Florida Vacation

We had not been on a real vacation for about 3 years--since Nate was 2 and Georgia didn't exist, so it was about time. My parents rented a beach house, and the four of us went with them, my brother, and my cousin Nicole and her son Cade.

The vacation itself was awesome, but the drive there and the drive back were not! It was like STRESS -> ahhh, vacation -> STRESS! We went to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, which took us about 14 hours with all the stops. On the way there we decided to head out on Friday night and drive most of the way and stop to sleep for a few hours before finishing the trip. We stopped around 3:30 am in Rome, Ga. This was a strategic stop. If we wake Nate up after 4 am, there's a possibility he will want to stay up! But before 4 is safe. Nate went right back to sleep, but Georgia kept me up for an hour being squirmy and then slept in while everyone else got up and ready!

Saturday's drive was going pretty well ... until we got to the Florida border. And it all fell apart! The kids started screaming, Blake started getting anxious, the movie wasn't working, the kids were fighting over a blanket ... oh my. We could not get to that beach house fast enough.

It was very cute, all the way there Nate kept saying, "I want to feel the sand between my toes!" And it's not like he has heard that saying before--he just really wanted to feel sand between his toes! So when we pulled in the driveway, we didn't even stop in the house--we went straight out to the beach. Nate was so excited to get his toes in the sand. He LOVED it. He immediately started throwing sand up in the air. Georgia helped him. So we did go inside and explore the house, which is right on the beach and is awesome, and I changed the kids into their swimsuits so they could play in the sand some more. They ran off like wild children and didn't want to come back inside.

The next morning, we headed back out to the beach first thing.

 

My Nate is a BEACH BOY! He just loved the sand and the waves. He was seriously happier than ever being at the beach. He would dig in the sand for hours, and he could have just stood in the waves up to his knees for hours on end if someone would have stayed with him.

Georgia ... not so much. There were a few times that she didn't want me to put her down because, unlike Nate, she did not like the feel of sand on her feet. I think her favorite part of the vacation was this little princess chair Granna and Pop brought her. :)

This beach had HUNDREDS of jellyfish. They were everywhere. The first night we were there, a neighbor told us that the clear ones wouldn't sting. Then after some wikipedia searches we discovered that all the ones washed up on the beach with no tentacles were safe to handle. So Cade began a collection of jellyfish. There was talk of bringing them home. He wanted everyone to touch them. I refused. He talked Nate into it.

I caught a rainbow--how pretty.

Jellyfish. Cade talked me into going out in the water with him once, and we were out about waist high. Something stung me, and at the time I thought it was a jellyfish, but someone mentioned it might have been a stingray--Ick!!!

We were hanging out on the deck and I looked over and saw Nate in this super tall chair ... How did he get up there?

My brother flew in (good choice) and the rental car place offered him a convertible. So we all took turns driving it. :)

Georgia gets right up in Cade's face, nose to nose, to talk to him.

Now don't you wish you could look this cute in a bikini? I do!

As the week went on, you can see we were all wearing more and more clothing! I was trying so hard to not get sunburnt. Of course Blake and Georgia just got tan, but Nate and I got burnt. Especially me. And I was wearing a lot of clothes out there, covering as much skin as possible to avoid it.

At first, Georgia thought the sand was icky. This picture is so funny. She was just disgusted with all this dirt.

But she warmed up to it pretty quickly!

She and Granna built sand castles. Nate decided to big a deep hole, and he kept telling everyone he was digging to China.

We sat at the edge of the waves, and Georgia was holding on for dear life. With every wave, she would say, "Here comes a nudder one!"

 

My assessment of New Smyrna Beach: Besides a couple of good restaurants, there really wasn't much to do. But staying in a house right on this beach was amazing. We are used to Myrtle, where you can barely find a place on the sand to put your things. But check out these pictures. There was just no one, maybe a couple of families during the day, for as far as you could see.

A stark contrast to Daytona, where we visited one day! We just walked down the boardwalk.

Stopped in the arcade for Nate's favorite, air hockey.

Got some ice cream to cool us down.

And then played some mini golf.

By the first hole I figured it out: My kids are too young to play putt putt. Georgia kept chasing the balls and then putting them in the holes for us.

There were baby alligators there.

That night we went to this cool little restaurant with fresh seafood where you sit out on their deck and can watch the dolphins swim in the bay. Remember the story of Georgia losing her paci to a dolphin (not really)? This was right afterwards, when she was still in shock.

The next day we headed up to Orlando and were able to get together with some of my Spina Bifida mommy friends! I had already met Nicole at National Conference, but I only knew the other moms from online. It is so neat to know that practically anywhere I go, I have friends there. Thanks, Spina Bifida!

 

That afternoon we went to Sea World. That day was HOT.

 That morning my dad gave each of the kids a little money and told them to buy a souvenir at Sea World. So at one point during the evening we went in one of the shops and told them to pick one out. Nate found this seal/sea lion--we're still not sure which. He calls him "Seal the Sea Lion." This bothers Cade because it doesn't make any sense. Nate sleeps with Seal the Sea Lion every night, and asks to take him everywhere, like church.

 Georgia walked into the store and went immediately to the Barbie Shamu trainer, picked up the box, and carried it hugged to her chest all around the store.

At the end of the night we went to the Shamu Rock n Roll show. Nate was super excited. He loves concerts (on TV). Then the music started, and it was really loud. He started crying. Blake thought about taking him out of there. But I knew he would be sad later if he missed it. She he put his fingers in his ears and sat on my lap during the show. At one point I convinced him to take one finger out. :) He still talks about how awesome this was ... but that it was too loud.

Our last day, Friday, we just spent some more time on the beach ... Here's our bathing beauty getting her sunscreen.

 



Then that afternoon she fell asleep on me on the beach, and that's when my legs got really, really burned. Blake and I both tried to nap some in preparation for our long night, then he and I went out to dinner alone, which never happens here!

We left around 10pm, and Nate was zonked in no time, but Georgia fought sleep for hours. We averaged about one stop an hour for caffeine refills and bathroom breaks. At about our second stop, we looked up, and there were dozens of mosquitos on the ceiling of the van!!! Eek! We got to swatting as fast as we could. They must have gotten in the van when Blake was packing it. Nicole got eaten up by mosquitos, but nobody else seemed to.

So around 6:30 in the morning, we started getting really, really sleepy. We stopped and tried to nap a little in the van, but Blake couldn't sleep so he just downed some more caffeine and charged ahead. I couldn't keep my eyes open, but after about an hour of napping I was able to take over driving for awhile, and we made it home safely. The last couple of hours were pretty rough though, as everyone was waking up and cranky. Blake and I were wiped out for the next 24 hours, but Nicole and Cade went home and then went to the movies! :) They must have slept okay in the back seat. But we did have a day to recuperate and were ready to get back to work on Monday.

It really was a great time to get away from everything, spend time with the kids and our family, and have a lot of fun. But next time, we fly.