov--i think...
I still don't like Al Gore--politically anyway. :)
Oh Ellyn! How I can realte to your birth certificate woes! We've had to order ours several times for the adoption and it is weird how the cost is different in each state. I don't get it.We've also had to get them authenticated which is a whole other story! And don't even get me started about passports......argh.
This has inspired me to keep all of our birth certificates together - thanks! Your parents gave Jonathan his when they came to visit. I have a wallet size version of mine that my mom got for me a long time ago. I currently keep the kid's birth certificates in their baby books but am thinking about just keeping all 5 of ours together in a safe place.
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