Spring Break 2010

Sorry this has taken me so long to get out...our camera had LOTS of problems on the trip and many of our photos didn't turn out very well. These will have to do!

We began planning for this trip back in January, and to be expected, when you’re really looking forward to something, time seems to go by VERY slowly. After answering the boys, about 1,000 times, our vacation finally began.

We left about 9pm and began our journey to Orlando, Florida, hoping to drive straight through and take advantage of the quiet hours through the night where, HOPEFULLY, the kids would be asleep. Luckily, by 10pm, all three were snoozing, and I was soon to follow. About 1pm, we had to stop for a fill up and a potty break. As quiet as Matt and I tried to be, we woke up all three kids and I hesitantly took all three into a dirty gas station (I think all gas stations are dirty and I try to avoid them at all cost) to use the bathroom and stretch our legs. Shortly, we were back on our way. I’ll be honest, although I completely trust my husband and have no doubt that he was driving that van through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee with no other thoughts than how precious the cargo was, I still woke up at every little jerk and lane switch! The 30 minutes or so about 2am where Adrianna cried for about 20 minutes also made my rest difficult. And to top it off, it was especially hard to rest with two little boys grinding their teeth near my ears. I did get more rest, than Matt, though, who drove us through most of the night, only tiring out about 5am. At that point, Adrianna woke up and I nursed her just before taking over. Everyone went back to sleep again (YEAH) and I got us just over the Florida line. We stopped for breakfast at a Burger King with an indoor play area where the kids could burn off some steam.

Matt wanted me to take this picture of the van...he was so proud of the cargo box. We joked about it a lot of the trip...it officially made us even more like the Griswalds than we already were!

That was our last stop before arriving in Orlando at the Nickelodeon Water Park. The kids were a little excited (and VERY anxious to get out of the car). Admittedly, Matt and I had a small smile on our faces for about the first hour after arriving. We had successfully driven three children under the age of 6, about 1000 miles, without any major drama!

Yeah! We're here!!!

After unloading, Matt and Adri took a nap in the hotel room while the boys and I started exploring.

Gabe, surprisingly, is scared of the water slides. All he wants to do is play in the sprinklers. Nate, on the other hand, can’t get enough of the ‘big kid’ area and fights to leave, even for a snack. After finishing our snack, Gabe starts whining and saying that he’s ready to go the beach. I inform him that our beach adventures don’t start for another 4 days. “This is supposed to be fun, Gabe, and if you whine, no one has any fun.” A lady nearby tells me that she just had the same conversation with her daughter. Good. At least I’m not the only one with a whiny kid…maybe that’s not a good thing!

After a few hours of playing, we head back up to the room to check on Matt and Adri. They’re ready for dinner! We get dressed and tell the kids they can have whatever they want for dinner. They pick IHOP! We agreed, knowing that if we go someplace they’re comfortable, they’ll eat well and we won’t have any “just 3 more bites” conversation.

While waiting on our food, Gabe sits up at the table on his knees and has a funny look on his face. He informs us that his “poopy is having a farting party!” I guess one of us will be taking him to the bathroom at IHOP. Did I mention that I despise public bathrooms?

I shortly notice that I’ve started to feel a little feverish and achy. I quickly come to the conclusion that I’m coming down with my 2nd case of mastitis in two months. This was NOT something that I want to deal with or make time for on our vacation. We get an antibiotic filled and I begin praying that the medicine kicks in quickly and I can push through the pain and enjoy this time with my family.

On the way home, the boys kept playing with the DVD players and after being asked MANY times to stop, Matt decides to discipline them by taking away the next event for the evening…putt putt (pop pop, as Gabe says). Of course, they are tears and a few tantrums, but he sticks to his guns and they quickly realize that tomorrow is another day. We were a little relieved, though, because Matt and I were tired!

Despite, the discomfort, I sleep like a log. Wish I could say the same for Gabe. He fought sleep for about 2 hours before finally closing his eyes. Yes, tomorrow is another day and I can’t wait to see what memories are to be made!

