Well we made it home.
Gardenia, how I wish it was a "safe flight"!!! We don't 'do' Florida by flying...seven airfares are not in the budget at the moment. We drive....all 20 hours....tweeeennnnntttttyyyy looooooong hours with bodies in every available spot. Luckily the kids are so experienced that we see a lot of this in the back seats....
Julia always freaks people out with her partially open eyes! Took me a long time to realize that this is her in a sound sleep as I always feel like she's still only drifting off with her eyes not quite closed. Being fair to the kids I have to confess that this shot.....
is me! Usually I'm such a control freak that I'm the driver of what ever vehicle I'm riding in but even control freaks need a rest on such a long haul.
We always cheer up when we pass this sign even though there is still 4 more hours until we pull into Grandpa's driveway.
Not wanting to waste the amazingly early 3pm arrival in Sarasota we promised the kids a quick trip to the beach...after the car was unpacked and the beds made up! It was a cloudy day, but in the 70's, so our midwestern bodies were ready for swimsuits.....but the breeze off the 62 degree water onto the beach made for a 'brisk' experience.
Andrew and Julia were the only two souls brave enough to take a swim in the Gulf of Mexico's FREEZING water!
Julia instinctively trying to block the waves!!!
So after a SHORT visit to the beach we gathered up the gang and headed back to Grandpa's house to get ready for our first full day in Florida.
Which we spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios!! The day was FREE (except our food and souvenirs!) because we had done a "Day of Service" in the Disney promotion in the hopes that we could manage a Disney trip sometime this year....little did I know why Auntie Peggy prodded me into that day of service!!!!! Here we are as I was being 'pushed' into the Tower of Terror by my girls who felt I needed to do it to prove that my advanced age hadn't made me a complete dinosaur!
Auntie Peggy took a picture of the Disney picture of our experience! Yes, I screamed like a baby......
Auntie Peggy with the kids posing for what is becoming an increasingly difficult 'group shot'! The teen/tweeners are not feeling the need to "make memories" anymore.........hope this phase is short lived.
Well I'm trying to unpack and wash while downloading mine and Auntie Peggy's hundred of pictures so I'll be back in a bit with some more....I promise...really!
Looks like you had a great time despite some cooler temps! We had hoped to do the Service for a Day to get free passes to Disney too, but they ran out of passes by the time we got around to looking in to it! You snooze you lose!!
ReplyDeleteGreta loves her new outfit! Let me know what I owe you!!
what a great time you all had. look at that beautiful green water in the background of your fam pick at the beach. oh so lovely. how awesome is Aunt Peggie to plan ahead like that and have you do the service thing. so so cool to vacation with your sis and her kiddles too. welcome back.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome trip!
ReplyDelete20 hours is along ride but my parents use to do long road trips like that when I was little and to be honest they were some of my best memories on vacation!
that is quite a drive I think sleeping under the blanket is a good idea. Still looked wonderful! Glad you had a break and a nice birthday! Let me know about a bracelet for Mari and I will get the charm on tuesday if she wants a charm and mail it off on wednesday!
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