Hello! I realized that I have gone AWOL from the family blog since the beginning of December. Life got really crazy for us around that time and the family blog was one of the first things that I had to give up. The holidays were great, and someday I hope to catch up with those posts. But that's definitely a task for another day.
A quick update: So far in the new year we have purchased a new house, packed, painted, cleaned, moved, Ava started at a new school, I started 2 new jobs; writing a weekly food column for The Strongsville Patch and as a Pampered Chef consultant, AND I studied for my final test to obtain an Ohio teaching license (test results should be available next week...keeping my fingers crossed). I'm also back to teaching evening adult cooking classes for Polaris. Mike is busy as usual at work too, PLUS trying to work on the new house and pick up the slack while I'm working. There has hardly been time to sleep, let alone update on the happenings of our little family!
This Spring vacation brought us all a much needed break and some quality family time. I have decided to post about it now, before this week (and our whole Spring) get really crazy. So here goes...
Since starting our family, we've been fortunate to take a number of wonderful trips with our children over the past 6 years, both on our own and with our extended families. But I have to say that this trip was the first time I really felt like I was actually on vacation. For the first time since becoming a parent, I wasn't itching to return home and go back to "life as usual". It was a great trip!
I attribute this vacation victory to a number of reasons. First of all, Ava and Emily have reached a great age for travel. We can pack light! No pack n' play, no bulky stroller (we did take the umbrella stroller), and above all NO DIAPERS! For this reason, we even decided to take Mike's new car. (It gets better gas mileage than the minivan.) Now that Em is 3, this also meant no scheduled stops for nursing or jars of baby food and I never once stressed about a naptime.
Secondly, we have been blessed with children who are good travellers. The girls are happy with the DVD player, coloring books, flash cards, road games, Nintendo DS, and the iPod. Sure, they bickered a little over the course of the trip, but Mike and I took this in stride. We were both nostalgic about trips taken in the backseats of our own family's cars where the occasional "he touched me", "I had it first", and "who tooted?"(Emily likes to ask "who pooped their pants?") were heard along the way. It mostly made us smile.
Also, at the ages of 6 and 3, the girls play really well together. They had a blast exploring each new stop together and shared a bed for the entire trip. This morning, when Em woke up alone in her own bed (for the first time in days), she didn't come looking for Mike or I. Instead, she screamed over and over again for her big sister! It was really sweet to watch them work as team and enjoy each other's company last week.
Finally, we did have some help. Halfway through the week, my parents arrived and Mike and I got to venture out on our own to the Space Center.
In my usual tradition, I like to keep a journal of our travel adventures. I've been doing this since our honeymoon to St. Lucia nearly 9 years ago. Some of you may remember reading my account found HERE of our family's trip to Williamsburg, VA a couple of years ago. Since this is my web log, I will post the travel journal for this trip here. (Skip to the end for photos if you like, the journal is lengthy.)
*Please excuse any type-O's. I typed this up pretty fast. : )
Day 1
Saturday March 26th
Uneventful travel through Ohio, West Virgina, a glimpse of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. We pulled off between 8 and 9 pm in Walterboro, SC (1 hour from Savannah, GA). I had made a reservation at a Quality Inn & Suites a week earlier. It has to be said that this certainly wasn't the nicest of exits off of the Interstate. Then again, if we had wanted to purchase illegal fireworks, this would be the perfect exit! Mike went in to check us in while I waited in the car with the girls. He returned to the car and explained that we would NOT be staying there. Because 1) They did not have the room we had been promised when I made the reservation and 2) He had observed some "questionable" activities while waiting to check in. (When a "thug" wipes the door knob for fingerprints when leaving a hotel room with 2 ladies, it makes ya wonder.) We searched for rooms at the next exit, but the hotels were all booked.