The kids actually slept in the next morning. By sleeping in, I mean sleeping past 7. The only reason they woke up just before 8 was because someone had set our alarm and my tired body couldn’t get it turned off quickly enough. Who sat that alarm? We were up…and ready for the adventures of the day!

The day was filled with lots of sliding, swimming, dancing, running, sunning, and of course…memories!

This is Nate going down one of the big slides. He insisted on going down without his life jacket, but the lifeguards asked that he wear it...he was ready to show off his swimming skills, but it had to wait. Luckily he got to do that later in the week.

I took many pictures of Adri standing up in her many suits...I thought those chubby little legs were so cute!

Matt ran into a pole, while watching some kids goof off. He broke his sandal and claimed he jammed his toe. Only Matt! Later that day he went to a Nike outlet and found some flip flops to replace the broken ones and actually asked my permission to spend $20 on the replacement shoes. I laughed…I didn’t feel like bringing up that many of my shoes cost a lot more than $20! Why should I? We’re having such a good time!

Gabe went down a water slide and then quickly told a little boy, “If you go down dat swide, you’ll get wet!” Ya think, Gabe? He must get that from his Daddy!



Adri’s nap was so long that afternoon, Matt and I took turns staying with her and playing with the boys at the park. I came up to the room with the boys for our first switch and there was a lady in our room vacuuming. She turned off the vacuum and whispered to me, “You husband in da bedroom wif duh baby. You baby sleep.” This confused me greatly because she had just been running a VERY loud vacuum. Did she think her voice was so overpowering that it would wake up Adrianna, but the vacuum wouldn’t? Neither did and Adrianna continued her nap another 3 hours! She woke up with a yucky nose…that explains the power nap.


On the third day, we had to be checked out of our room by 11am, but could stay at the water park for the entire day. We chose to pack up all but one bag, which we filled with dry clothes. After about 4 hours at the park, the beach was starting to sound pretty good and we decided to start the trek to Manasota Key and begin the second part of our vacation. We got the kids out of the water, dried them, dressed them, fed them lunch, and then loaded them in the van. Soon, they were fast asleep.

The van was quiet and Michael Buble was softly playing on Matt’s IPOD. That moment could have actually been a scene in a movie…it was grand. As Michael was singing ‘Everything’ I couldn’t help but smile. Matt and I make a great team. The smoothness of the past 3 days proves that. There isn’t anyone else that I’d rather be making these memories with…there isn’t anyone else with whom I’d rather be raising my family.

After a short 3 hours in the car, most of which the kids slept, we arrived at the condo.

I visited this condo for the first time with Matt, his parents and his niece for the first time when I was 17! It looks exactly the same as it did almost 15 years ago!

This is the view off of the back balcony. Many times, in the morning, you can look out this window and see dolphins swimming. We saw them a few times, but of course, none of those pictures came out! Across the street is the open ocean and a private beach.

Shortly after walking in, Nate noticed there was no food in the pantry or “refrigerlater.” “What kind of a house is this?” he said. “There’s no food in here!” We ordered pizza for dinner, unloaded the car, and made our first trek to the beach. It was cloudy and the beach was very quiet. The kids were anxious to get in, but we encouraged them to wait until the next day when it was a bit warmer. As to be expected, Gabe got in anyway and insisted on going back to the condo for dry clothes!


Yes, her hair just does this!

Matt selflessly got the kids ready for bed and allowed me to go to the store for our weekly groceries…ALONE! Even on vacation…there’s nothing like a trip to the grocery store alone…it’s very therapeutic for me. I got home, Matt unloaded the groceries, and I drifted off to sleep to the sound of rain pelting against the patio door. Another great day!

It was still raining the next morning and we cheered the kids up with pancakes and a few games of go fish and memory. The rain stopped about 11 am, but it was still a little too cool for the beach. Matt took the boys to the pool for a while and Adrianna and I took a walk down to the Barefoot Trader…a fun little store with lots of beach paraphernalia. I found a sun hat and some pool toys for the boys, but left my purse at home. Oh well, it was good exercise! I came back and told Matt that I found a great sun hat for myself. He laughed. I changed my mind about wanting it…I knew if I bought it, I’d have to listen to him giggle every time I put it on. I decided to wear extra sunscreen and chance a sunburned face instead.

