To Florida or Bust! Saturday & Sunday 12/26 & 27

Tate, Macy and Nick were full of joy and giggles at 5am on Saturday morning. We were effortlessly all in the car by 5:30, grabbed some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and were on the road south by 6am. Sara and I picked a spot in Richmond, about 90 minutes away, for us to meet at and wouldn't you know it- as soon as we arrived and looked in our rear view mirror, there they were! 

We quickly did some swapping of seats and we were off. Macy and I got in Sara's van and Chris jumped in our Volvo with Brian and the big boys. Brian and I wanted to drive as much as possible, allowing Sara and Chris some time off, as they had driven plenty the day before. 

Our car-

Two things I don't want to forget from the drive down...

This is the 3rd time in our marriage that Brian and I have driven to/from Florida, yet somehow we had never before stopped in at South of The Border. If you have ever driven along 95 on the east coast, you have seen the signs all throughout the southern states and way up practically into the mid-atlantic states. Well, this time we decided to stop there for gas. It's a dump. Reminded me way too much of Tijuana. The absolute saddest part was when we pulled into the parking lot and Drew looked up from his movie and said "We are at Disney!" Oh no kid, we aren't.

Sara had been telling me for weeks and weeks about the book on tape that she was thrilled to listen to with me on our drive, called The Power of Now. I was curious, as we all need to be more present, less multi-tasked, right? Oh no. This was torture. We had just eaten lunch, feeling a little sleepy about 8 hours into the drive and Sara puts it in. The narrator is the author, Eckhart Tolle, German/Canadian spiritual guide. This book was all about mediation! NOOOOOO. Make it stop. Sara would eventually fall asleep listening to his calming voice. Thank God the driver of the van (little old me) found a way to turn that off!

At our lunch stop, Sara and I quickly realized how differently we were dressed-

Looks like I am the only one going to Florida, while she (and Shane, who was also in snow boots yesterday) were headed skiing!

Our drive was easy. Flat and boring, but easy. Sure we hit some traffic, but didn't get a flat tire or in an accident. No complaints here. Sara did a fantastic job keeping me, and the kids, entertained and before we knew it- we were in Florida!

At our last gas stop, Sara ran in to pick up some staples- 

What more could we need?

All in all it took us less than 15 hours and we made plenty of stops, 4 or 5 I think. No big or little bladder was ever uncomfortable during this drive! We were at the resort by 8:45pm and immediately headed down for a little night swimming. The kids and adults were all in heaven...

Sara and Chris woke up early Sunday morning and headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom Park, while we McCullough's took the off to just relax at the resort. Brian and I purchased this timeshare when Tate was just 1 1/2 and haven't been back! We have traded it in for stays in Switzerland, Hawaii and Lake Tahoe previously, so we were happy to finally head back with our kids. 

 And we were not disappointed. We were at the pool (one of 3) at 9:03am, 3 minutes after they opened. This pool did not exist when we last visited, and it was perfect for our kids ages now. Waterslide-

Pirate ship in the middle of the pool-

I was seriously giddy with excitement when I realized about 10am that we had nothing to do all day but sit by the pool. Yes please!

We did sneak away for a bit to a great Venezuelan place for lunch, just a couple miles up the street that was well worth it. And we sat in on a timeshare update meeting, thankfully there were piles of snack and juices for the kids and they got to go to the kids club during our meeting!

There is a lake in the middle of the property, and all along the shoreline there are hammocks and nice areas to grill out. Tate and Macy had never been in a hammock until now-

After lunch we came back to the room for a quick nap and found (another) rollaway bed in our living room!

 We had gotten one the night before for Shane, and apparently no one updated the system, so they kindly brought us another one! It was funny to find when we walked in.

During nap time we got a pleasant call- the Leadbetters were headed back! At least for a little bit. They felt like a break from the park, so they were headed back to swim for a bit, before returning to the park for dinner. My sleeping kids would be delighted, especially Tate who was sad to be away from Nick all day...

While the Leadbetters headed back to Animal Kingdom for dinner, we headed to Sea Dog Brewery for dinner. They had corn hole games outside and this giant Connect 4 game too-

After dinner we decided to run over to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) to pick up our tickets to Magic Kingdom for the next day. Easier said then done. Traffic. Construction. Crowds. UGH. Was I ready for Magic Kingdom the next day? If I can't even survive 30 minutes at Disney Springs? I was a bit worried...

Getting the tickets was a breeze once we finally got in there. And we did some shopping at the Star Wars shop, then headed back to get a good night sleep before our big day at DisneyWorld tomorrow!!