Finally, we drove to the Ramada across the street. Mike went in first, but sent me in to check out the room and finish the deal. The Ramada did have a room available. But not just any room. It was THE Honeymoon Suite. After taking a quick tour of the room, I began negotiating with the lady at the desk. I started with our AAA discount and then "talked her down". No one was using the room anyway, so I made an offer. I was feeling pretty cocky about negotiating the cheap deal for a pool-side, two-room suite with giant bathroom and wet bar (I even got her to throw in the breakfast buffet). But as we got ready to tuck our children into the honeymoon bed and began fielding questions about the mirrors placed on the ceiling over the bed and around the jacuzzi, my victory was diminished. Cheap deal was accurate. In truth, I was pretty grossed out. The room was fairly dirty. Mike and I peeled back the comforter and went over the bed with a "fine-toothed comb" before allowing the girls to climb in. I had the urge to spray the whole place with Lysol. On top of it, breakfast was over at 9 and we just missed it on our way out. Geesh.
Day 2
Sunday March 27th
By the time we scrubbed off The Honeymoon Suite "cooties" and loaded the car it was after 9 am and we missed the breakfast buffet by just minutes. We grabbed some Micky D's and headed south to Savannah for lunch. We rolled into sunny (HOT!)Savannah almost an hour early for our 12:00 lunch reservation. We parked at the restaurant and made our way down some very steep, very old, stone steps off of Bay Street to the cobblestoned riverwalk below for sight-seeing and praline sampling. Mike and Emily eventually went back to grab our table so that Ava and I could explore a candy store and take our time on the walk back to the restaurant. It was a gorgeous day for a walk in the beautiful, historic city. Ava and I were both taken in by Emmet Park and the tunnel of Spanish moss-laden trees as we strolled up Bay Street. Ava decided that she liked the moss so much that we should take some home and so she stuffed my purse full of clumps that had fallen to the ground!
We arrived back at the Pirates' House to find Mike and Emily seated and Emily transformed into a pirate! Ava quickly got into character, just as the first pirate visitor stopped by our table. If you ever find yourself in Savannah with children, this place gets my recommendation. There was a host/MC for our dining room who gave us the history of the Pirates' House and told interesting stories about adventures, drunken pirates, kidnappings, and ghosts!
The Pirate's House first opened as an inn for seafarers in 1753, and fast became a rendezvous for blood-thirsty pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas. Here seamen drank their grog and discoursed, sailor fashion, on their exotic high seas adventures from Singapore to Bombay and from London to Port Said. Hanging on the walls in the Captain's Room and The Treasure Room are frames containing pages from an early, very rare edition of the book Treasure Island. Savannah is mentioned numerous times in this classic by Robert Louis Stevenson. In fact, some of the action is supposed to have taken place in The Pirates' House, one of the places Stevenson visited. It's said that old Captain Flint, who originally buried the fabulous treasure on Treasurer Island, died here in an upstairs room of the house. In the story, his faithful mate, Billy Bones, was at his side when he breathed his last, muttering "Darby, bring aft the rum". Even now, many swear that the ghost of Captain Flint still haunts The Pirates' House on moonless nights.
The Pirate's House also happens to be the largest restaurant in Savannah with 15 dining rooms which guests are welcome to roam. The restaurant is attached to the oldest house in Georgia, built in 1733. Not only recognized by The American Museum Society which lists this historic tavern as a house museum, The Pirates' House is also considered to be one of the 5 most haunted locations in America! Our host encouraged us to leave our cameras on the tables and then he came around and took pictures of the ghosts with them. I've included the pictures he took in the slide show (link found below). See if you can find the ghosts....
With our tummies full of Southern food favorites from the reasonably-priced menu, we piled back into the car for the final leg of our drive to Florida. Before turning towards the highway though, we took a scenic drive drive down Abercorn and Bull Streets past the Colonial Park Cemetery and through Reynolds, Lafayette, Calhoun,and Monterey Squares. We also passed the Savannah College of Art and Design, and finally skirted Forsythe Park before programming the GPS for the interstate.
4-1/2 hours later we made it to The Great Outdoors in Titusville, Florida. We spent some time opening up my parent's place, then took a golf cart ride to look for alligators. Afterward, Ava and I went out to get groceries for the week while Mike and Em settled in for the night.
Day 3
Monday March 28th
A rainy, rainy day. Eggs and bacon and lounging in the morning. A work out (last ditch effort to be beach ready. Ha ha) before lunch for Mike and I. Then out for the afternoon/evening for a movie and dinner. We saw Rango and dined on seafood. The rain was a bummer- especially for Ava who couldn't wait to get to the pool, but I didn't mind the down time after the 2 day drive.
