Friday, April 19, 2013

Florida Vacation

At the beginning of March we planned an impromptu Florida vacation.  Mitch came home with the idea and a little over a week later we were packed into the van heading south for a week.  I figure if your husband comes home suggesting a beach vacation you quickly make it happen before he changes his mind.  It was such an unexpected but definitely needed break and lined up really well with Drew's school schedule so he only missed a day and a half of class.

We planned to leave on Friday and poor Cade got sick and was throwing up Wednesday and Thursday.  We woke up Friday unsure whether we would be heading out that morning but when we got up we realized Cade was in the playroom and back to his old self.  Armed with a sickness kit in case things went bad we hit the road.  We drove 13 hours the first day and the boys did so good.  The second day we still had six hours and they were ready to be done.  There was way too much excitement to be at the beach house to sit in the car for that long.  On the way we stopped at fun places like Metropolis, IL to see all the Superman items.  Not sure who liked it more; Mitch or the little boys.      



Once at the beach we lazily spent the first few hours of our mornings waiting for it to warm up outside.  It was in the 60s every day but the mornings were pretty chilly on the beach.  There were pretty high winds most days too so that didn't make it any warmer.  Once it finally got warm enough, we all headed out to play in the sand.  Drew and Cade loved digging holes and throwing sand into the water.  Mace on the other hand didn't really enjoy much about the beach.  He played for about ten minutes and then would get up a wander off.  He would either head back up to the house or sometimes someone else's house or down the beach crying most of the way.  I would just chase him around trying to get him to have a good time.  Then we would head in for lunch and a nap. While Mace napped the older two would head back to the beach to play more.  On the days I stayed up at the house with Mace I got to sit on the deck basking in the sun reading a couple magazines and a book.  It was exactly why I wanted to take the trip.  Watching the boys having a blast on the beach, sitting relaxing in the sun, reading a book.  Does it get better?  Well, another 10 degrees warmer would have made it better but I'm not going to complain one bit.  

View from our deck

One of the days we headed out to visit a nearby zoo.  The boys had a good time checking out all of the animals and riding the train through the 30 acre area where they let the animals roam free. It was more like a natural habitat and was really cool to see.  The weather was perfect for us that day to be able to spend the day walking around.

Cade at the zoo

One morning Mitch and the boys headed out to a local doughnut shop that Mitch had found on the internet.  They came home with a box full of yummy.  Note from the picture below that Mitch came home with 11 doughnuts for five people.  Apparently everything was looking good to him that morning.


Doughnut run

Boys enjoying the doughnuts

This is what Mace thought of the beach

Drew & Cade playing in the water


After a week on the beach it was sadly time to pack up to head home.  On the morning we planned to leave, Mace woke us up two minutes before our alarms were about to go off.  He was sick again which is not the ideal situation for being in a car for two days.  After throwing up twice before we left and once in the van we made the decision to make the whole trip home in one day.  We never erven got out of the car for meals and briefly stretched legs at gas stations.  By 9:00 that night poor Cade was crying that his butt hurt and we all felt his pain.  We powered through and made it home in 18 hours.  It ended up being a really good decision because the next morning Drew joined in the sickness.  I guess with three little boys you just never know what to expect.  At least the sickness came at the end of the trip and we were still able to have a great family vacation.  Can't wait to do it again soon.

No comments: