After 22.5 hours of driving, we made it! This year Chris did almost all of the driving. However, there wasn't much sleep going on for the rest of us! Normally, the kids sleep through the night, but they were awake with the exception of a few naps!
Thankfully, our trip was uneventful. No crazy Cadilliacs "stalking" us or semis swerving through 4 lanes of traffic as the driver was falling asleep as we've had in the past! In fact, this is really the only highlight from the road!
a mouse car!!!
It is a pest control car complete with ears on top and a tail in the back! Chris was super embarrassed that I was taking pictures of it, but he decided that my photo taking was much less embarrassment than what the poor man driving it must be experiencing!
After unpacking, we went to the pool where we were the only ones there and the water was the perfect temperature to enjoy! Ahhh....finally time to relax!
Luckily, no one was in the pool, and we were able to break a few rules while we were there!
(no large floats, no jumping, no balls/toys, etc!)
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(no large floats, no jumping, no balls/toys, etc!)
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| our new friends from PA |
Most of our 2 week trip was the same: relaxing, swimming at the pool and enjoying the beach! So, I will just include the highlight!
*Every day began by sleeping in...and on Saturday, we (Chris and I) stayed in bed until noon! Chris watched tv, I read and the kids entertained themselves without fighting!!! I felt a little guilty for wasting the morning away, but it's vacation so I just enjoyed!
*Ben discovered he had a wiggly tooth and just a few hours later it was out! (If only he could use some of this persistence in other areas of life!!!). Apparently, if you lose your tooth while in Florida, the tooth fairy brings you a sand dollar!!! Ben thought that was way cool! A few days later, as we sat down to enjoy dinner, Ben realized he had yet another loose tooth! This one didn't even make it through dinner without being pulled out! I still find it amazing that he can get them out so fast! Abby's hang on for weeks before coming out! This time tooth fairy left $3. Ben has decided that this is a pretty efficient way of making money and now regularly checks for loose teeth!
Ben's new sMiLe!!!
Ben actually lost a third tooth while we were on our trip, and he has another wiggly one that Chris won't let him pull out!!!
*We made our first trip to the beach on Thursday! Ben was reluctant to go. He didn't want to get sandy! However, it didn't take him long to get into beach mode. Chris took them out into the gulf, past my comfort zone, and there they found our first unbroken sand dollar! Ben of course thought the tooth fairy had something to do with our good fortune! Unfortunately, the sand dollar was still alive. Katy was already to take him home and kill him to keep his shell, Ben thought we could get an aquarium and keep him for a pet, and Abby demanded we throw him back!!!
We found lots of living sea creatures inside of shells this year!!!
They were easy to find! As the tide went out, you could see the trails that they made. We would dig at the end of the trail and "capture" them!!!
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| a very creative mollusk! |
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| If you look carefully, you can see his eye peeking out above the sand! |
our collection of sea creatures on top of our castle!
The race to see who could leave the fastest! The little white crab was the fastest and escaped quickly! The rest were all quite slow, so they put them in the bucket and tossed them back into the water with the sand dollar!
*Friday night, was movie night. Ben and Chris went to see Green Lantern, while the girls went to see Judy Moody! As we left the theater, we realized that there was a monsoon overhead! Chris offered to go get the car and pick us up, but instead we made it a family adventure and ran to the car together in the pouring rain! Everyone was drenched by the time we got to the car, but they were all laughing and thought it was fun to run in the rain!!!
*HaPpY FaThEr's DaY!!
Pretty sure Chris enjoyed his nap in the pool! We then had a delicious fish dinner with Tortilla crusted Tilapia and baked potatoes!
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| We love you daddy! |
* We have some favorite places that we always go when we are here! Such as pizza night at CiCi's where the kids love the macaroni and cheese pizza and arcade room!!! This year we added a new place! YOGURT MOUNTAIN!!! We went there for our father's day dessert! It is a cute little shop where they give you a big bowl and then you fill it with whatever type of frozen yogurt you like and all the toppings you want! You then take your bowl to the checkout where they weigh it and you pay 45cents per ounce! I was a little worried that it could be a costly visit, but the kids kept dad from filling his bowl too full and it only ended up costing $14 for 5 yummy self made sundaes! We will definitely be back next year!
*ALLIGATOR!!! We found the Alligator that has been roaming around Lighthouse Bay!
*Mini golf...This was a huge hit! Chris ended up having to take Katy and Ben twice after we won a free round of golf...there was no way Ben was going to waste that!
***my favorite thing to do....watch the sun set at the beach! It is so peaceful and beautiful!
TO BE CONTINUED...
*Random Kid Quotes
Katy has picked up where she left off with swimming! She was showing off to Chris in the pool, when she came up for air, Chris told her she was doing great and she said, " that is because I am half mermaid!" Later after doing even better, she said, "that is because I am all mermaid now!"
She entered the room where Chris was and said, "Dad, I am PANICKING!!!" Chris asked why. and she yells, " I can't tell you!" and runs out of the room!
Katy was doing her hair in the mirror and he walks by and say to her, "You look cute!" How sweet!
During dinner one night, Abby asked how old she had to be to date. (AHHHH!) Chris told her 16! However, Ben was listening and chimed in with, "Well, I am already dating!"
Evidently, Chris told Ben that he could have his own cell phone when he was taller than him. Ben shared this with me and then said, "I am pretty sure I will be that big, but I am going to eat healthy because I am not going to take any chances!"
