On Saturday, March 7 we loaded up the truck and trailer and headed south! We were ready for two weeks of rest, relaxation and some much needed refreshment! Away from the house and the whole house selling process! It took us 2 1/2 days to get to Orlando.
On Monday when we arrived in Florida it was Levi's 4th Birthday. What a way to celebrate your birthday!
Here he is with his gifts.
Our family can't go camping without taking our ballgloves along. We love to play catch in our down time.
We surprised Justin with a new bike when Eric unloaded the bikes. He was very excited to have a "gear" bike. He has been dreaming of this day for a long time!
Levi was excited too to get his bike out and take it for a spin.
On Tuesday we went to Downtown Disney. The boys favorite store there is the Lego Store. They like to build their own guys.
Here Justin has made his own car and is racing it down the track with other boys. His won a couple of times and he was so excited.
We spent a lot of time in the pool.
Almost every night we went down to the beach and watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks. One day we watched them from the boat, one night we watched them from the Cosmopolitan Resort on the outside deck (the above picture), and the other nights we just sat on the beach.
On Thursday we went to Sea World. Here Levi and I are waiting for the dolphin show to begin.
Watching dolphins.
Feeding the sea lions.
Standing by one of the Budweiser Horses. They are gorgeous!
We took this same picture when we went to Sea World when Levi was just 1. So we needed an update!
Justin played one carnival game and was so excited when he won Shamu.
We also did a lot of bike riding around the campground - I even really enjoyed it and had Levi in the seat on the back of my bike most of the time. It felt so good to get out and be active!
One afternoon the boys spent the whole afternoon at the pond catching fish.
This pond had HUGE bluegill! The boys had such a good time successfully catching fish!
Justin's monster bluegill.
One of Levi's huge Bluegill.
Dad + 2 Boys + Fishing Poles + a Beautiful Afternoon + Catching Fish = Priceless
Our campsite at Fort Wilderness.
Waiting for the Disney bus to come pick us up and take us to the Settlement.
On our last night in Orlando we went to Disney's Boardwalk and visited one of our favorite ice cream shops "Beaches N Cream". Eric and I first discovered this adorable little shop on our honeymoon. We had to wait 40 minutes and didn't get seated until 9:30 p.m. but it was worth the treat! We were enjoying Orlando as long as possible!
Think this sundae is big enough?
On Saturday we moved from Orlando to Lakeland. With camping comes responsiblity... and the boys love having something to do. Every time we pulled into or out of a campground the boys were responsible for the chocks in between the tires either putting them in and tightening them or taking them out. When we were leaving they would say "chocks away!" when they were done. It seems like such a small thing - but to them it was a huge task!
The favorite thing to do at all the campground was swim!
On Sunday, we were able to watch the Space Shuttle launch from our campground. We were on our way to Cape Canaveral on Wednesday when the launch was cancelled. We were really bummed but glad that we were still able to see it on Sunday. Eric had live feed on his computer so we were able to listen to the count downs and watch everything from online as well.
It was beautiful.
They said that prior to this picture it was already over New Jersey! Isn't that amazing!!
On Sunday we visited Hillsborough River State Park. It is a beautiful park with lots of wildlife. This is the suspension bridge that goes over the Hillsborough River.
Levi did not like it that it moved when he walked - he could not get acrossed it fast enough!
It is a beautiful park.
Watching an armadillo that was just off the walking path.
On Monday, we visited the Fun N Sun Air Museum at the Lakeland Airport.
Levi really liked this tiger striped plane.
After we went to the museum we headed north to Zephyrhills to visit my Grandparent's. We had a nice visit and they took us to Whataburger for supper! Quite an experience!
On Tuesday, we went to a Tiger's Spring Training Baseball game in Lakeland. The Tiger's played the Astro's. They tied after 11 innings 1-1. Here the boys are watching the Tiger's have batting pracice on one of the practice fields.
My baseball player waiting to catch his own ball. We were right behind left field and were able to catch 6 balls as they came over the fence. The boys were kind and gave several away to those who weren't able to catch them. It was so fun watching them run with their gloves on trying to catch a ball.
Joker Marchant Stadium - Tiger's Spring Training Facility
Watching the ballgame!
The boys were so excited when Branden Inge was playing and Justin Verlander was pitching! Two of their favorites.
On Tuesday evening we were a bit impulsive. As we were eating dinner we were talking about our plans to head towards Pensacola in the morning. We started talking about the Blue Angels. Eric went online and found out that they were practicing the following morning at 8:30! So... we decided to pack it up as quickly as possible and head towards Pensacola. We pulled out of one campground at 7:30 p.m. and pulled into our campground in Pensacola at 2:00 a.m.. We quickly headed off to bed, arose early and headed to the Pensacola Naval Air Station to watch the Blue Angels!
We were surprised when we arrived to find 1,000+ people waiting to see them.
We were a little disappointed (only a little because they were really fun to watch!) because the sky was a bit overcast and they weren't able to do any of their famous formations.
Justin had a great time taking pictures and video clips of them.
Levi thought is was pretty loud - but by the end he didn't even notice!
They did do a lot of pass overs - they continually flew around us for almost an hour.
This is Justin's picture - he was so excited that they were waving at the crowd.
Then we spent some time in the Naval Air Station's museum. It is one of the best aviation museums I have been too and it is FREE! I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area - even if your family isn't into airplanes.
On Wednesday evening we took a drive from our campground to Pensacola Beach. What a beautiful beach. The water was so green. Eric is touching a Jelly Fish that washed up on land.
On Thursday, we spent the whole day in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We spent a couple hours on the beach. I just love to watch the boys jumping in the waves!
Of course you can't go to the beach without chasing seagulls!
... and finding shells!
...and playing trucks in the sand!
When we had had enough beach sun (imagine that!) we took the boys to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. It is a small zoo but very nice - it has lots of animals including several tigers, lions, jaguars, cheetahs, monkeys, camels, reptiles, lemurs, and much more.
Checking out the huge turtles...
After the zoo we headed to Lambert's Restaraunt in Gulf Shores. We went there last spring and Eric fell in love with it. It is the home of the throwed rolls.
They serve SO MUCH food. They are constantly coming around offering you more side items to eat - for free... This is Levi's chicken leg - that had to be one HUGE chicken! I had a bread bowl salad and it seriously was bigger than a 9x13 pan!!
Levi spent a good share of his time catching zzz's in the truck.
Almost every night the boys would cuddle up and listen while Daddy read them from the Happy Hollister books. We finished 1 1/2 books on our trip! The boys love them! (This is in Kentucky and it was a little chillier than we had been used to - thus the blankets!)
After traveling all day we took a walk around the campground in Kentucky. It was really chilly - here the boys are watching a bunch of goats free roaming around the campground.
We never go on a vacation without some extra excitement. We made it all the way till the very last day of our trip. Just south of Indianapolis the trailer blew a tire! Thankfully we were near an off ramp, slowly pulled it to an old not open gas station where two men were chatting. One of the men ran home and brought back a floor jack to help lift the trailer! He was definitely a gift that day! The boys were in awe of the shredded tire & the yucky smell!
About 30 minutes later we were on the road headed for home. We made it safely home about 4:00. It was a wonderful two weeks away. We truly were able to relax and enjoy our time away and came home refreshed!
