Christmas Surprise Vacation
Everyone loves a great surprise right??? For Christmas we planned a surprise getaway to Florida. The boys woke up early to open their Christmas presents and the last present that they opened was a present with a secret message that they had to decode with their spy black light pens. It was so fun to see them figure it out! We quickly loaded the van and took off South. We grabbed Maw Maw and Paw Paw on the way through. We made it to Louisville to spend the night.
It was Christmas so not many places were open for business so we got lucky and ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe off of 4th st Live. Paw Paw got his sweet birthday treat and they even played his request "when I'm 64" by the Beatles.
It's so funny to me that when we stay at a hotel the first thing the boys request to do after getting in the hot tub is "can we go to the fitness room?"
Paw Paw had never been to the Louisville Slugger Museum so we made a quick stop for him. He was really enjoying reading all the history facts and even taking a few swings in the batting cages.
Bob had to crush a few in the gap while we were there. For some reason his back was giving him a hard time for the next couple days. #gettingold
After many hours on the road we were all getting stir crazy so Bob found us an amazing park to hike at Hurricane Creek Park. It was a diamond in the rough. It had a super cool trail that lead us to waterfall.
This was the coolest place ever...the tiniest little archway that lead down to the waterfall at the base of the hill...it was just a tiny bit creepy because it was so narrow.
Another night at a hotel on our journey south was just what the doctor ordered. We were so happy to be out of the van and on our way to the pool and hot tub.
This hotel had a little koi pond and gave the boys fish food to feed them.
Back on the road early...every hike we take the boys are always grabbing a stick souvenir. Landon spent quite a bit of time in the car trying to turn this stick into a spear. You can only imagine the amount of wood chips we had to sweep out of his seat but it did keep him busy on the journey.
Finally we arrived in Floria...excitement! The temperature was in the low 60's, windy, and rainy. We still attempted to try out the outdoor pool...chilly!
Our favorite surprise was that we didn't tell our boys that Aunt D and her family were on their way from Texas to meet us there. It was the best surprise ever.
The first night we ate at a resturant right down from our resort. The kids were all wound up and it was quite a show to see us all trying to tame them. The cool thing that kept them busy was a coloring mat which they were allowed to hang on the wall when we left.
Amidst the rain and cold temperatures we all exchanged gifts and played indoors with all the new things.
One night we ventured out to a super cool bowling alley. Addie and Lincoln had never been bowling before and it was fun to watch them learn and celebrate their success.
Cousin love...
This is the excitement you see when Nolan bowls a strike!
I took advantage of as much time as I could sneak in with Addie. She loved reading her books to me at night.
Lunch at the pier was delicious...Carter enjoyed chicken and waffles and Landon ate vanilla bean waffles...a win win for us!
The boys even could sneak in a moment at the driving range and they thought they were hot snot. Paw Paw was in his glory watching all his grandboys swing the club.
After everyone got up in the morning we tried our best between raindrops to attempt a visit to the ocean to sink our toes in the sand and listen to the waves crash in.
There were so many sea cucumbers washed up onto the shore.
That face. I could kiss it off.
Eating Gator bite sausage!
The last night we ran in a down power to a seafood restaurant so we could devour crab legs and try gator bites. The boys love to help crack the shells.
It was such a great surprise trip despite the wet and cloudy weather...
It was Christmas so not many places were open for business so we got lucky and ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe off of 4th st Live. Paw Paw got his sweet birthday treat and they even played his request "when I'm 64" by the Beatles.
It's so funny to me that when we stay at a hotel the first thing the boys request to do after getting in the hot tub is "can we go to the fitness room?"
Paw Paw had never been to the Louisville Slugger Museum so we made a quick stop for him. He was really enjoying reading all the history facts and even taking a few swings in the batting cages.
Bob had to crush a few in the gap while we were there. For some reason his back was giving him a hard time for the next couple days. #gettingold
After many hours on the road we were all getting stir crazy so Bob found us an amazing park to hike at Hurricane Creek Park. It was a diamond in the rough. It had a super cool trail that lead us to waterfall.
This was the coolest place ever...the tiniest little archway that lead down to the waterfall at the base of the hill...it was just a tiny bit creepy because it was so narrow.
Another night at a hotel on our journey south was just what the doctor ordered. We were so happy to be out of the van and on our way to the pool and hot tub.
This hotel had a little koi pond and gave the boys fish food to feed them.
Back on the road early...every hike we take the boys are always grabbing a stick souvenir. Landon spent quite a bit of time in the car trying to turn this stick into a spear. You can only imagine the amount of wood chips we had to sweep out of his seat but it did keep him busy on the journey.
Finally we arrived in Floria...excitement! The temperature was in the low 60's, windy, and rainy. We still attempted to try out the outdoor pool...chilly!
Our favorite surprise was that we didn't tell our boys that Aunt D and her family were on their way from Texas to meet us there. It was the best surprise ever.
The first night we ate at a resturant right down from our resort. The kids were all wound up and it was quite a show to see us all trying to tame them. The cool thing that kept them busy was a coloring mat which they were allowed to hang on the wall when we left.
Amidst the rain and cold temperatures we all exchanged gifts and played indoors with all the new things.
Carter's crayon melter was a huge hit.
Even though we never saw the sun, we made the most of our time. We visited the beach and the pool several times. All the kids had such large goose bumps but they enjoyed themselves.
Even though we never saw the sun, we made the most of our time. We visited the beach and the pool several times. All the kids had such large goose bumps but they enjoyed themselves.
One night we ventured out to a super cool bowling alley. Addie and Lincoln had never been bowling before and it was fun to watch them learn and celebrate their success.
Cousin love...
This is the excitement you see when Nolan bowls a strike!
I took advantage of as much time as I could sneak in with Addie. She loved reading her books to me at night.
At one point during the day there was a moment of sunshine and we ran out to enjoy a round of frisbee golf! The course was in sand in the middle of a park...what an adventure that was!
Lunch at the pier was delicious...Carter enjoyed chicken and waffles and Landon ate vanilla bean waffles...a win win for us!
The boys even could sneak in a moment at the driving range and they thought they were hot snot. Paw Paw was in his glory watching all his grandboys swing the club.
After everyone got up in the morning we tried our best between raindrops to attempt a visit to the ocean to sink our toes in the sand and listen to the waves crash in.
There were so many sea cucumbers washed up onto the shore.
That face. I could kiss it off.
Eating Gator bite sausage!
The last night we ran in a down power to a seafood restaurant so we could devour crab legs and try gator bites. The boys love to help crack the shells.
It was such a great surprise trip despite the wet and cloudy weather...
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