Day 4
Tuesday March 29th
We woke up to sun shining through the windows! Hooray! While the girls scarfed down breakfast, I quickly packed a picnic lunch and threw all of our beach gear into a bag. We shimmied into our swimsuits, piled into the car, and we were off to the beach! The nearest beach (15-20 minutes away) to where we stay is the Canaveral National Seashore. It's a division of the National Parks Department. We love this uncomplicated beach for the fact that it's never crowded, save for during a shuttle launch. Sure, you have to drive through miles of nature preserve to get there, but that's part of the fun as you watch out the windows for alligators and bald eagles. The first time Mike and I visited the seashore a couple years ago there were maybe 4 other cars in the parking lot. This time, the lot was near full with Spring-breakers like us, but we were still able to enjoy stretches of beach with no one else around. It's like your own private beach! We had fun playing in the surf with the girls and running the beach with an in-exhaustable Miss Emily. I just loved watching her little toddler body navigate the beach. It still makes me smile just thinking about it.
After lunch, we headed back to TGO for an afternoon at the pool where somehow, even under a layer of 60 proof baby sunblock I managed to get a nasty sunburn. Mike turned a lovely shade of deep pink as well. Luckily, the girls seemed immune to the powerful rays or my repeated SPF slatherings saved them. I'm still peeling....
That night, as we grilled hamburgers for dinner, my dad surprised us by showing up early. Exhausted from their day in the sun, the girls fell asleep quickly, well before my mom arrived from the airport.
Day 5
Wednesday March 30th
We began the day with a hearty breakfast at TGO diner, The Jukebox Cafe. With Grandma Sally acting as babysitter, Mike and I took off for the Kennedy Space Center. The girls explored TGO nature trails and the onsite nature center with their grandparents until my dad had to depart for Missouri for business. After lunch they spent the afternoon at the pool with my mom.
Mike and I followed the signs to the space center where he parked our new car in the very last row of our lot (the proximity of our car becomes important later) in hopes of protecting it from other car doors. After purchasing our tickets, we boarded a tour bus to the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry. We also viewed the Vehicle Assembly Building (the largest building by volume in the world) and the crawlerway (the "road" used to haul the shuttle to the launch pad) as we passed by. We were able to view the shuttle Endeavour from the Observation Gantry, which was pretty cool since it's the next to last launch sheduled for the space program. After viewing the shuttle, we continued on to the Apollo/Saturn V Center where we experienced the re-creation of the Apollo launch and visited the Lunar Theatre which depicts the first moon landing. This was all pretty cool for us since years earlier we had attended breakfast with the astronauts at our alma mater, Purdue University, and had seen the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, in person!
Upon our return to the visitor complex, we got in line for the Shuttle Launch Experience, where we experienced a simulation of being on an actual shuttle, journeying into space. Very, very cool! We also toured the shuttle Explorer before checking out the Rocket Garden and the Center for Space Education. As we headed for the IMAX theatre to watch Hubble 3-D, a voice came over the intercom system warning everyone to "take cover". A severe storm was on the way. Mike pulled up the radar screen on his phone. It didn't look good. He proposed that we skip the movie and head out. I proposed that we stay for the movie (Hey, we already paid for it!) citing that the storm might blow over while we were inside and who knew when we'd get to see another 3-D IMAX movie again. Mike conceded...somewhat reluctantly. I have to say that the movie, focusing on the Hubble telescope, was REALLY cool!
When we exited the theatre, some very scary-looking clouds were over us and moving quickly toward the seemingly clear horizon in the direction of the parking lot. Thunder rolled, then lightning struck. That voice on the Kennedy loud speaker was still telling us to seek shelter.
"RUN!" One of us yelled. And that's what we did. Sprinted, is more like it. We could actually feel the storm at our backs. We raced past everyone, save a father-son duo who were keeping our pace across the parking lot. 5 rows from our car, the strong winds swooped in, sending the heavy, flip-top garbage cans positioned along the perimeter of the parking lot launching across the pavement and embedding gravel in our faces. It was unreal! We both dived into the car at the same time, all papers blowing out of the front seat and into the wind. We didn't care. As we crunched at the gravel in our teeth and attempted to catch our breath, we were just happy to have a moment of reprieve from the wind. We left the parking lot in a torrential downpour, feeling sorry for all of those families still stuck under the cover of the entry to the space center.