We noticed after just a short time that whoever furnished the condo didn’t have children in mind. The coffee table had a glass center. We debated on whether or not to remove it from the living room. The boys were running cars over it, hitting it with blocks, and laying under it and pushing up the center with their knees…all this while Adrianna played close by. We knew that if we did nothing, disaster was likely to strike. I was ready to remove it and Matt talked me into just removing the glass. The boys used the center as a pretend boat and/or cage (a boy thing) and it was the perfect height for Adrianna to pull up and practice walking. The only problem with our solution was that we kept forgetting that there was no top! All week, we kept sitting things down where the glass top should have been!



One night, Gabe came running in with a bucket after going to the bait store with Matt. He ran in, splashing a little water on the floor with each step. “Mom, look at dese tramps I got wif Daddy.” I could quickly tell he meant, shrimp. I didn’t hesitate to write that down…I want to tell him about that when he’s a teenager!


Adri loved the float that I decided not to tell Matt about until we got to Florida. I knew he’d make me take it back if he knew what it cost and I had to show him how much she loved it before telling him the amount on the price tag! We’ve been married long enough for me to know that you have to really justify the expense of anything that’s more than $20. If I can prove its worth, I don’t get too much of a hassle from him, but if it’s much more than $20 and he doesn’t see the value in it, I get a sigh, he rolls his eyes, and I usually hear something like, “No, it’s not that much…but $20 here and $20 there, adds up.” He saw how much she loved it and I knew that he approved of my purchase!

This little girl LOVES the sun and water. She couldn’t get enough of either and never hesitated to get wet.

Nate showed off the benefits of his swimming lessons from last fall. He was a little hesitant at first and wouldn’t get in the deep water without his life vest. After watching another little boy diving and racing his sister, he quickly shed the life vest and his confidence soared. A woman sitting next to me one day said, “He may be the next Michael Phelps.” He overheard her and said, “What’s Michael Phelps? I’d rather just be a swimmer.”

The next few days were filled with lounging by the pool, sunning at the beach, playing in the sand, and napping in the sun, every chance we got! We grilled out almost every night and after being in the sun all day and then filling up with Matt’s delicious grilled chicken, pork, or burgers, we were ready for bed…except for the few nights that we treated ourselves to ice cream. Is it just me or does ice cream taste better on vacation? Most nights, we crashed early and slept late…RELAXING WEEK!

The boys aren't often quiet when they're near one another...I had to get a snapshot of this!

On Saturday, our last day in Florida, we had to be checked out of the condo by 11am. We weren’t ready to head home yet, so we spent the afternoon on The Gasperilla Islands. It was a fun little place where most people traveled by bike or gulf carts, the iguana and anole lizard are prevalent, and the main attraction is a light house that is over 100 years old. After a few hours there, we began our journey home, stopping several times before crossing the state line, at fruit stands, a manatee viewing area, and a park.

In Tampa, there is a power plant that puts warm water back into the Gulf after it's used it to generate electricity. The warm water attracts manatee. If you look closely, you can see several manatee floating just below the water. They came up about every 5 minutes to get air.

I often tell the kids fairy tales that I remember from childhood…The Three Bears, Jack and Beanstalk, The Three pigs…you all know them, too. I tell them a little differently each time and the boys act like they’ve never heard them before, even though, I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve told them those stories. Gabe asked me on the way home that afternoon, “I WEEEELY want to hear Jack and duh Beanstop.” I wasn’t even done laughing about that when he added, “I need to go to duh restauwant.” “What?” I had no idea how this kid could be hungry. We had just eaten lunch. “I need to go NOW!” He insisted. “I gotta potty!” He has no idea how funny he is and there isn’t much I love doing more than laughing at ‘Gabeisms.’ The few hours leading up to sunset were rough…the kids were tired and Adrianna wanted nothing to do with her car seat. But, once nightfall hit, they crashed and slept quietly (except for the teeth grinding) until about 6am. We pulled in the driveway at 6:30.

Although our adventure was over, the kids walked in the house to one more surprise…Easter baskets!



What an amazing vacation we had!