I called my mom to let her know we were on our way. "Are you guys OK?!" she asked, without even a "Hello". Apparently, the local news had been showing Kennedy Space Center and the horrible storm about to hit. She and the girls had also had their share of storm excitement back at TGO. My parents' RV had in fact been bouncing up and down during the storm and the tennis court fence just a couple of hundred feet away had blown over. Later, a call from my dad confirmed that things had gotten tense in Orlando too. While waiting for his grounded plane to take off, the wind came up and made the plane feel like it was going to "flip over".
On the way home we met my mom and the girls at a nearby steakhouse for dinner before we all holed up for the night as the storms raged around us.
Funny note: During dinner Emily kept calling the young restaurant host (hair hanging in his eyes) "Justin Beiber".
Day 6
Thursday March 31st
This was supposed to be our day at Disney World. Instead, we spent the morning "taking cover" during the tornado warnings. (There we 4 or 5 during our time in Florida, 3 of them on Thursday morning). After lunch, the storms calmed a bit. Mike was catching up on work and my dad was still in Missouri on business, so my mom, the girls, and I headed south to Rockledge to Harvey's Orange Grove for OJ and pepper jelly. Read more about our trip to the grove HERE. After dropping the perishables back at TGO, we headed to a mall in Orlando for some dinner and shopping. We got in late and hit the sack soon after.
Day 7
Friday April 1st
Gorgeous day! I woke up early and chugged a coffee with my dad (he had returned from Missouri the night before) then took a 4 mile walk/jog around TGO. (Totally didn't mean for it to be such a long walk...but I got lost.) When I returned everyone was awake. We ate, dressed, and then set off for the Midway Airboat Rides in Christmas, Florida. Ava loved the giant pot-bellied pig in the gift shop (see pictures). I guess that the wildlife (GATORS!) were as excited about the sunshine as we were because they were everywhere! We saw a ton of alligators. They were seriously just lining the banks of the St. John river. Back at the dock we all took turns holding a baby alligator. Well, all of us except for Emily. She kept a wide berth from the young reptile. As the youngest in our party, I guess that she couldn't suppress her survival instinct yet and wouldn't join the rest of us dummies in covorting with man-eaters.
Back at TGO, we all headed for the pool for a bit. I cut my pool time short for a massage. Ahhhh. Mike left the pool to meet a friend. My mom took over pool duty with the girls. Then we all showered off and dressed for a nice seafood dinner in Cocoa Beach. Mike's long-time friend Reid had flown in from Kentucky (he coaches a high school baseball team that was playing during their Spring Break in the area) and so he joined us. After dinner, we hit Cocoa Beach for a walk and some pictures. It was such a beautiful night! The girls had a blast playing on the beach.
Back at TGO I packed up for the return trip, Mike and Reid visited, my dad caught up on the news, and my mom put the kiddos to bed.
Day 8
Saturday April 2nd
Loaded the car, said goodbye to my parents, and drove to our scheduled stop just north of Charlotte, NC. We got in just in time to watch the second half of the Butler game. Ordered pizza. I took Ava to the pool until dinner arrived. Em elected to "stay with daddy". Ate dinner. Tucked in the kiddos. Mike and I enjoyed our last night of vacation.
Day 9
Sunday April 3rd
Breakfast at The Country Inn north of Charlotte, NC. Lots of driving. Lots of bathroom breaks. Arrived safely at home. All in all, fairly un-eventful. YAY!
Pictures:
Click the link provided below to view pictures from our trip
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbNnDlq4ZN2Oy
*After you click "View Album", click on "Detail View" at the top of the next page. This will enable you to read my picture descriptions to the right of the pictures, a little way under the picture titles.
Here is some footage of the biggest alligator we saw on the airboat ride. Even our "captain" who sees alligators every day was impressed!
Finally, here is some footage from the end of our trip. I promise that they weren't this silly for the whole car ride, but when I turn on a camera, they get downright goofy! Fun fact: Neither girl slept (not even once!) in the car on the trip down or back. Weird, right?
